Join Newark students in mass rally & boycott for local control on Mon. Nov 4

Newark Student Union/No ChristiebuttonsThe Newark Students Union (NSU) organized a massive 1,000 student walkout last April and on Monday Nov 4, they will stage another mass boycott demanding that quality education be returned to Newark. The students want Gov. Christie to fund schools at court ordered levels and to repair school buildings, which are currently unsafe – two legal obligations which Christie has refused to honor. Spread the word about the rally and be there if you can. The social media hashtag is #npsboycott.

Boycott & Rally to Protest Gov. Christie’s Control of Newark Public Schools
November 4 2013 @ 9am
30 Clinton Street in Newark NJ
read more

How to vote in NJ before Election Day

We can vote early in NJ even though we don’t have what is technically called “early voting,” because we can vote by paper ballot. There are three ways to vote early the week before Election Day:
Be informed - vote

Mail in the Application to Vote by Mail.

  • Application must be received by the Tuesday before Election Day (7 days before Election Day).
  • Your paper ballot will be delivered to you by the USPS.
  • Fill out and send back the paper ballot by USPS, and your 100% full-fledged, legal vote will be cast.
  • To be counted, the ballot must be received by the Board of Elections by 8pm on Election Day.
  • read more

    New Jersey Voter Resources & Rights

    Voting Rights

    Resources

    Voting Rights in New Jersey

    Brennan Center for Justice Student Voting Guide Voter’s Rights Handbook published by New Jersey State. League of Women Voter’s New Jersey Voter and Election Guide ACLU Know Your Voting Rights Voting Information and Voting Rights Identification Request: if you’re a first-time voter you may be asked for identification.

    Most New Jersey voters do not need to show ID when voting. However, if you are a first-time New Jersey voter who registered by mail, and election officials could not verify your identifying numbers (your New Jersey driver’s license or ID number or the last four digits of your Social Security number), you will have to provide proof of identification, either at the polls or anytime before Election Day.

    Sufficient proof of identity includes any current and valid photo ID, or a copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck, car registration, non-photo driver’s license, rent receipt, sample ballot, utility bill (including cell phone and student housing bills), or other government document that shows the name and address of the voter.
    Brennan Center for Justice read more

    GOTV tools & voting options for NJ Election Tues Nov 5 2013

    Vote Pledge Card

    I have developed some tools to help motivate people to vote in this important election. In this post are Vote Pledge Cards you can download – they are a major component of the toolkit. And this is the GOTV plan in a nutshell (as of 10 days before the election):

    The goal for this week is to get people thinking and talking about voting in New Jersey. Talking about putting a governor and other elected officials in office who will help us bring back our cities … about how and where they’re going to cast their vote … and about how WE CAN VOTE OURSELVES A RAISE this election. Voters who are busy or have children to watch, might want to consider which voting option makes most sense for them. To find out where your vote polling location is, check your voter registration card, Look it up online or call your town/city clerk. Do you need a ride or can you give one? Here are the voting options New Jersey voters have:
    • Voters can mail applications to Vote by Mail until Monday Oct 28. Mailed applications need to be in their County Clerk’s office by Tuesday Oct 29.
    • Download a Vote by Mail application online for Bergen County, Essex County, Passaic County or anywhere in NJ.
    • Through Monday Oct 28, voters can mail in Vote by Mail applications. If the application arrives at the County Clerk’s office by Tuesday Oct 29, a BALLOT will be mailed to their home.
    • Through Tuesday Oct 29, voters can drop Vote by Mail applications off to their County Clerk and get a BALLOT mailed to their home.
    • Until 3pm on Monday Nov 4 (day before Election Day) voters can obtain Vote by Mail BALLOTS at the County Clerk’s office;
    • And through Tuesday Nov 5 (Election Day) Vote by Mail BALLOTS obtained in person or through the mail can be handed in at the County Board of Elections office.
    • Remember, a Vote by Mail BALLOT vote is counted as a regular vote in exactly the same way a vote cast in a polling place voting machine is counted.
    • Voters can vote at the polls on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov 5.
    Vote Pledge Cards Start a conversation about voting with friends, family and anyone else you chat with by asking them to pledge to vote by filling in a VOTE PLEDGE CARD (pdf). The cards are conveniently arranged 4 on a sheet for easy printing and cutting.
    NJ 2013 Vote Pledge Cards 4 on sheet for printing
    NJ 2013 Vote Pledge Cards 4 on sheet for printing

    Will remind people they can vote themselves a raise this election by voting YES on Question 2 to raise the minimum wage to $8.25/hr (about $2000 per year).

