Democratic Candidate Harrison Supports Legalization of Marijuana

[February 5, 2020 – Longport, New Jersey] – Last week, Brigid Callahan Harrison, Democratic candidate for Congress in New Jersey\’s second congressional district, met with leaders at the

National Cannabis Industry Association

. The following is a summary statement Brigid provided regarding her stance on the legalization of cannabis and criminal justice reform:

I support the legalization of regulated buying and selling of marijuana.

The federal government should decriminalize marijuana by removing cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act, because families should not be torn apart due to a loved one being incarcerated on a minor marijuana charge.

It is imperative that the federal government take the lead on this issue. Currently, because of varying state laws, over 31,000 New Jerseyans and 660,000 Americans are arrested each year for doing something that many states have legalized. Federal, state, and municipal governments invest $3.6 billion enforcing marijuana laws, costing governments about $4390 per arrest, while ten states have legalized marijuana. This perpetuates an unequal system in which the poor are often subject to different rules than those who can travel to use marijuana recreationally, and one in which taxpayers are forced to bear the enormous fiscal burden of enforcement.

For me, the most important component of legalization centers on issues of social justice and legal fairness: I support policy that directs the federal courts to expunge prior convictions, allows prior offenders to request expungement with the help of an

expungement attorney

, and requires courts to conduct re-sentencing hearings for those still under supervision. Today prior convictions create a form of economic discrimination that prevent those convicted of low-level marijuana possession charges from attaining employment and may be used against those convicted in civil matters, including in custody

determinations and adoption decisions.

I want to ensure all people are given the same rights and are not discriminated against, so in Washington I will support legislation to prohibit the denial of any federal public benefit because of the possession of marijuana or prior conviction of a marijuana offense.

Another important consideration of legalization centers on social justice and economic fairness. As Congresswoman from the second congressional district, I would support the levying of a 5 percent sales tax on marijuana and marijuana products to create a dedicated revenue stream to assist those negatively impacted by the policy of criminalized marijuana, including job training and re-entry and other services needed by those returning to their communities.

Communities, too, need to be made whole, and small business development grants should be funded to ensure that communities that have paid the price for criminalized marijuana are given the opportunity to thrive and prosper through legalization.

Finally, an important component of legalization involves the creation of a regulatory structure that serves to address the public policy concerns of each cannabis product that would be available to consumers. In Congress, I would support the creation of such a structure housed in existing government agencies, including the Food and Drug Administration and the Tobacco Tax Bureau, which are specifically and uniquely qualified address the important public policy questions associated with the legalization various cannabis products.

Arrests for low level marijuana possession have disproportionately decimated the lives of people of color. High levels of incarceration have torn apart families, wreaked havoc on communities, and burdened municipal governments that often are not only charged with enforcing existing drug laws, but then also providing the support for those left behind when a loved one is sent to jail for a low level drug conviction. The implementation of a legalization policy must lead attempt to remedy the injustices that have been perpetrated in the past.

Stealing California from Bernie — again?

by Greg Palast

My dear Californians, I know you filled out that registration form at the DMV. Well, you know what? I’ll bet you that your name is not going to be there because there’s a 45% chance in California when you sign up to register to vote on a piece of paper, your name is never entered on the voter rolls. Guess what? California has one of the worst voting systems in the entire nation.

I checked out my own registration. I took my own advice. I went to the office of the Secretary of State. I typed in “Greg Palast” and it said “no such voter”. So I reregistered online. There’s a simple cure for all this stuff — but you have to know you’ve been purged or never had your name properly entered. Go check and then reregister online. People are afraid to do things online, but in California you get an instant receipt that says you’re now a voter, here’s your voter card on the screen. Take that screenshot. I’m telling everyone to do this because California is just awful.

