New research at the University of Oregon finds that the level of aggression between partners around the time when a child is born impacts how a mom will be parenting three years later. the study — published in the Journal of Family Psychology — is …
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The 28-year-old beauty has previously explained nobody has ever had a bigger impact on her life than her 'little man' Flynn, as motherhood put the rest of her life 'into perspective'. Miranda said: 'I'd say what makes me happy is having this little man …
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Monsters and Critics.com
JOHN MUNSON/THE STAR-LEDGERThe late Les Paul performs at the Iridium in New York. Will he make the next round of our rock pop hall?
This is not meant to be a complete list — space wouldn’t allow — but here are some candidates for future classes of the hall, listed in alphabetical order. I have not included artists who were born in New Jersey but moved away young, like Paul Simon.
(NOTE: FOR THIS YEAR’S LIST OF INDUCTEES CLICK HERE).
Adrenalin O.D., Elmwood Park. Punk band specializing in fast, funny songs.
Trey Anastasio, Princeton. Mind-bending guitarist for jam band Phish.
Mary J. Blige, Alpine. Grew up in New York but had her biggest successes while living here.
Blues Traveler, Princeton. Jam band led by harmonica virtuoso John Popper.
The Bongos, Hoboken. Alt-rock/power-pop band helped launch the Hoboken rock scene.
The Bouncing Souls, New Brunswick. Mainstays of the local punk scene.
Celia Cruz, Fort Lee. Salsa legend grew up in Cuba but lived here for many years.
Dean and Robert DeLeo, Point Pleasant Beach. Brothers play guitar and bass, respectively, for Stone Temple Pilots.
The Duprees, Jersey City. Had major doo-wop hits such as “you Belong to Me” and “have you Heard.”
Donald Fagen, Passaic. Created unique brand of jazz-rock with Steely Dan, one of the most commercially successful bands of the ’70s.
The Feelies, Haledon. very influential on alt-rock scene in late ’70s and early ’80s.
Connie Francis, Newark. a pop sensation in the late ’50s and early ’60s with hits such as “Who’s sorry Now?” and “where the Boys are.”
The Gaslight Anthem, New Brunswick. still too early for serious consideration, but this is a band with infinite potential.
Gloria Gaynor, Newark. Sang disco classics like “I Will Survive” and “Never Can Say Goodbye.”
Lesley Gore, Tenafly. Had string of memorable hits in early ’60s (“It’s My Party,” “Judy’s Turn to Cry”).
Debbie Harry, Hawthorne. Glamorous frontwoman of new-wave band Blondie.
Cissy Houston, Newark. Sang backup for Aretha, Elvis and countless others and had hits of her own with the Sweet Inspirations.
Janis Ian, East Orange. Brought social issues to the pop charts with hits “Society’s Child” and “at Seventeen.”
The Isley Brothers, Teaneck. Originally from Cincinnati but based here at the height of their R&B hit-making fame.
The Jonas Brothers, Wyckoff. Effervescent Disney-backed pop sensation of the 2000s.
Don Kirshner, Livingston, South Orange, New Vernon. the legendary impresario grew up in the Bronx but spent most of his life here.
Queen Latifah, Newark, Irvington, East Orange. Socially conscious rapper and Academy Award-nominated actress (for role in musical “Chicago”).
Lifetime, New Brunswick. Cited by many hardcore punk and emo bands as a major influence.
The Misfits, Lodi. Created genre of horror-punk in the late-’70s and launched the solo career of frontman Glenn Danzig.
The Monotones, Newark. asked “Who wrote the book of love” in indelible 1958 hit, “the Book of Love.”
Melba Moore, Newark. Grammy-nominated recording artist and Tony-winning actress best known for starring in musicals like “Purlie” and “Hair.”
My Chemical Romance, Belleville and Kearny. Fiery alt-rock band known for its ambitious concept albums.
