JerseySmarts.com

Start the Weekend Right Link Series – Volume #2, Edition #2

Joe — Fri, 05 Sep 2014 12:30:07 +0000

Here’s hoping that you enjoyed last week’s return of the Start the Weekend Right Link Series. And just like last week I’ve got a bunch of great links for you to consider to begin this weekend with all of the knowledge that you need to know and, of course, to spread around to your friends. Just think, you’ll be the most impressive person at this weekend’s BBQ or football game because your mind will be packed full of the great content that I have to share with you today!

Granted, you’ll have to read these links in order to be the one with all of the knowledge. But today is Friday and you’ve worked hard all week – so kick back, relax, and fill your mind with some good reading.

Before we get to the links this week I again recommend signing up for a free Feedly account. I get absolutely no kickback for promoting Feedly, but I’m so appreciative of their product being the best RSS reader on the market that I encourage everyone to use it. If you’re using another RSS aggregator, please consider following JerseySmarts.com at http://www.jerseysmarts.com/feed/. If you’re already on Feedly, then you can follow us by clicking here. And away we go!

The Downfall of Being A Cool Kid, Be Great Daily
Back in January 2003, I was a college senior who just rolled off of two straight years of being the President of my fraternity. During those two years we did a lot of really great, transformational things to help improve the chapter and all of that experience was floating around my head needing an outlet. Our volunteer regional director decided to host a regional development workshop for the undergraduates from around New Jersey right at my home chapter and he asked me to speak. One of the major points in my presentation during that workshop was the concept that is covered in this article. My spin on it was that members of our fraternity shouldn’t try to be the “cool” kid in the chapter; they should strive to be the most active, productive member of the chapter! Give this article a read – I love the message!

The “Perfect” Salary for Happiness, by State, Lifehacker
You may remember a long while ago when I wrote about the Princeton University study suggesting that an income of $75,000 was all that was needed to be happy. The study suggested that after you earn $75,000 per year, earning more money doesn’t necessarily add more happiness. Well, that study has now been adjusted on a state-by-state level and, as the rest of my fellow New Jerseyans already know, everything is more expensive in New Jersey. In the great Garden State, our “happiness” number is $95,700 per year… so get to work, everyone!

Cash, Wall Street Playboys
In keeping with the theme of money, the guys over at Wall Street Playboys put together a great article about how you should view cash. There’s even a short guest appearance by the Oracle himself, Warren Buffet. In particular, I like their perspective on cash flow being king and time equaling money.

How Do We Fix the Ivy League?, The American Conservative
Those of you who are not involved in education may not be aware that grade school, high school, and college classes all started this week. In recognition of the college classes starting this week I’m posting this link which I found incredibly thought-provoking. The American Conservative looks at what the problem is with the Ivy League admissions process and proposes some suggestions to improve the system. If you have an interest in higher education and truly finding ways to improve the system for coming generations, then I think you want to read this article.

Journalists Misunderstanding What “Literally” Means, Patriactionary
This one is short and sweet. The writer of Patriactionary points out a journalistic mistake that makes this English major shake his head in exasperation.

A Morning in the Life of Victor Pride (Video), Bold & Determined
I read a small group of optimistic, empowering websites that focus on giving young men the type of inspiration that they need to become their best selves. One of my favorite sites in this group is Bold & Determined and I think that this short video and the accompanying commentary are a great example why I rank this site so highly on my list. I encourage everyone, especially the younger guys who might be reading this series, to check out Bold & Determined.

Four Ways to Spot a Great Teacher, The Wall Street Journal
This is a great article. With school back in session this week I’ve noticed some of the New Jersey-centric online newspapers publishing their all-too-common anti-education reform bashing articles. In fact, one of them posted an op-ed from a far left professor who bashed all of the reform movements that are popular in New Jersey (popular because they work) and the guy didn’t give a single fact to back his perspective. Not one fact. Talking about good, high quality education in New Jersey can be very frustrating, but this article attempts to get to the core of the issue. What makes a good teacher great? This article gives four great indicators of a great teacher.

The Healing: Victim of Brutal Beating Meets Attacker 25 Years Later, The Saturday Evening Post
This article starts out with a guy recounting how he was tossed out of his home as a kid for coming out as gay. He then talks about being homeless before he tells a story about nearly being beaten to death. Of course, this wouldn’t be something for The Saturday Evening Post to publish unless there was a newsworthy twist. And that twist is that the guy who was nearly killed coincidentally wound up meeting – and working with – the guy who perpetrated the attack. While I wasn’t as moved by this article as I’m sure some folks were when they read it, I was interested enough in the story and the weird way that coincidences tend to work out to share the link here for your consideration.

Before you go, I want to recommend one more time that you consider opening a free Feedly account. You can follow JerseySmarts.com on Feedly or you can add us to your existing RSS aggregator. Enjoy!