And we have a March 3rd primary. The California presidential primary’s now been moved up. I saw

what happened to Bernie Sanders

in 2016. People were improperly registered, not registered. There were three quarters of a million, and I want to repeat that,

three quarters of a million ballots

which were cast provisionally or on the wrong ballot, which were thrown out. Alex Padilla, the Secretary of State of California, a little Katherine Harris, he threw out three quarters of a million ballots. They were mostly Bernie voters. We know that from the Roper Poll of the demographic. Bernie Sanders won California in June, 2016, if you counted all the votes…

If you want to vote in the Democratic primary, go online to the Secretary of State’s office. Make sure you’re registered — and make sure you are registered as a Democrat. I’m not saying you should

a Democrat. I’m just saying if you want to vote in the Democratic primary, forget the urban myth that you can vote in the Democratic primary if you’re not registered as a Democrat. Yes, there’s a way to do it. But it’s so difficult and in some cases it’s impossible because the nice lady behind the desk doesn’t know the procedure and could mess it up.

For those who want to know the procedure, it’s really awful. In California, almost everyone gets a mail in ballot. That is, they send you a ballot. Now, if you’re registered, some people call it Independent, but if you’re registered as No Party Preference, which is what they call it in California, if you’re No Party Preference, you’ll get a ballot but it won’t have the presidential candidates. There were literally a million people who were like, where’s Bernie Sanders on the ballot? The answer is, if you’re not registered as a Democrat, you don’t get one of those ballots.

So what do you do? You can mail your No Party Preference ballot, which only has a couple of races cause they can’t give you the partisan races with the NPP ballot, you have to mail it back to the state in time. You have to sign it in the corner where it says, I want this ballot replaced by — and you’ve got to get these words exactly: “Democratic party crossover ballot”. It has to say “crossover” because literally hundreds of thousands of Californians — hundreds of thousands — went in with their No Party Preference ballots, walked into the voting station, said, give me a Democratic party ballot.

Now different things happen, but in many counties, including Los Angeles, a lot of these people behind the desk said, oh yeah, here’s the Democratic party ballot. Well, guess what? That gets disqualified because you are not a Democrat. You have to have a “crossover ballot”. In Los Angeles alone, 66,000 people voted in the Democratic primary in 2016 who are No Party Preference voters, Independents, they got Democratic party ballots and every one of those 66,000 ballots — that’s just LA — was about to be disqualified and thrown out. But you have a fairly good county elections supervisor here, county clerk in Los Angeles, who said, you know what? That’s just throwing away legitimate votes.

But LA is the only place in California that didn’t throw away your votes. If you voted in San Francisco and Berkeley, and you’re a No Party Preference voter and you voted with a Democratic ballot, your ballot did not count. You did not count, unless it specifically said “crossover” at the top…

So to make your life easy, if you want to vote in the Democratic primary, sign up as Democrat. You can change it the next day. And in California, since 2012 — and most people don’t realize this — we have same day registration. So if you do show up and your name is not on the voter rolls, please bring ID with you, a driver’s license, whatever photo ID you can find, anything, including something with your address on it like a cell phone bill. Cause if your name is missing, you can reregister on the actual voting day. Now, they made it very difficult to do that, and it’s still not easy, but they made it easier this time. You can say, well, if I’m not there, I want to register today. But why go through that? Register right now or check your registration right now.

GREG PALAST

is America’s wittiest (and wickedest) muckraker. An award-winning

Guardian

investigative journalist, he is causing crooked election officials all over the country to shiver in their shoes as they wait for a knock on their door from the FBI – thanks to his explosive book and feature film (

“The Best Democracy Money Can Buy”

), which identifies these campaign cockroaches by name and exposes their illicit tampering with the 2016 election.

Letters to the Editor: The State of Our Union Can Start with School Lunch

Tomorrow President Trump will deliver his State of the Union address in front of Congress, outlining his policy priorities and executive vision for the country.

Over the past three years, President Trump has spoken to a domestic agenda focusing on health care, education, farmers and the working class. It’s worth recognizing, however, that his Administration’s proposals have failed to meet, and many times even undermined the health, education, and well-being of our nation’s families and children.