Naughty By Nature, East Orange. Hip-hop trio with anthemic hits “Hip Hop Hooray” and “O.P.P.”Overkill, old Bridge. the state’s leading contribution to the thrash-metal scene.
P.M. Dawn, Jersey City. took hip-hop in a new direction in the early ’90s with spiritually inclined lyrics and rapturous pop melodies.
Les Paul, Mahwah. One of the key figures in the development of the solid-body electric guitar and a pop star in his own right in the ’50s (as part of a duo with his wife, singer Mary Ford).
The Rascals, Garfield and Jersey City. Archetypal blue-eyed soul group was only partly from New Jersey, with frontman Felix Cavaliere hailing from New York.
Redman, Newark. Successfully branched out from rapping to co-star in movies and television with the Wu-Tang Clan’s Method Man.
John Scher, West Orange. New Jersey’s leading concert promoter for many years.
Adam Schlesinger, Montclair. Bassist-songwriter for ingenious power-pop band Fountains of Wayne. Deserves to be on this list just for naming his band after a Jersey store.
Skid Row, Toms River. Hard-rock band broke through in ’89 with quintuple-platinum debut album and hit singles “18 and Life” and “I Remember you.”
Patti Smith, Deptford Township. Like Debbie Harry, punk poet Smith found her muse in New York, but grew up here.
Phoebe Snow, Teaneck. Brilliant vocalist capable of jazzy subtlety and earthshaking R&B power.
The Sugarhill Gang, Englewood. showed the world the commercial potential of hip-hop with “Rapper’s Delight.”
Symphony X, Middletown. Progressive-metal group has a particularly strong following overseas.
Joe Walsh, Montclair. Singer-songwriter-guitarist has had major hits on his own and with the Eagles and the James Gang.
Thursday, New Brunswick. Band started out at New Brunswick basement shows and became one of the most popular bands on the post-hard-core circuit.
Yo La Tengo, Hoboken. since the late ’80s, the most prominent band in the Hoboken alt-rock scene.
Related story:
• An interactive timeline of New Jersey rock and pop history
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Inside a Voodoo Gede ceremony Religion News Students ran, hid as gunman opened fire in Calif. Bulgarian Muslims recall communist repression Egypt Brotherhood candidate stirs unease Austrian cardinal OKs gay man for parish council Pope, just back from trip, celebrates Palm Sunday APNewsbreak: Wyo. tribe blasts bald eagle permit Casting revealed for John Patrick Shanley play Court upholds time limit for clergy abuse claims France bars Muslim clerics from entering France Mexico senators approve religious reform 
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — One wounded woman cowered in the bushes after the gunman opened fire on the campus of a small Christian university. One student hid in a locked classroom as the shooter banged on the door. Another heard the shots and ran to safety.
All within an hour Monday, police said, a 43-year-old former student named One L. Goh walked into Oikos University, and began a rampage that left seven people dead and three people wounded, trapped some in the building and forced others to flee for their lives.
It was an “extremely chaotic scene,” police Chief Howard Jordan said.
Soon after the shooting, heavily armed officers swarmed the tiny college of fewer than 100 students in a large industrial park near the Oakland airport. for a time, police believed the gunman could still be inside. but he wasn’t.
Instead, officers said he apparently drove about three miles from campus before surrendering to officers inside a supermarket.
“It’s going to take us a few days to put the pieces together,” Jordan said. “We do not have a motive.”
Those connected to the school, including the founder and several students, described the gunman as a former nursing student. The chief said Goh is a South Korean national who’s a former student of the university.
Police first received a 911 call at 10:33 a.m. reporting a woman on the ground bleeding. as more calls came in from the school, the first arriving officer found a victim suffering from a life-threatening gunshot wound, he said.
More officers arrived and formed a perimeter around the school on the belief that the suspect was still inside, he said.
“Potential victims remained inside the building either trapped by a locked door which officers were unable to open,” Jordan said. others were unable to flee because they were injured, he said.
