On the same day that NJ governor Chris Christie
announced that he has nominated an openly gay African-American Republican mayor to the state’s highest court, Washington state's legislature has
announced that they have the votes to pass the same sex-marriage bill that the governor has already promised to sign. Washington will be the seventh state to have same sex marriages.
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posted by roomthreeseventeen
on Jan 23, 2012 -
70 comments
"Imagine if you had never been homeless before and you'd just lost your job and you lost your home. What would you do? Would you immediately go begging or knocking on a door? No, you would downsize, move into cheaper accommodations, if that did not work you'd move in with friends or relatives and then you'd move into a cheap motel and then ... where would you want to go before winding up at a shelter door? You would much prefer to live at a park with your family and your dog." ... "In just about every major city, there are tent cities. Unfortunately, we're in a growth industry and the numbers are going to continue." -- Michael Stoop, a community organizer for the
National Coalition for the Homeless, explaining that the
surge in American tent city shantytowns, first highlighted on MeFi in 2008/09:
1,
2,
3, has not slowed.
The Great Recession: Life in Tent City, Lakewood NJ /
Photo Gallery /
Video.
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posted by zarq
on Nov 10, 2011 -
40 comments
Autistic and Seeking a Place in the World. Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times reporter Amy Harmon spent a year observing a young man with autism named Justin Canha, who took part in a new kind of “transition to adulthood” program for special education students at Montclair High School in NJ. The experimental program was intended to ready him for an independent life as an adult and integrate him into the community.
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posted by zarq
on Sep 18, 2011 -
26 comments
Years ago, Jane and Michael Stern authored
Amazing America, a fabulous book about roadside America, which was one of my favorite references for something novel to see while traveling in the US. The New Jersey section is far too brief. Thank you
Weird NJ for filling in the gap.
posted by plinth
on Jun 6, 2005 -
9 comments
"e-filing" your land transactions - could it streamline a process that is quite cumbersome? 11 of the 21 counties in New Jersey are working to convert their current paper-based system of filings to an electronic format. Some say it would lower mortgage costs and time constraints because of the movement of paper. Some say it's a disaster waiting to happen. I think it would be an excellent move and would give NJ some first mover status (I think?) to be proud of.
posted by djspicerack
on Dec 23, 2002 -
5 comments
Virtual Community to the Rescue!
Two small towns next to a forest preserve, South Orange and Maplewood New Jersey, are unique in many respects. Unfortunately for a group of cons, the towns also have something many do not: an active
virtual community.
When a door-to-door salesman's visit left one resident suspicious, she did some digging and found out it was a scam. So she alerted the police and posted a warning to the towns' message boards. Several other residents had been victims, too, but word spread quickly...
What's your story of MeFite sisters and brothers to the rescue?
from Design for Community
posted by planetkyoto
on Jul 13, 2002 -
5 comments