FoodCorps

, we believe that a healthy, prosperous future relies on a strong education system — and that the students that education system serves must be fueled with healthy food. In the last year alone, the President

has sought to dismantle SNAP

(formerly known as food stamps) impacting millions of families’ food budgets, while also jeopardizing school meal access for an estimated one million children, limit healthier options on our kids’ trays, and dissuade immigrant communities from seeking support to feed their families.

As the President prepares to address the nation, amid perhaps the most polarizing moment of his executive tenure, we strongly urge a dialogue — from him and others — that considers our top domestic policy issues as reflections of how we invest in schoolchildren.

For instance:

Role of Food in Children’s Health

: in a political climate that is fueled by debates about health care costs and preventable diet-related diseases, we should channel the old wisdom that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure and increase investment in school meals, which ~30 million kids eat every day.

Fighting for Family Farmers

: with continued conversations on how to lift up farmers and rural communities, a clear answer is to connect them with local schools for market development. The

Farm to School Act of 2019

would not only create new revenue streams for local producers, but would help bring more farm-fresh foods into our schools—prioritizing high-need student populations.

Education = Equity

: Children who lack a quality diet are more likely to face a lifetime of challenges: they score lower on tests, miss more days of school, advance less in their careers, and raise children who are likely to repeat the same cycle. Will President Trump lay out a plan to level the playing field so that all kids—regardless of race, place, or class—are well-nourished and ready to thrive at school and beyond?

A Hidden Infrastructure Need

Infrastructure is back in the news.

It’s not just bridges and highways that are falling apart: many school cafeterias haven’t been updated in decades, limiting their capacity to serve meals made from scratch with fresh produce. The

School Food Modernization Act

would provide critical investment in school kitchen equipment to ensure they can effectively and efficiently serve healthy school lunches [link to op-ed].

We believe that a strong State of the Union would include healthy school meals for all children and call on both the White House and Congress to protect and strengthen investments in school meals.

Interested in hearing more on school food policies? We can connect you with FoodCorps Policy Director Kumar Chandran who can speak to current introduced legislation, including the Bills mentioned above, and other policies that would equip school nutrition staff with the best possible tools to serve students on a daily basis.

All the best,

Casey

###

About FoodCorps

Together with communities, FoodCorps connects kids to healthy food in school so that every child—regardless of race, place, or class—gets the nourishment they need to thrive. Our AmeriCorps leaders transform schools into places where all students learn what healthy food is, fall in love with it, and eat it every day. Building on this foundation of direct impact, FoodCorps develops leaders, forges networks, and pursues policy reforms that in time have the potential to improve all of our nation’s 100,000 schools. To learn more about FoodCorps’ work across the country, visit

Homepage

Ayanna Pressley to Deliver Working Families Party Response to the State of the Union

Washington, D.C. (February 3, 2020)– Today, the Working Families Party announced Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D – Mass.) will deliver WFP’s response to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union

Gloucestercitynews.net graphic

Address on Tuesday evening. In 2018, Pressley became the first woman of color elected to

ongress from Massachusetts. During her first year in Congress, Pressley led on a number of progressive priorities, including introducing a House resolution called the “People’s Justice Guarantee,” which called for the abolishment of cash bail and the death penalty, among other transformational reforms to the criminal legal system.

The speech can be viewed on the WFP’s Facebook page.

“Ayanna Pressley has fearlessly held this administration accountable from the moment she touched down in Washington, all while fighting to reimagine our country so it works for the many instead of the privileged and well-connected few,” said Working Families Party National Director Maurice Mitchell. “On Tuesday night, she’ll put forth a vision for a post-Trump America that allows our nation to live up to its promise of freedom and equality under the law for every person.”

