Hyper Local News Pages

Thursday, February 12, 2009

2/12/09 20-Year-Old Greenwich Man Busted In Town Hall Thursday Afternoon With A Knife



Debra Friedman
Staff Writer
Posted: 02/12/2009 09:46:18 PM
Kristopher P. Chimblo, of 13 Harold St., Cos Cob, was arrested at 12:10 p.m. after police received a report of a knife-wielding man, according to police.

"Someone observed him exiting a rest room with a knife in his hand and putting it in his pocket," said Lt. Daniel Allen of the Greenwich Police Department.

Plain-clothes officers, already stationed at Town Hall for the announcement of municipal employee layoffs, and uniformed officers found Chimblo and a three-inch switchblade on him, police said.

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2/12/09 The Raw Greenwich Blog Feed

Bloggers Who Are From, Work In Or Used To Live In Greenwich .....

Everyone Is Glad To Hear That Mom Adam's Eye Surgery Went Well

Exit 55 By Rob "WGCH" Adams - The Sports Voice Of Greenwich

Mom's Fine, But Thanks for Asking!

In my last post, I mentioned that my mother was heading off for eye surgery. She's back home now and doing well (a little discomfort, but that's to be expected). She had the same surgery done last week - inserting a lens to take care of cataracts.

Her doctor went to Mahopac High School, graduating two years before I did.

I graduated with his brother.Thanks for the concern of those who asked.

For What It's Worth By Greenwich Blogger Chris Fountain
你想買我的房子? - Who needs those Russians, anyway? Here come the Chinese, looking for bargains.

Greenwich Diva
MLB commissioner Bud Selig speaks out about A-Rod - (CNN) — Baseball star Alex Rodriguez, who admitted this week he had used steroids, “shamed the game,” the commissioner of Major League Baseball said Thur...

Greenwich Forum
Educators, lawmakers favor delay for in-school suspensions - 2 Comments, last updated on Thursday Feb 12 by where they are heading

Jane Genova: Speechwriter - Ghostwriter
"Where's Major?" - The question that can deep-six the Obama Administration - Our erudite president who might like goat cheese too much has plenty to learn about presenting himself on his feet. So far not so good. The most high-profile...

EDDIE "Greenwich Native" ROSS
Check out AJC! - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution just posted a great article on our shopping trip to Scott's last month. Thank you, Katie! And thank you, everyone, who made ...

The Fox Trot By Nick "The Sly" Fox
TNA Impact! Preview for 2/12 - The following is scheduled for tonight's edition of TNA iMPACT!: - TNA champion Sting and Kurt Angle vs. Team 3D. - Scott Steiner vs. Petey Williams - Head...

The Daily Spurgeon
Inconsistent Christians - Association with inconsistent Christians has been the downfall of many young believers. The devil delights to use God’s own birds as a decoy for his nets...

John Ferris Robben - T-shirt Philosophy Page At Our Greenwich
John Ferris Robben will soon be posting at JohnFerrisRobbenPics under columnist. -


COMMENT:
You Don't Know What You Have Got Until It Is Gone.
John Ferris Roben Has Not Ben Able To Post His Pictures For Two Weeks.
Let's Hope That John Will Be Able To Post His Work Very Soon.
PLEASE SEE:
Due To Technical Difficulties This Area of OurGreenwich Cannot Load New Images. The Problem Is Being Worked On. We Hope To Be Back Soon.
Jan 30th, 2009

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2/12/09 PRESS RELEASE: A New Way to Look at Equities- From Peter Lundstedt, CIO, Equity Portfolio Strategist, Greenwich Asset Management Group, LLC

A New Way to Look at Equities

Seven measurements

From: Peter Lundstedt, CIO, Equity Portfolio Strategist,

Greenwich Asset Management Group, LLC

I use a new way of looking at stocks to invest equity portfolio's and it's done inside a Separately Managed Institutional Account held with an independent custodian, such as Schwab Institutional, with real time client monitoring in what I call a Client Supervised Investment Account.

My goal is to provide a superior equity portfolio construction methodology. Greenwich Asset Management Group, LLC does not custody assets and works with limited trading authority only. Send for more information to: gamgllc@earthlink.net or visit www.gamgllc.com

About us:

Index

1. Seven measurements - A new way to look at stocks

2. What I can do for you

3. How Linear Regression might help your portfolio

4. More Information


1. Seven measurements - A new way to look at stocks

I use seven measurements when searching for stocks to add to a portfolio. Very few stocks have all seven measurements, at the same time. These measurements reflect a stocks' strength on a fundamental level first and then a technical level. These are companies which rank in the top 15% on all seven levels as measured by leading financial information providers and represent the financial health and overall demand by stock buyers. We then give each stock a score; (a higher score equals higher 'confidence' in the stocks held in the portfolio).