Jordan said there were about 35 people in or near the building when gunfire broke out. of the seven fatalities, five died at the scene and another two at the hospital. The wounded victims are in stable condition, and at least one person has been released from the hospital.
“This unprecedented tragedy was shocking and senseless,” Jordan said.
Art Richards said he was driving by the university on his way to pick up a friend when he spotted a woman hiding in the bushes. he pulled over, and when he approached her, she said, “I’m shot” and showed him her arm.
“She had a piece of her arm hanging out,” Richards said, noting that she was wounded near the elbow.
As police arrived, Richards said he heard 10 gunshots coming from inside the building. The female victim told him that she saw the gunman shoot one person point-blank in the chest and one in the head.
Tashi Wangchuk, whose wife attended the school and witnessed the shooting, said he was told by police that the gunman first shot a woman at the front desk, then continued shooting randomly in classrooms.
Wangchuk said his wife, Dechen Wangzom, was in her vocational nursing class when she heard gunshots. She locked the door and turned off the lights, Wangchuk said he was told by his wife, who was still being questioned by police Monday afternoon.
The gunman “banged on the door several times and started shooting outside and left,” he said. Wangchuk said no one was hurt inside his wife’s classroom, but that the gunman shot out the glass in the door. he said she did not know the man.
“She’s a hero,” he said of his wife.
Television footage showed bloodied victims on stretchers being loaded into ambulances. Several bodies covered in sheets were laid out on a patch of grass at the school. One body could be seen being loaded into a van.
Myung soon Ma, the school’s secretary, said she could not provide any details about what happened at the private school, which serves the Korean community with courses from theology to Asian medicine.
“I feel really sad, so I cannot talk right now,” she said, speaking from her home.
At Highland Hospital, Dawinder Kaur’s family told the Oakland Tribune that she was being treated for a gunshot to her elbow.
The 19-year-old U.S. Army Reservist told her family that that the gunman was a student in her nursing class who had been absent for months before returning Monday. The gunman entered the classroom and ordered students to line up against the wall.
When he showed his gun, students began running and he opened fire, her family said.
“She told me that a guy went crazy and she got shot,” brother Paul Singh told the newspaper. “She was running. She was crying; she was bleeding, it was wrong.”
Pastor Jong Kim, who founded the school about 10 years ago, told the newspaper that he did not know if the shooter was expelled or dropped out. Kim said he heard about 30 rapid-fire gunshots in the building.
“I stayed in my office,” he said.
Deborah Lee, who was in an English language class, said she heard five to six gunshots at first. “The teacher said, `Run,’ and we run,” she said. “I was OK, because I know God protects me. I’m not afraid of him.”
Goh fled from the school in a Honda Accord that belonged to one of the victims, Jordan told the San Francisco Chronicle. The suspect was detained at a Safeway supermarket about three miles from the university, about an hour after the shooting.
A security guard at the supermarket approached the man because he was acting suspiciously, KGO-TV reported. The man told the guard that he needed to talk to police because he shot people, and the guard called authorities.
“He didn’t look like he had a sign of relief on him. he didn’t look like he had much of any emotion on his face,” said Lisa Resler, who was buying fruit at Safeway with her 4-year-old daughter when she saw the man.
Goh also called his father soon after the shooting and told him what happened, the police chief said. The father also called authorities, Jordan said.
Police went to the Westlake Christian Terrace senior housing complex on Monday afternoon to speak with a relative of Goh, Nam Ko Young, who’s believed to be the man’s father, said Young’s neighbor, Barbara Ferguson. Young was seen leaving with police Monday afternoon. A staff member was sent to shut the television blaring news in the empty apartment, Ferguson said.
Ferguson said she’s seen Goh and Young in the lobby and exchanged hellos in the past but that she doesn’t know them well.
The suspect’s brother was killed in a car accident last year in Virginia while on active duty in the U.S. Army, according to Stars and Stripes newspaper. The suspect attended the funeral of Sgt. Su Wan Ko in Centreville, Va., after the March 8, 2011, accident.