In 2018, the Working Families Party endorsed Pressley’s historic run for the Massachusetts’ 7th Congressional District. Both Pressley and the Working Families Party have both endorsed Senator Elizabeth Warren for the Democratic presidential nomination, citing her agenda of bold, structural change.

“I’m honored to accept the invitation from the Working Families Party to deliver their State of the Union response,” said Pressley. “We find ourselves in unprecedented times. Every day, the occupant of the White House is advancing cruel, bigoted policies that are creating pain and trauma in our communities. Our response on Tuesday will lift up the strength of our diverse grassroots movement that will help evict the occupant of the White House, elect dynamic leaders up and down the ballot this fall, and will advance a bold, progressive policy agenda that returns power to the people and ensures equity and justice for all of our communities.”

Pressley’s remarks will follow the Democratic Party responses from Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Texas Rep. Veronica Escobar. This will be the Working Families Party’s third response to the State of the Union Address. Former Rep. Donna Edwards (D-Md.) delivered the response in 2018, and Wisconsin Lt. Gov. and WFP national committee member Mandela Barnes in 2019.

Pressley was born in Cincinnati but grew up in Chicago. She got her start in politics working for former United States Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy II. She also served as a senior aide to former Massachusetts Senator John Kerry. In 2009, Pressley was elected to Boston City Council, making her the first woman of color to serve on that body in its 100-year history. While on the council, Pressley worked in close partnership with community on issues of consequence, including the groundbreaking creation of the Committee on Health, Women, Families, and Communities, and the development of a comprehensive, culturally competent, medically accurate, and age-appropriate sexual education and health curriculum, which was successfully adopted as a permanent part of the Boston Public Schools’ wellness policy.

The WFP is a grassroots political party fighting for an America for the many, not the few. Last year the WFP drove a progressive wave in local elections across America. The WFP helped elect longtime tenants organizer and progressive champion Jumaane Williams as Public Advocate in

New York City

, swelled the ranks of

Chicago

city council progressive caucus, put public education champions on the school board in

Milwaukee

, helped insurgent activist Candi CdeBaca oust a longtime incumbent on the

Denver City Council

, and elected other council members from

Morgantown

, W.Va., to Phoenix. In 2018 it helped to drive the progressive wave up and down the ballot, flipping state senate chambers in

New York

and Colorado, and defeating Gov. Scott Walker (R-Wis.).

Pennsylvania\’s House Republicans Unveiled Bills to Help Human Trafficking Victims

Pennsylvania House Majority Leader Bryan Cutler speaks during a news conference Jan. 22, 2020, in Harrisburg. Image courtesy of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives

By Steve Bittenbender |

The Center Square

HARRISBURG, PA–Pennsylvania’s House Republicans on Wednesday unveiled a series of bills they say will help victims of human trafficking in the state.

With more than 1,200 reported cases of trafficking in the state over the last 13 years, state Rep. Bryan Cutler, R-Lancaster, told a crowd gathered at the Ryan Rotunda in the Capitol Complex that it’s a crisis issue for the state.

According to Insider Monkey, Pennsylvania ranked 10th nationally with 127 cases reported in 2017. The site also noted that Pittsburgh ranked 10th as well among all U.S. cities. In most cases, victims of human trafficking endure sexual violence and exploitation.

“This package of legislation addresses many issues,” said Cutler, the House majority leader. “We must see the urgent need to step up efforts to combat trafficking as part of the wider battle for human rights. We need to create a culture where people no longer stay silent about the abuse they are suffering and where the legal systems take such violence seriously.”

In all, the package includes six House bills, a Senate bill and a House resolution, the latter of which would recognize January as National Human Trafficking Awareness Month.

In addition to aiding victims of trafficking, some of the bills also stiffen penalties for those convicted of trafficking. For example, state Rep. Barry Jozwiak, R-Berks, sponsors House Bill 161, which would make the trafficking of infants a first-degree felony. State Sen. Kristen Phillips-Hill sponsors Senate Bill 60, which would increase penalties for those convicted of trafficking and patronizing a victim of sexual servitude. Those offenses, too, would become first-degree felonies.

