Some campaign issues from Sen. Clinton

For New Jersey Democrats who will be making a choice pretty soon about the national candidate for president, here is a piece of video, found at YouTube, to help with some positions by Sen. Clinton.

New Year's throughout the Garden State

NJ.com has some great listings for what's going on and when for New Year's Eve. Click on the headline to go there.

Jets move toward booze ban

The Jets banned alcohol at the game today. Not a bad idea, but not exactly the normative tailgating experience. Click on the headline and go to NJ.com.

Caption: Not Jets Head Coach Eric Mangini

Giants make it a match during gridiron match-up

For updates on the Patriots-Giants game, click on the headline to go to NFL.com.

The Giants have posted the game of their season, and deserve a lot of credit for the way they are playing during the most celebrated "meaningless" game of the past 25 years.

AP writes about how to earn money in blogging

Great article by AP about blogging. Click on the headline and go there.

Something a little funny for Christmas

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.

A nice Christmas song remembering some special people

This was a really nice sentiment, brought by the folks over at YouTube.

Giants garner place in the post-season

The New York Giants have clinched a place in the playoffs. Their next opponent and last of the regular season will be the thus-far undefeated New England Patriots next week. This year's appearance in the post-season will mark the third time that Head Coach Tom Coughlin has brought the N.Y. Football Giants into the Playoffs.

While the usual course of events might mean Big Blue goes one and done, hopes are high that Eli and Co. go farther into the post-season this time.

Click on the headline and go there.

Towns reorganize after the new year

Click on the headline to go to an APP story about when area towns reorganize during 2008.

Merry Christmas and happy New Year!

PSE&G receives former journalism luminary

The Politicker (formerly PoliticsNJ) wrote about how Trenton GOP publicist Mike Jennings, among others, are losing their jobs. Jennings is going to PSE&G.

I vividly recall when Jennings got the GOP job. He was working for the Trenton Times a few years ago, as the Statehouse Bureau chief. I had referred a story over to Peter Callas, the managing editor of the Trenton Times, about a potential political conflict-of-interest matter involving at least one Monmouth legislator and the Aberdeen-Matawan Train Station situation. Mr. Callas, an editor of great repute in this state, referred the story over to Mr. Jennings.

I gave Jennings the readers' digest version of the story and, very motivated about "getting down to the tough questions with the GOP" after extensive interviews with the former Aberdeen manager, Mark Coren, he said he was going to head off to interview the legislator involved to get his side of the story.

Mr. Jennings had stated his firm conviction a story was there. He had accessed ELEC reports involved in the matter, official communications in the train station matter and had made at least one visit from Trenton to Aberdeen about this issue. My understanding was he had his facts.

Maybe I was confused when he said he was interviewing the legislator, and the 'interview' was a job interview (when he was going to ask those "tough questions"). But, a few weeks after Mr. Jennings was going to get the legislator's side of the story, it was announced on PoliticsNJ.com that Mr. Jennings was accepting a job as spokesman for the GOP Senate Caucus (where the legislator was a member). I can only think it was an amazing interview -- transformative.

For example, that interview transformed Mr. Jennings from a reporter with a lot of credibility with me, to someone with not a lot of it. The story got shelved, by and large, and Mr. Jennings got his job. I was acquainted with him during this process, and it is really interesting how, at the outset of the story he never said he was interviewing with the Senate GOP Caucus for a job (while doing a story about one of its members). You'd think it would have come up.

Merry Christmas to Mike Jennings and all the great people who have worked so hard to give Jersey the reputation it so richly deserves.

Click on the headline to go to the Politicker story with Mr. Jennings in it.

Gene Autry's "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer"

Gene Autry's Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, brought to you by YouTube.

Mike Huckabee's Christmas message

Ex-Arkansas Gov. and GOP Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee's Christmas message.

Christmas message from Hillary Clinton

Here's a Christmas message from Democratic candidate for President Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Season's Greeting From Ron Paul

Season's Greeting from GOP Presidential candidate Ron Paul

Skate park fate: What's next?

Courier Senior Staff Writer Alyssa Passeggio has posted about thge Atlantic Highlands Skate Park project on the blog at BayshoreNewsBlog.Blogspot.com. Click on the headline to go there.

“EMBEDDED GIVING” LEGISLATION INTRODUCED BY SEN. MENENDEZ

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 19, 2007

CONTACTS:
Afshin Mohamadi (Menendez) 202-224-4744


As retailers increasingly promise to make donations upon purchase, legislation would make sure the money goes where it is promised

WASHINGTON – Today, Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) introduced legislation to make sure that retailers’ charitable donation promises are kept.

Shoppers this holiday season have seen plenty of promotions from retailers promising to make a donation to a particular charity upon purchase. However, this so-called “embedded giving” lacks transparency – in fact, some charities contacted recently by reporters were not even aware that they had been listed as recipients by retailers.

Menendez’s Protecting the Spirit of Giving Act would do the following:

· Require retailers to notify a charity if they intend to use the charity’s name or logo to sell or market a product or donate proceeds from a product;
· Ensure that charities consent to their name or logo being used to market a product;
· Provide consumers with additional information about how their money will benefit a designated charity, including the portion of the item’s price that will be passed on to the charity and if there is any maximum amount that a retailer will be providing a charity

“In this season of giving, so many consumers want to be charitable, are enthusiastic about retailers promising to donate and expect those donations to be made,” said Senator Menendez. “The retailers who fulfill their promises are to be commended – they are doing a noble deed. But all retailers have to know that charity should never be used solely as a sales pitch. When consumers open their wallets, they should have the comfort of knowing that their good intentions will be protected and that their donations will benefit the intended cause. Shining more sunlight on this practice will help us confirm that retailers are giving what they promise, and that’s the purpose of this bill.”

Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN) is an original co-sponsor of the bill. Embedded giving was a topic discussed last week at a Senate Banking Committee hearing on Financial Literacy for the Holiday Season.

# # #

Afshin Mohamadi
Press Secretary
Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ)
202-224-4744
For the latest news from Sen. Menendez, including video and audio updates, visit http://menendez.senate.gov/

Giuliani gets clean bill of health from St. Louis hospital

Former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani was treated and released at a St. Louis hospital. Meanwhile, GOP contender Mitt Romney starts to close the distance with Giuliani. Click on the headline to go to a Daily News story about it by David Saltonstall.

Novak pens good column about Huckabee in NY Post

Robert Novak from the NY Post has a great piece today about "Baptists Split Over Huck," referring to ex-Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. Huckabee is an ordained Baptist minister and many relious-minded people, including Judge Paul Pressler, have some issues with Huckabee.

Huckabee's "base" is going to be those who are involved with religion, and since he is a Baptist it is inevitable that those of Baptist faith (among others) are going to need to be supportive of him in order for him to do well on the Campaign Trail. The feeling from at least some mainstream Christians is that faith is thrown around too freely by politicians, many of whom use religion as a punchline rather than as a true statement of belief.

While I do not agree with many, or maybe even any, of Rev. Hackabee's political or policy choices, I do not believe (based on what I have read or seen about him thus far) that he is using religion in the same old way as many of his political brethren. I do feel he is being honest and forthright about his religious beliefs, which he freely admits colors his proposed policies.

Whether or not someone agrees or disagrees with Rev. Huckabees policies, I do not think he should be docked too heavily for at least being honest about how he came up with them.

Click on the headline to go to Mr. Novak's column, which is usually excellent and worth reading.

Records storage is offered to 53 municipalities

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
December 19 , 2007

Free space provided at Monmouth County Archives and Record Center

FREEHOLD – Clerk M. Claire French has announced a new way for Monmouth County municipalities to protect their most valuable historical records. Free storage space at the Monmouth County Archives and Records Center, Manalapan, is being offered to all 53 municipalities.

At a recent government records workshop, Ms. French said each town would be provided with up to 10 cubic feet of space to store their valuable historical records. Monmouth County Archives and Records Center is located at the Monmouth County Library Headquarters in Manalapan.

The space is made possible by a PARIS grant from the state Division of Archives and Records Management. The grant funded a program called MR-MARC, which is an acronym for Municipal Records at the Monmouth County Archives and Records Center. The grant enabled the county records center to expand its storage capacity through compact shelving.

“We were so pleased with the extra space,” Ms. French stated. “We want to share it with Monmouth’s municipalities, which often do not have the facilities for archival storage. Historical records stored by the County will be secure and the Archives staff will be able to retrieve them for researchers in the Jane Clayton Research Room.”

The Public Archives and Records Infrastructure Support (PARIS) grants are funded by fees collected by the County Clerk for recording documents such as deed and mortgages, and are used to improve records management at the county and local level.

The Borough of Rumson has already indicated it wants to be the first municipal participant in MR-MARC. Tom Rogers, borough clerk/administrator said Rumson became actively engaged in a review of the borough’s municipal and historical records four years ago. With the hiring of a part-time records management consultant/archivist, Elsalyn Palmisano of Long Branch, Rumson was able to identify materials for destruction and those for microfilming.

“In conjunction with Rumson’s centennial this year, our most treasured historical records were rediscovered and many will be deposited in the County Archives, such as microfilm of our town, minute books, ordinance books, newsletters, and photographs,” Rogers said. “We are very pleased that the County will be offering us this service and to know that our materials are being stored in the facility with the proper environmental conditions.”

Rumson will be delivering records to the Archives in March 2008, when MR-MARC goes operational.

County Archivist Gary D. Saretzky said, “I’m hopeful that many of Monmouth’s other 52 municipalities will take advantage of MR-MARC, so that researchers who come to the Archives to use county government records will also have access to local government records such as town minutes and vital statistics books, which are very valuable to family historians.”

Where feasible, Saretzky plans to digitize the records so they can be backed up and used on-line on the County’s Open Public Records Search (OPRS) system, which is viewable online at http://oprs.co.monmouth.nj.us/oprs/index.aspx. The original records, he said, will remain the property of the municipalities, and DARM will approve each transfer agreement.

Karl J. Niederer, director of the State Division of Archives and Records Management, hailed Monmouth County’s initiative.

“County Clerk Claire French’s offer to house the permanent records of all 53 municipalities in Monmouth exemplifies the kind of strong commitment to intergovernmental shared services that is the hallmark of my division’s PARIS Grants Program,” Niederer said. “Gov. Corzine consistently stresses the importance of shared services between local governments in controlling rising property taxes, and today Monmouth County is taking a significant step toward realizing that goal. The Monmouth County Archives is already one of the finest institutions of its kind.”

Mike Huckabee and where he stands

I disagree with Mike Huckabee on nearly every issue he has going. But I will say is that he lays out what is on his mind pretty well. In addition, his actual faith seems sincere, and his record of serving that faith is also present and clear. In many ways, this is refreshing. This is a long YouTube, but if a Republican is interested in finding out more about Gov. Huckabee, it's a good one.