Jerry Sung, the university’s accountant, said the school offers courses in both Korean and English to less than 100 students. he said the campus consists of one building. Sung said many of its students go on to work in nursing and ministry.
“The founder felt there was a need for theology and nursing courses for Korean-Americans who were newer to the community,” Sung said. “He felt they would feel more comfortable if they had Korean-American professors.”
Associated Press writers Louise Chu, Garance Burke and Marcus Wohlsen in San Francisco contributed to this report.
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Effective upon Mr. Bryan(eqnx:)s retirement, James J. Schiro will be the Board(eqnx:)s new Lead Director and Chair of the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee. Mr. Schiro has served as a director since May 2009 and as Chair of the Audit …
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Associated Press
DENVER — Notre Dame is back in the national championship thanks to Skylar Diggins’ steady leadership and Brittany Mallory’s clutch shooting.Diggins scored 19 points, Mallory hit two big 3-pointers in overtime and the Irish beat Connecticut 83-75 on Sunday night.the two hooked up for a game-turning play in overtime when Diggins stood her ground on a fast break, blocked the shot to prevent the Huskies from retaking the lead, then fed Mallory at the other end for her second important 3.”That was game-saving. that was huge,” Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw said. “That would have turned it around if they made that layup. she sprinted the floor, made that huge play. It gave us such a big momentum lift, and Britt hitting that 3 made it a huge play.”Notre Dame (35-3) also beat the Huskies (33-5) in the semifinals last year, ending Maya Moore’s brilliant career and the Huskies’ bid for a third straight national championship. But Notre Dame stumbled 48 hours later, losing to Texas A&M in the title game in Indianapolis.Unfinished business has been their mantra all season, and now they get a chance to take care of business Tuesday night against Baylor, a 59-47 winner over Stanford in the other semifinal match.the game was tied at 67 after regulation following an 8-2 run by UConn that was fueled by a series of hustle plays from Kelly Faris, who had a steal and a basket and four free throws in the final 90 seconds.the Huskies, who were led by Stefanie Dolson’s 20 points despite foul trouble, stretched their run to 11-3 when Bria Hartley opened the extra period with a 3-pointer.the Huskies had the ball again after a missed free throw but Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis fired up an off-target 3-pointer early in the shot clock and UConn never recovered.Diggins’ best play came on defense. with Notre Dame clinging to a 73-72 lead, the Huskies had a 2-on-1 fast break but Diggins held her ground and blocked Hartley’s layup attempt, and the Irish scored the next eight points to ice it.”We put ourselves in a position to win the game,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. “The last two minutes, minute and a-half of regulation were pretty amazing. As most games do, it turned on one great play by a great player.”In overtime we didn’t have enough. we took a chance on making it difficult, but Brittany Mallory made two huge shots. That’s who we wanted to take the shots, and God bless her, she made them.”Mallory was 0 for 4 from behind the arc in regulation.”It was a big sigh of relief when that first one went in,” she said.Mallory’s back-to-back 3s and a free throw pushed Notre Dame to a 77-72 lead.”My teammates just kept talking to me, ‘You’re going to hit a shot. You’re going to hit a shot,’ ” said Mallory, who had seven of her 11 points in OT. “I was getting a little down on myself and I just happened to keep finding the 3-point line and my teammates found me and they couldn’t have come at a better time.”Out of sync, the Huskies kept firing up misses and the Irish grabbed the boards, then hit all six of their free throws over the final 32 seconds. “I am euphoric right now for Brittany Mallory,” McGraw said. “What a way for senior to come through in one of the last games of her career.”Natalie Novosel led the Irish with 20 points, including her follow-up hook shot with 4.6 seconds left in regulation that tied it after Diggins’ shot was off.”It was a whirlwind,” Novosel said. “Two turnovers from each team. Sky was going to take them off the dribble and we were going to work off of her. I was fortunate the ball came right to me and I was able to put it in.”Even though the Huskies were unable to get off a shot in the final few seconds of regulation, they were the ones who were excited heading into overtime.”I thought we had a lot of momentum,” Hartley said. “There was a lot of excitement and we felt good going into the overtime. It didn’t work out.”Thanks mostly to Mallory, who was just 1 for 11 from long range during the NCAA tournament before making the pair of big 3s in overtime.”That’s her leadership and next-play attitude,” Kayla McBride said. “She had no hesitation and we all had confidence in her.”Devereaux Peters added 17 points and 12 rebounds for the Irish, who also knocked out UConn in the semifinals in 2001, when they won their only national title.this was the eighth game between the bitter Big East rivals in the last 14 months. the Huskies are 20-2 in the NCAA tournament since 2009 and both of those losses have been to Notre Dame.Hartley had 18 points for the Huskies, who were wearing blue at the Final four for the first time since 2004, their more familiar white uniforms packed away because the Irish were the higher seed.”We put ourselves in a position to win at the end,” Faris said. “We didn’t have enough to finish it off.”And the Irish had Diggins and Mallory to finish off the Huskies.