  • Vote Pledge Cards will help people think through when and where they’re going to cast their vote.
  • They will help you capture contact information and reach out to make sure people fill in their Vote by Mail BALLOT when it arrives and send them back right away, or think through when and how they will vote in person at the County Clerk’s office or at the polls.
  • Vote Pledge Cards will help connect people with a ride to vote if they need one.
  • They will identify drivers who can bring voters to the County Clerk’s Office to vote, and who can help with GOTV on Nov 5.
  • Vote Pledge Cards will help identify canvassers who are available work on door to door GOTV (Get Out The Vote) from Friday Nov 1 through Tuesday Nov 5.
  • On Election Day, we will be doing door to door GOTV, reminding people to vote and offering rides to the polls to as many people as possible. Remember to ask pledges if they can help and to contact @ivanwei or @kimiwei when you identify someone who wants to volunteer!
  • New Jersey Voter FAQ
    These instruction ©2013 Kimi Wei & TheWei.com read more

    Yardstick

    There must be another yardstick by which we measure success in life. Money and power are not doing the job.

    Advice to credit union: Don’t delete SM posts. Get the basics right.

    Yelp complaint re First Jersey CU (larger)

    I can’t find the complaint I posted on First Jersey Credit Union‘s Facebook page about needing help after trying for months to unsubscribe from USPS mailings but not being able to, so I guess they deleted it. But my post did its job and I got a call from my branch manager today.

    Yelp complaint re First Jersey CU (larger)I had already phoned about this issue a couple of times and been told there was nothing anyone could do to help me. I insisted because I’m a greenie and want to save trees and then back in July, one lady gave me the number to their IT vendor and told me to call them for help. I didn’t, though, mostly because I don’t get paid to troubleshoot the CU’s website issues. read more

    Heat map shows how NJ voted in $24 million special election

    Heat map of Oct 16 NJ Special Election results

    NJ Senate Election Heat Map

    County-by-county voter data for special NJ Senate election on Oct. 16, 2013 shows how NJ voted in today’s $24 million special election designed to make sure Cory Booker won without Christie losing. Counties showing more blue had greater support for Democratic candidate Cory Booker. Counties showing more red had greater support for Republican Steve Lonegan.

    Issues, news and fact checking for NJ’s 2013 election season

    THIS ELECTION VOTE YOURSELF A RAISE! Vote YES on the ballot referendum to raise the NJ minimum wage to $8.25/hr

    Also in the 2013 election cycle, all of New Jersey’s state level positions are up for election including Assembly, State Senate seats and the governorship. Federal and state elected officials have the ability to make changes to improve, approve or eradicate the issues listed below. Your vote and your voice make them accountable so be sure to vote. (Download issues flyer).