Abraham Lincoln Event in Newark, More

Joe — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 16:54:44 +0000

The other day I received some information on two events taking place in Newark at the end of October that I wanted to share with you all. You can read the information that I received below – if anyone decides to go to these events, please feel free to send me a report to post on the blog!

On behalf of the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, we wanted to let you and your organization know about two upcoming events that may be of interest to you.

On October 28, respected photographer Deborah Willis will unveil and discuss her new work entitled “Lincoln as Monument, Lincoln as Icon.” Held at the Essex County Historic Courthouse, this event will explore the various depictions of Abraham Lincoln in art and photography. Using examples ranging from the 1870s to the present, Willis will lead the audience in a discussion of this iconic American figure, and how changing artistic depictions of him have impacted public perception.

In addition to the presentation and discussion, attendees have the unique opportunity to take docent-led tours through the Historic Courthouse, and even take a photo with the Borglum statue of Abraham Lincoln prior to the presentation.

Deborah Willis’ show is also a wonderful opportunity for attendees and community members to familiarize themselves with Lincoln and his legacy prior to our town hall discussion on November 12 at the Newark Museum. A panel of esteemed speakers, including Pedro A. Noguera, Executive Director of the Metropolitan Center for Urban Education, Jeff Johnson, award-winning journalist, social activist and political commentator, and James O. Horton, Historian Emeritus at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, will lead a stimulating discussion on the topic of “The Humane City: Race, Ethnicity and Freedom in Urban America.”

Panelists will discuss issues surrounding our urban communities today, and how we can collectively utilize the resources available in those communities to work towards a more successful future. This event seeks to critically examine the current situation in urban America when viewed through the lens of differences in race and ethnicity, while bringing together a group of scholars who are willing to give their recommendations for how communities in urban America can best achieve their collective potential.

Both events are free and open to the public, but an RSVP is required. Please visit http://lincolnliveson.com/ for more information or to RSVP.

You can also connect with us and join the discussion today through Facebook http://facebook.com/Abraham.Lincoln.Bicentennial.Commission and Twitter http://twitter.com/lincoln200yrs.

Please share this information with other members of your organization, and anyone else that you believe may enjoy this opportunity. We hope that you will join us for these important and exciting events.

Again, if anyone decides to go to either of these events, please feel free to send us a report!

A Little Late on this One, But Why Not?

Joe — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 15:04:41 +0000

Okay, so I’m about ten days late on this entry to the blog – my apologies. The topic of this entry is the tea party events that took place on April 15th as a sign of disgust with the increasing number of taxes that Americans are being asked to pay. I didn’t attend any of these tea parties (even though one was taking place literally one block away from my office), but I did watch the coverage on the news and I engaged in a lot of post-party reading on the internet.

Of all the reports that struck me, the one that made me go wide-eyed the most was the one of the woman from CNN who claimed that she was being harassed at the tea party which was anti-tax and, “anti-CNN.” Anti-CNN? Really? If you watch the video, you’ll notice that this woman was being rude and arrogant to the people in the crowd – not letting them finish answers to her questions and cutting them off. Frankly, she was being an all-around asshole. The term “self-important bitch” comes to mind when I watch the video. And for those of you who suggest that she had every right to berate the guy with the anti-Obama sign remember two things. First, she’s a journalist and what she believes is best saved for an op-ed, not a news report. Second, this same woman attended a parade a few years ago held by those on the far left of the political spectrum and laughed and condoned an image of President George W. Bush as Adolf Hitler.

Fair and balanced? Definitely not so on CNN.

As she was saying this I couldn’t help but think of that episode of Family Guy where Peter secedes from the union and founds the country of Petoria. At one point during the episode, Tom Tucker is reporting live from the scene and starts saying how bad it was and how it was a full-out war between the United States and Petoria…then the camera pans towards him and you see him making the gunfire noises with plastic bubble paper and rocket noises with a slide whistle! It seems that the fictional Tom Tucker and the real world “reporter” from CNN went to the same journalism school!

Anyway, the Constitution Party came out with an e-mail to those on its e-mail list saying the following:

We suggest you now send your emails to CNN Executive Vice President Ken Jautz : ken.jautz@cnn.com and Philip Kent, the Chairman and CEO of CNN: phil.kent@turner.com

Let Susan’s boss know you’re not going to let off the hook a left-wing activist with a mic who was denouncing a legitimate and honest political movement by hard working Americans. Remind the CNN honchos that there were close to one million attendees at the tea parties.

Now, I normally don’t go putting up these types of e-mails on this blog, but I think that this particular message has some resounding value. It’s really ridiculous that CNN would put such a biased, arrogant report on the air. I was one of the many people who moved away from FOX News’ coverage of the Presidential campaign and over to CNN because they just had better coverage this year. However, now that I see such blatant bias, I really can’t stick with CNN as my “flip to” channel. It’s back to FOX News for me – where, believe it or not, they are much more “fair and balanced” than the dummies at CNN.