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Seven people are dead and three are injured after a gunman entered a classroom at an independent university in Oakland this morning and opened fire, according to Oakland police.
Some reports indicated the suspect was a student, but the founder of Oikos University, where about 30 shots were fired, described the alleged gunman as a former nursing student.
Police captured the suspect in a shopping mall parking lot in Alameda, Calif.
Oikos University’s “vision,” as described on its website, is to “educate emerging Christian leaders.” the university includes schools of theology, nursing, music and Asian medicine.
Updated at 7:10 p.m. ET:
Police are promising a news conference on the shooting at 6 p.m. California time, 9 p.m. ET, that you can watch live on the KRON television website.
The station is reporting that the suspected gunman in the incident was in class when the incident took place and that he stood up and started shooting.
Updated at 5:51 p.m. ET:
KTVU television spoke with a witness to this morning’s shooting, who said the gunman had recently been kicked out of a class at Oikos University.
Student Debra Lee, 25, who is from China, said she was in an ESL class when she heard a series of four or five pops that sounded like firecrackers, KTVU reports.
Her teacher left to see what was going on and then, she said, she heard a voice yell, “Someone has a gun!”
The teacher told the students to run and they left the room and the building, Lee said.
Also, the associated Press reports local police spokeswoman Cynthia Perkins says the death toll is at seven. Perkins did not release any other details about the victims, but said officials plan a news conference later.
Updated at 5:45 p.m. ET:
AP reports that the death toll in this morning’s school shooting in Oakland has risen to seven.
Updated at 4:59 p.m. ET:
Oakland City Council President Larry Reid says he has been told by the police chief that the death toll in this morning’s incident has risen to six, the associated Press is reporting.
One news organization quotes a police source as saying that as many as six may now be dead.
“We believe that six have been pronounced dead at this time,” KITV quotes Sgt. Christopher Bolton of the Oakland Police Department as saying.
Updated at 4:51 p.m. ET:
Before being captured, the gunman allegedly walked into a Safeway grocery store and told someone that he’d just shot several people, KTVU reports.
Updated at 3:58 p.m. ET:
Pastor Jong Kim, the founder of Oikos University, says about 30 shots were fired in the incident and he described the suspect as a former nursing student at the school, The Oakland Tribune reports.
He founded the school about 10 years ago, according to the Tribune.
Updated at 3:44 p.m. ET:
Police report that the suspect, a student, was captured in the parking lot of a shopping mall near Alameda, Calif., KTVU reports.
Updated at 3:37 p.m. ET:
Five people have died after a gunman opened fire in a classroom at Oikos University near the Oakland International Airport, according to KTVU television.
Updated at 3:26 p.m ET:
Up to several people may have been killed in the incident, The Oakland Tribune is reporting. the Tribune also reports the suspect is in custody.
Police described the suspect as a student, according to KTVU.