Another bill, House Bill 2175 sponsored by state Rep. Meghan Schroeder, R-Bucks, would expand the list of offenses where prosecutors could call an expert witness to inform juries about sexual violence and how trafficking victims may respond to violent acts. Meanwhile, House Bill 2174 sponsored by state Rep. Natalie Mihalek, R-Allegheny, would keep defendants from using a trafficking victim’s past as evidence in their defense from prosecution.

Mary Quinn, the president and CEO of the YWCA of Greater Harrisburg, said her agency has helped nearly 300 trafficking victims over the last five-plus years. Through that work, she said, she’s realized those victims suffered from complex trauma and need special resources. By pushing these bills through the Legislature, she hopes it can help bring more resources to the victims.

In some cases, the victims themselves find themselves being prosecuted. York County District Attorney Dave Sunday noted a drug death case where his office initially prosecuted a young woman who handed the victim the lethal dose. However, in working with the defense attorney and advocates, they soon realized the defendant in the case was being exploited and kept from her family in New Jersey.

Jennifer Storm, the state’s victims advocate, said cases like the one Sunday discussed show that previous efforts have worked in helping identify victims. However, more work remains to be done.

“We’re here to craft a more trauma-informed justice system,” she said.

published here with permission of The Center Square

The Satanic Temple Asks White House Faith Advisor to Pay for Abortions

SALEM, MASSACHUSETTS

(January 2020)– The Satanic Temple, a nontheistic religious group representing Satanists around the world, sent a letter to Pastor Paula White, who is serving as one of President Trump’s religious advisors. White recently gained media attention, and social media amusement, when she publicly prayed for God to forcibly end “Satanic pregnancies.”

Gloucestercitynews.net files

The Satanic Temple has taken her up on her prayers and asked the 53-year-old millionaire televangelist Pastor White to fund abortions for ten of its members.

“It was a surprise to us that this conservative pastor is boldly in favor of God terminating pregnancies,” says Satanic Temple co-founder Lucien Greaves, “but we are glad to learn that she’s coming around on the science, which clearly shows that the only person with rights in this equation is the pregnant woman.”

The Satanic Temple asserts that its mission “is to encourage benevolence and empathy among all people, [and] reject tyrannical authority,” has over 100k members around the world, many of whom come from Christian backgrounds.

“We are not against religion,” says Greaves. “In fact, we are officially a church in the United States. What we are against is tyranny. We are glad to learn that the pastor agrees.”

The Satanic Temple has been at the forefront of the fight to protect the reproductive rights of its members and launched a campaign to provide religious exemptions from many of the laws that do not promote health and safety. More information on this can be found at

religiousreproductiverights.com

About The Satanic Temple

The mission of The Satanic Temple is to encourage benevolence and empathy among all people, reject tyrannical authority, advocate practical common sense and justice, and be directed by the human conscience to undertake noble pursuits guided by the individual will. More information can be found at

www.thesatanictemple.com

Illegal Alien Arrested for DUI Receives Cash Settlement from Sanctuary City

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Laguna Beach

, California-

-In the latest example of sanctuary madness, a U.S. city is awarding an illegal immigrant with a

cash settlement

because police detained him for federal authorities after being arrested for driving under the influence. The 29-year-old perpetrator, Edgar Torres Gutierrez, eventually pled guilty to a lesser charge of reckless driving and his pro bono attorneys from a nearby public university sued the city for violating his Constitutional rights as well as a statewide sanctuary law. Under the agreement, Gutierrez will receive $18,750 from taxpayers in the California coastal municipality where he lives illegally. Local police officers will also be forced to watch a training video involving sanctuary measures for the next two years.