    Vision test - VOTE

    • Protect the constitutional right of every US citizen to have one vote and get it counted
    • Fund and enact The Amistad Act which calls for racially accurate history to be taught in NJ schools
    • Food justice: eradicate urban food deserts and barriers to home & community gardening; ban of genetically modified foods (GMOs); make college food healthier and more affordable
    • Reverse Citizens United ruling that gives corporations the status of personhood
    • Take big money out of general elections (see rootstrikers.org)
    • Save the open internet and protect it from takeover and control by corporate interests (see savetheinternet.com)
    • Ban prison based gerrymandering which causes prison inmates’ families to lose government resources in their home states and counties
    • Stop privatization of schools, prisons, nursing homes and food services
    • Moratorium on foreclosures to protect 1 in 4 Black &Latino families who are in danger of losing their homes
    • Hold banks accountable for wrongful foreclosures, charging Blacks and Latinos higher mortgage interest rates, refusing to renegotiate underwater mortgages; and failing to provide maintenance on foreclosed homes – which contributes to the creation of urban blight zones
    • Lower US prison population. We incarcerate almost 1% of American citizens, about 2.5 million individuals, whom are mostly Latinos and African Americans
    • Protect civil rights including: ban racial profiling, stop unfounded searches and halt incarceration of non- criminal undocumented immigrants
    • Achieve diversity of court justices on every level of the judicial system
    • Transition to a green economy and protect clean air, water and the environment. Prevent climate change.
    • Provide help to families with homes in foreclosure, the unemployed and the hungry
    • Protect women’s health, lives, career opportunities; and the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act
    • Hold major corporation and government agencies accountable for diversity in hiring and the awarding of small business contracts
    • Make minimum wage equal a living wage and protect American jobs. Vote yes to the NJ 2013 ballot referen- dum to raise min wage to $8.25/hr!
    • Expand the scope of the new federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau which offers important protec- tions including: financial institutions may not enact excessive credit rate hikes or provide misleading informa- tion about credit terms and fees
    • Support for women and minority students wishing to enter STEM fields
    • Protect Obamacare and fund affordable community health centers
    • Continue the Deferred Action program & pass the DREAM Act for undocumented immigrant youth; enact comprehensive immigration reform
    • Increase support for Historically Black Colleges and Minority Serving Institutions and protect public education
    • End government subsidies to big banks and dirty fuel companies. Invest more in public education and health.
    • Maintain affordable interest rates on student loans (impacts 140,000 NJ students) and lower college tuition.
    • Increase the amount of Pell grant dollars available for low-income studentsTrack Congressional bills

    FACT CHECK & OTHER USEFUL RESOURCES read more

    Attend info session for NJ’s non-violent fugitive Safe Surrender program

    Fugitive_Surrender foto imgTwo information sessions for November’s Fugitive Safe Surrender program are being held 6:30-8:30pm on Thursday, Oct. 17 in Hackensack and Tuesday, Oct. 22 in Paterson, NJ. Faith workers, community and re-entry advocates, criminal justice students and attorney volunteers will want to attend a session to learn directly from experts handling the program, what it can do for non-violent offender law fugitives. Volunteer needs and opportunities will also be discussed. Law and criminal justice student volunteers will gain valuable insights into the legal system and CE credits will be issued to attorney volunteers. read more

    Booker now, or run a real Dem next year?

    Bob Braun says,

    (Disliking Lonegan) is not a great reason to vote for Booker. If Lonegan wins, he takes the seat now occupied by Christie’s Republican choice, Chiesa, and it doesn’t affect the balance in the senate. But next year, a real Democrat can be nominated who has not alienated much of the party. Booker is losing ground because the absentee mayor of an imploding city who is against public education and for private school vouchers doesn’t make for a real good Democratic candidate–and he probably wouldn’t have been nominated if Christie hadn’t interfered with the election cycle. read more

    Great words from the great Maya Angelou

    Maya Angelou

    A poem and some very good thoughts from Dr. Maya Angelou, a woman I admire so. Thanks Yulie for passing them along to me.

    Maya AngelouTO A PHENOMENAL WOMAN
    by Maya Angelou

    When I was in my younger days,
    I weighed a few pounds less,
    I needn’t hold my tummy in
    to wear a belted dress.

    But now that I am older,
    I’ve set my body free;
    There’s comfort of elastic
    Where once my waist would be.

    Inventor of those high-heeled shoes
    My feet have not forgiven;
    I have to wear a nine now,
    But used to wear a seven. read more

    Does this guy look like a budding farmer or what?

    Ivan Wei with late fall crop

    Here’s Ivan Wei with a late summer crop of veggies from our community garden plot. He’s holding Swiss Chard, tomatoes, basil (for rooting indoors), a few hot peppers and broccoli. Yummmmm! His Swiss Chard is off the hook, I’m going to cook it up right now with some chicken sausage and mushrooms.

    Ivan Wei with late fall crop