Updated at 3:15 p.m. ET:
A local law enforcement representative held an impromptu press conference on television just now and called the situation “active and fluid.” the name of the officer, who appeared on CNN, was not available.
The SWAT team is evacuating the building, she said. “Our priority is evacuations. If anyone needs medical attention, that is a priority.”
She added that it is unknown whether the gunman is still inside the building or if he fled before officers arrived. Police are interviewing witnesses to see if anyone knows the suspect.
“We want to make sure we catch him as soon as possible,” the spokeswoman said.
Updated at 3:10 p.m. ET:
Police have shut down streets in the area of the shooting, and also locked down an office building, The Oakland Tribune reports.
Along with reports of one person dead and at least four injured people removed from the building and taken away by ambulance, the Tribune reports more people are being triaged outside of the building, which is located in a warehouse area near Oakland International Airport.
Updated at 3:01 p.m. ET:
Police say as many as eight people may have been shot in an incident this morning at Oikos University in Oakland that has left at least one person dead, The Oakland Tribune reports.
Authorities say two people have been shot in the head, several victims have been loaded into ambulances and the deceased victim was lying on the sidewalk covered in tarp, KTVU television station is reporting.
Updated at 2:56 p.m. ET:
At least one person is dead and several have been injured in a shooting at a small independent university in Oakland, according to KTVU television station.
The shooting took place at Oikos University, near Oakland International Airport, after a gunman walked into a classroom and opened fire, KTVU reports.
The Oakland fire Department received the first call regarding the incident at 10:50 a.m. local time, according to KTVU.
Four wounded people have been brought out of the building, according to The Oakland Tribune.
Police describe the suspect, who may be in the area, as male, Asian, with a heavy build and wearing khaki clothing, the Tribune reports.
Oikos is a Christian medical university, according to the Tribune.
The school’s website says its main goal is “to foster spiritual Christian leaders who abide by God’s intentions and to expand God’s nation through them.”
Original post:
A shooting at a religious school in Oakland, Calif., has left several people wounded, the associated Press reports. the suspect is still on the scene, AP says.
It's that time of year again: those delightful jangly tones are in the air offering sweetness in the form of frozen delights, and in response, like dogs trained by Pavlov, children are screaming for ice cream. And parents of Park Slope and its neighboring environs are screaming, as well, except in outrage. The seasonal shots have been fired; the war against the ice cream man, dormant for the winter, is alive again.
although the New York Post would have you believe this battle is a new one, it is years old, going back to 2009, when it was written about in the The new York Times, and even earlier, perhaps even before the Internet, perhaps to a time when frozen sugar was first created and sold from trucks on the streets. But certainly since 2006, at least, parents have hated the ice cream man. With a passion. There is plenty of Internet-accessible proof:
I HATE THE ICE CREAM MAN !!!!! (September 2011, Babycenter)
so I WAS having a nice, relaxing time in the shade in my backyard and then…. The sound every parent hates… The ice cream man… my DS runs to me.. " you pomised mommy". so I waddle my big whale ass in the house… Scrambling for cash… Of course I have no cash! so I frantically look for quarters, I found 2 quarters and the rest was nickles and dimes (really, its 2011 everyone excepts visa lol) all this time my DS is freaking out and I hear the ice cream man closer and closer…. We jet outside, my pants falling off and my shirt riding up… School just got out so all these jr high kids are looking at me. Almost to the ice cream van and…. He drives off… my DS starts to cry so now I'm determined to get him an ice cream… Well the freaking guys stops like half a block away so I grab DS's hand and we start jogging… We are 10 feet away and he drives off again! I start yelling for him to wait. Well then he stopped about another half block away so we jogg a little more and this time he started driving off when we were like 6 feet away! I was so pissed! I yelled so loud and he stopped so fast his brakes screetched. I finally got there… I asked him why he didn't stop and all he said was "which one"! I said starwberry shortcake and gave him a handful of change… I gracefully waddled my big body back to my house a block away… With the worse pain I've felt in a while! Just thought I'd share…
I Hate the Ice Cream Truck (May 2009, Momlogic)
as sure as the sun will rise tomorrow, a Mister Softee truck will be planted outside that playground fence waiting for my 2-year-old. What follows is one of two scenarios: a mid-morning tantrum or a pre-nap sugar high. Sadly (for my son), the former is usually the result.