Even for a famously liberal state this seems to be a bit much. The unbelievable incident occurred in Laguna Beach, a southern California town of about 23,000 residents. In the summer of 2018, Gutierrez was arrested and jailed by Laguna Beach Police on suspicion of driving under the influence. The law enforcement agency held him at the request of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) so the feds could take custody. In all, Gutierrez spent around 15 hours in Laguna Beach Police custody and several more hours in a Los Angeles immigrant detention facility, according to a local

news report.

Apparently, Gutierrez wasn’t deported because he is protected by an Obama-era amnesty program, known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) that temporarily shields illegal immigrants that came to the U.S. as children. Government figures show that more than100,000 illegal immigrants who have requested DACA have serious

criminal histories

that include murder, rape and assault charges.

Imagine if every American city paid each of them a settlement for cooperating with federal authorities. Gutierrez came to the U.S. illegally from Mexico when he was three and takes responsibility for the “actions” that led to his arrest. He said this in one local

news report

: “I acknowledge that and I am at fault for that and I am dealing with the consequences of that.” However, the illegal immigrant added that police should not be working with ICE to deport undocumented aliens like him who are protected under DACA. He is calling on fellow illegal immigrants to speak up and come forward when they feel there’s been an injustice or if their “rights” have been violated. After taking a victory lap, his publicly-funded lawyers filed another complaint this week with the Laguna Beach Police Department that will require more taxpayer resources to defend.

Emboldened by sanctuary policies and open-borders groups that offer free legal representation, a growing number of illegal immigrants are filing lawsuit demanding rights in the U.S. Last year seven illegal immigrants detained in a workplace raid

sued

the federal agents that arrested them, claiming that they were racially profiled for being Latino. In a federal court

complaint

their pro bono attorneys asserted that ICE agents violated the illegal aliens’ Constitutional rights against illegal seizures and to equal protection under the Fourth and Fifth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. Months earlier a separate lawsuit resulted in a federal court

ruling

that illegal immigrants can sue American employers that refuse to hire them because they require workers to be U.S. citizens or legal residents (green card holders).

The movement has also gained tremendous momentum as leftist groups flex their muscle to pressure local municipalities to protect illegal immigrants. A few years ago, Judicial Watch obtained

records

documenting how Arizona’s largest city became a sanctuary after its police chief held a private meeting with an influential leftist group ordering a change in immigration enforcement. The documents show that Phoenix Police Chief Jeri Williams quietly implemented a policy banning officers from contacting the feds after arresting an illegal alien following a secret meeting with the director of a leftist group demanding protections for illegal aliens. The agreement also forbids Phoenix police officers from asking about suspects’ immigration status.

source:

Judicialwatch.org

Law Banning Plastic Bags Released – Will Go Into Effect 18 Months from Signing

Trenton, NJ (January 30, 2020)–The plastic bag ban bill, S864 (Smith/Greenstein), was released by the Senate Environment and Energy Committee today, January 30, 2020. The bill prohibits the

provision or sale of single-use plastic carryout bags, single-use paper carryout bags, and polystyrene foam food service products. It also limits the provision of single-use plastic straws and appropriates moneys from the Clean Communities Program Fund for public education. The bill was amended to go into effect 18 months after it is signed for plastic bags, paper bags, and polystyrene, and 1 year for straws.

“Today, the battle to stop plastics begins all over again. Now that this bill has left the committee, it is critical to get this bill passed as soon as possible. Every day of delay means that more plastics are getting into our environment and into us. This is the most comprehensive plastic bill in the nation because it bans paper bags as well as single-use plastic bags. This legislation is critical because it could make New Jersey a national leader in going after plastics and protecting our environment,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “We have been fighting to get this bill passed for over two years. Given the delays, it is important that they have changed the effective date to 18 months instead of 2 years. It is critical that our legislators push this bill through quickly, because the longer we delay the worse our plastic problem gets.”