Why, oh why, is that ice cream truck camped out at a playground? I was under the impression that a playground was a place where little people got some exercise, not an outdoor cafeteria where they tanked up on empty calories.
Role Daddy: The Ice Cream Man (July 2010, Rolemommy.com)
as a parent? I FREAKIN' HATE the ice cream truck! HATE! HATE HATE HATE!! It's about the biggest instigator of discord in all my family. I think he's following me around, knows my schedule with the kids and our standard meal times and does everything he possibly can to accost us right before lunch and dinner almost every day from May through August each year. He sneaks up on us, too. You're about to try and get your kid seated before a plate of good-for-you lightly-steamed vegetables when this truck comes darting up filled with Chipwiches. it is not complementary to the mission. it is a disaster. And I take offense to it.
i hate the ice cream man. (March, 2006, Flickr)
if you have the option to buy a house across the street from a park, don't. lest you too will hate the ice cream man.
as soon as it is remotely nice outside 2-3 dueling trucks circle the freaking park from the crack of dawn until the last sliver of light is squeezed from the day…blasting their dissonant tunes. by the beginning of june i am plotting the murder of all 3 drivers.
Proof The Ice Cream Man Is The fifth Horseman Of The Apocolypse (July 2009, BlondeMomBlog)
It’s just the ice cream man, our ice cream man, has horrific timing. He always drives by blaring his annoying cheerful ice cream man van music just as we are sitting down for dinner, and I have a difficult enough time achieving dinnertime Zen, thank you very much (shakes fist in the air). either that or he cruises through our subdivision when literally the only money I have on me is 72 sticky cents, usually with a pony tail holder thrown in for good measure, in the cup holder of my car. this is a guaranteed formula for a whine fest since I have to deny the girls ice cream. It’s gotten so bad that I’ve actually shut our front door if I so much as hear the cheerful carnival type music in the distance, not that our front door and storm door really seal out the noise that much. Plus there’s something in me that just can’t quite fork over a couple of dollars for an orange push up out on our front lawn when I can turn around, walk into my house, open the freezer, and raid an entire box that cost less.
Getting tough on mr. Softee: Parents bitter trucks stop at schools, parks (May 2009, new York Daily News)
"It's one thing if they're just in the neighborhood, but to be here by contract [with the city], they might as well be selling drugs."
And from that New York Times piece from 2009:
Vicki Sell, mother of 3-year-old Katherine, tenses when the vendor starts ringing his little bell, over and over, hoping her daughter doesn’t have the typical Pavlovian response."
ever since Katherine had an inconsolable meltdown about not being able to have a treat, Ms. Sell has been trying to have unlicensed vendors ousted from the park. she has repeatedly called the city’s 311 complaint hot line, joining parents nationwide who can’t stand the icy man or his motorized big brother, the ice cream man.
Later, to the joy of many, it was revealed that Ms. Sell was the owner of The Chip Shop, a fish and chip joint on fifth Avenue in Park Slope, that "will fry just about anything that can be battered and placed on a wooden stick!" Hypocrisy!
With all this historical conflict, it's no surprise that once again, in a particularly warm year, the skirmishes have begun again, though this year bears the promise of even more epic levels of outrage, since it's only April 2. Sell is not quoted in the latest anti-ice-cream-man article, but there are others who have taken her place. Michael Gartland writes in the Post, "along with the first truly beautiful day of the year, my son and I had our first ruined day at the playground,” the poster named Sarah somberly recounted. “Two different people came into the actual playground with ice cream/Italian ice push carts. I was able to avoid it for a little while but eventually I left with a crying 4-year-old.”
If a 4-year-old is crying, it's time to ban something! Yet dissenting parents, likely brainwashed by excessive ice cream eating themselves, say this is just a part of life, and surely there's something to tempt your child wherever you look, whether it's fresh kale at the farmer's market, babyccinos, or a delightful artisanal cheese plate. The defense from the side of the ice cream man has been minimally reported, but one vendor named Frankie, quoted in 2009 by the Daily News (after being compared to a drug pusher) said, "We're not pushing anybody to eat ice cream. as a parent, you have to know how to say no."
But why learn "no" when "ban" slips off the tongue just as easily in the same exact number of deliciously sugary syllables?
somebody needs a nap.
want to add to this story? Let us know in comments or send an email to the author at jdoll at theatlantic dot com. you can share ideas for stories on the Open Wire. Jen Doll
by Laura Cox
PUBLISHED: 23:42 EST, 24 March 2012 | UPDATED: 00:55 EST, 25 March 2012
Two members of teaching staff have been suspended from a California elementary school after they were accused of duct taping a special needs student’s mouth shut.
The fifth grade teacher and her assistant allegedly held the boy’s arms behind his back, and covered his mouth with the tape as punishment for ‘talking too much’ during a special educational needs class at John Cabrillo High School, Sacramento.
The parents of the 10-year-old, named only as Floyd, filed a police report this morning and said that they want to see the teachers in question removed from their positions at the school.
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Distressed: The boy’s parents filed a police report following the alleged abuse and have said they want to see the teacher sacked
Floyd’s mom, Laurie Silva, told Fox News: ‘I don’t want her to be able to teach again,’ adding that her son was humiliated and embarrassed by his ordeal.
His dad, Floyd Vargas, added: ‘He’s pacing the house, chewing his nails, asking “am I going to be in trouble when I go back to school? am I going to lose recesses? Will people mistreat me?”
‘I understand taking recesses or time-outs, but not taping a student’s mouth shut because he spoke out in class.’
Abuse: Floyd’s hands were allegedly held down by one member of staff while another put duct tape over his mouth after he spoke out in class
Humiliating: The alleged incident took place in a special educational needs class at John Cabrillo High School, Sacramento, California
Vargas and Silva told how they found out about the alleged abuse after a fellow student went home so distressed by what he had seen take place in the classroom that he told his mom who then contacted the school.
The principle got in touch with the couple at home to explain what had supposedly happened.
Sacramento Police have opened an investigation into the teachers’ alleged behaviour but no charges have been filed as of yet.
In a statement, school district spokesman Gabe Ross wrote: ‘The safety of students is our top priority and, should these allegations prove true, the school and the district will take the strongest possible action against these individuals.’
It has been two months since I made a craft post. WHAT?! I swear I am working hard. It’s just that my current project is hard. It makes me crazy some days. I completed a sizable section the other day. And promptly was disappointed in it so I threw it away. I have no problem throwing away projects that are not up to par and starting over. When I give a crafted gift, it must be near perfect. It has to be something that I can be proud of, and that the person will actually enjoy receiving. Not just some average level crochet project that any fifth grader could have made. For the last two months as I learn this pattern and work it out, I have crocheted, ripped stitches, crocheted, stuffed, unstuffed, reworked, and then just dumped it in the trash (it’s a stuffed toy which is why I stuffed it). Luckily as I restarted tonight with a new attitude and a complete understanding of the pattern, it’s coming together. It looks tighter and straighter in my stitches. I am finally pleased. I may still find a way to go from hating the difficulty level of this project to actually enjoying it. So the lesson for all neophyte crafters – or even seasoned ones who hit a bump – just keep going! Start over if need be, but don’t give in. Anything is within your ability – I know this because I firmly believe anything is firmly within my crafting abilities. And this week my mom is coming and we’ll spend large amounts of time crocheting together. So, yeah, that’ll keep me going and happy.