Last year, the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) found that the use of thick ‘reusable’ plastic bags in the UK increased from 960 million in 2018 to 1.5 billion 2019, likely a direct result of a country-wide single use plastic bag ban. This shows that consumers are using thicker plastic bags in the same disposable manner as single-use plastic bags, because they are being regularly replaced. The study recommended banning thick plastic bags entirely to effectively reduce plastic waste for the UK.

“This legislation is critical because it bans so-called ‘reusable’ thick plastic bags as well as single-use bags. There has been a push for these fake reusable bags to replace thin plastic bags, but these bags do not work. Places that replace single-use plastic with these ‘bags for life’ still find piles of them in the garbage or polluting the environment. Because they are thicker and woven with fine plastic fibers, they only increase our plastic waste problem and become microplastics that enter our water supplies and food chain,” said Jeff Tittel. “We need to ban plastics, but these thicker plastic bags would only continue to clog our storm drains, kill our wildlife, and pollute our drinking water. We are glad that this legislation will protect us from all plastics, regardless of thickness.”

Bans on plastic have proven to be effective. For example, Los Angeles County saw a 94 percent reduction in single-use bags after implementing a ban. This included a 30 percent reduction in paper bag use with a 10-cent fee on other bags. In San Jose, they saw an 89 percent decrease of bags in storm drains, 60 percent fewer in creeks, and 59 percent fewer in streets.

“This is an important day for the state of New Jersey. This bill will help protect our rivers and streams from plastic that not only hurts the environment but also endangers our wildlife and public health. Without this legislation, plastics will continue to kill whales and get into our environment and into us. Microplastics have already been found near our drinking water supply, so we could literally be drinking plastic. Plastic bags have been known to clog storm drains and fill up detention basins, affecting our water quality. Animals, especially birds, get strangled and suffocated by plastic bags,” said Tittel. “This bill is important because it will ban polystyrene containers and single-use plastic bags, including fake thick plastic reusable bags, and will allow paper bags to be used during the transition before banning those as well.”

This is the first bill in the country that would ban paper bags in addition to single-use plastic bags. So far, eight states have banned single-use plastic bags, including California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, New York, Oregon, and Vermont. In New Jersey, towns like Paramus, Bayonne, Lambertville, Avalon, Belmar, Hoboken, Jersey City, and Teaneck are all passing plastic bag ban ordinances.

“This legislation is a major step forward in dealing with single-use plastic bags as well as polystyrene and plastic straws. Polystyrene is dangerous to human health because it contains carcinogenic chemicals such as benzene and styrene, and it has been found in breast milk. It is harmful to the environment because it is not recyclable and does not degrade. Plastic straws pollute our oceans and beaches. Last year, New Jersey found that more than 80% of their trash is plastic and found an increase in plastic straw waste by 59%,” said Jeff Tittel, “By reducing how much plastic we use, we can also reduce fracking and fossil fuel use. Plastics are made from natural gas, which means more fossil fuel use, more pipelines, and more fracking.”

Plastics have become a bigger and bigger problem that affects our environment. Rutgers scientists found densities of about 28,000 to more than 3 million plastic particles per square kilometer in the Passaic and Raritan Rivers. Beach sweeps in New Jersey found that beaches from Monmouth County down to Cape May County have micro plastics in the ocean and on the beach.

“Now that this bill has left committee, our legislators need to pass it as quickly as possible because this is landmark legislation for New Jersey when it comes to plastics. People are fed up with plastic pollution filling up their storm drains and threatening their drinking water. 38 towns in New Jersey already have plastic bans in effect, 18 have passed ordinances that are not yet in effect, and dozens more are in the process. New Jersey’s Legislature needs to stand up and be as bold as places like Jersey City and Sea Bright. We need this comprehensive statewide ban to combat our plastic pollution effectively,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “Our Legislature must work quickly to get this to the governor\’s desk to sign before our plastic waste problem gets worse. We cannot afford to wait any longer.”

source NJ Sierra Club

Camden County Republicans Hope Pelosi Can Clear Up Questions Surrounding Barclay

HADDON HEIGHTS – Upon learning Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi is coming to Camden County to help Congressman Donald Norcross kick off his re-election campaign next month Camden County Republican Chairman Rich Ambrosino said, “It was nice of the Speaker to provide us with advance notice of her visit to Camden County. It gives us time to plan a warm welcome. I hope she likes it.”

“It is my sincere hope that while Congresswoman Pelosi is here she can help us clear some things up,” Rich Ambrosino said. “For example, we’ve been dealing with the situation around former Assemblyman Arthur Barclay since the summer of 2018. Last September, I recalled that Congressman Norcross said, ‘This type of behavior is unacceptable under any circumstances,’ and asked that the Congressman join me in calling for the Camden County machine Democrats to stop protecting Arthur Barclay and explain how Barclay was transferred to a new job after resigning from the Assembly for ‘health reasons.’ Norcross, like every other Democrat in the state, has remained silent on that issue.”

Ambrosino added, “I’m sure, Pelosi, such a huge #MeToo advocate, might want to know how a man who admitted to punching his girlfriend in the face still has a county job. She might also ask why Norcross, with the influence he has as a member of Congress, has done nothing to get answers as to how someone he said displayed unacceptable behavior ‘under any circumstances’ was transferred to a new job in County government.”

“After getting answers to the Barclay situation maybe Congresswoman Pelosi can find out where the ‘thousands of jobs’ are Norcross

promised

would be created when he bragged about leading ‘the charge on getting the Economic Opportunity Act passed into law.’” Ambrosino said, “The Congresswoman can simply write her answers on a note and drop it out the car window to me when she arrives for her event with Norcross. I’ll be out there with many other Republicans to welcome her to Camden County. I’ll be the guy holding a Trump sign!”

Hindus seek apology for College of New Jersey paper labelling Hinduism as “unforgiving”

Upset Hindus are urging for apology from The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) in Ewing for its student newspaper stating “Hinduism is an unforgiving religion”.

It was highly inappropriate and insensitive for the newspaper of a “Top Public College” funded by tax dollars and student fees (many of whom were Hindu) to belittle Hinduism, world’s oldest and third largest religion with about 1.1 billion adherents and a rich philosophical thought; Hindu statesman Rajan Zed said in Nevada today.

Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, urged New Jersey Secretary of Higher Education Zakiya Smith Ellis to launch an enquiry into it; TCNJ Trustees Chair Susanne Svizeny and President Dr. Kathryn A. Foster to offer a formal apology to the Hindu community; and TCNJ to withdraw January 29 (Spring 2020 No. 1) print edition of “The Signal” from various campus locations and remove the objectionable feature article from its online edition.

Such an unwarranted and derogatory statement against a religion coming out of a public educational institution was really shocking for the hard-working, harmonious and peaceful Hindu community; which had made lot of contributions to New Jersey, USA and society in general; and continued to do so; Rajan Zed added.

Is this how TCNJ accomplishes its Mission of developing “responsible citizens”, Vision of serving “as a national exemplar of public higher education”, Values of \”treat each other with civility and respect\” and “committed to building a diverse and inclusive community\”; Zed wonders.

Rajan Zed further said that Hindus were for free speech and artistic expression as much as anybody else if not more. But faith was something sacred and attempts at trivializing it hurt the devotees.

The feature-article, which begins with “Hinduism is an unforgiving religion”, written by \”Nation & World Editor\” of award-winning “The Signal” (among the oldest collegiate weeklies, since 1855) is dated January 27, 2020. Emmy Liederman is Editor-in-Chief.

“Highly selective” awards-winning TCNJ, on 289 tree-lined acres, enrolls about 7,400 graduate and undergraduate students and offers over 50 programs.

There are about three million Hindus in USA. New Jersey reportedly has the highest percentage of Hindus in the nation.