Our way of making money is to buy good stocks with a high score and, depending on the market, hold them for 3 to 5 years, and sell the ones that don't follow their long term trend line. Add 20 years of experience and you have a workable system which we think can benefit almost any portfolio. Call us to see more information if you think this philosophy would fit with your style of investing: USA (203) 622-1305.


2. What I can do for you

I can show you how each stock you hold really ranks; which stocks to keep and which stocks not to hold. I can show you how the top half of your portfolio has performed compared to the bottom half. I can show you how your top 10 stocks performed and then the top 15 and the top 20. I feel I can position Institutional equity portfolios in a better way by holding only the highest ranked issues in a broadly diversified portfolio while at the same time being client specific. So, if you need an energy portfolio, I can create an evenly weighted portfolio of 30 - 50 of the highest ranked energy stocks. If you have an asset allocation model, I can create an evenly weighted portfolio of the highest ranked stocks in each sector chosen. If you need to 'reconstruct' a health care portfolio, I can create an evenly weighted portfolio of 30 - 50 of the highest ranked health care stocks, and so on. Here is how I do it:

I use seven measurements when searching for stocks to add to or to 'reconstruct' a portfolio. These measurements reflect a stocks' strength on a fundamental level first and then a technical level. These are companies which rank in the top 15% on all seven levels as measured by leading financial information providers and represent the financial health and overall demand 'by stock buyers'. I then give each stock a score; (a higher score = higher confidence). Currently, a perfect score would be a 598. I found that the higher the score, the fewer the number of stocks were available. I like to limit the portfolio to stocks with a minimum score of 470 to 490 which I feel gives you a higher probability of success. You could imagine ranking all 500 stocks in the S&P 500 and creating an evenly weighted portfolio with just the top 50 or top 100 stocks with the highest rank.

For example, with a $100 million dollar separately managed account held at Schwab Institutional, I would most likely divide it into 30 - 50 evenly weighted segments and then fill each compartment with higher score, stock selections. I learned this style of portfolio management from the former manager of the now $140 billion NY State Common retirement fund, who traded actual client accounts thru me for five years using this technique. While at the State, he had 12 money managers under him. He saw how each one did over time, which systems worked and which to avoid. He settled upon a sector rotation model that averaged 25% per year. I've added the seven measurements above to the formula, among other important criteria, to create a uniquely diversified Institutional quality evenly weighted equity investment process. I operate under the theoretical assumption that, it doesn't matter what you own; what really matters is what other people are buying and how diversified you want to be.

If this concept fits with you, call or email for more information: gamgllc@earthlink.net or visit http://www.gamgllc.com/


3. Linear Regression

So, let's look at an example of what we are looking for in a

stock when building a portfolio.

Here is a one month December, 2008 chart of a popular stock.

It looks rather uneventful. Let's zoom out to one year and see

if it looks any different.

Here it looks like it's trending down according to it's one year

Linear Regression Line. Certainly doesn't look like something

you would want to have owned. Let's zoom out 10 years and

see if it looks any different.

Long term the stock looks better. The company is Nike, Inc. But

how do we manage our expectations and will it continue on its same

course? Let's assume that the company's last ten years of growth

and rate of change will continue for another 3 to 5 years. Let's zoom

out further and extend the Linear Regression Line indefinitely.

If the 'Fundamentals' stay the same, then, the probability

is that the demand for the stock will continue and one might

expect the stock price to grow along it's linear regression line

long term. Our goal is to find 30 to 50 stocks like this one.

4. More Information:


If this email does not display properly, please click here.

Greenwich Asset Management Group

Greenwich Asset Management Group

Getting Results. Differently

What if one could 'measure' demand in a way that resulted in a higher probability of a positive future outcome? If information that was 'already public' was compiled in such a way that reflects which stocks will potentially attract more buyers than sellers. This is what I do. I believe the most successful investment firms have been those that have been separated physically and psychologically from brokerages, banks or insurance companies. That is, the best performance and also the most dynamic business strategies have generally come from independent investment management firms.

Our Investment Process

I use seven measurements, to start, when searching for stocks to add to a portfolio. Very few stocks have all seven measurements at the same time. These measurements reflect a stocks' strength on a fundamental level first and then a technical level. These are companies which rank in the top 15% on all seven levels as measured by leading financial information providers and represent the financial health and overall demand by stock buyers. I then give each stock a score; (a higher score equals higher confidence in your stock portfolio).

My way of investing private capital is to buy good stocks with a high score and hold them for 3 to 5 years, and sell the ones that don't follow their long term trend line. Add 20 years of experience and you have a workable system which I think can benefit almost any portfolio.

Why Invest With Us ?

I offer independent, unbiased, transparent, and investment banking-free advice.

I am paid a management fee, not commissions. Our goal is in line with client goals, which is a higher account value, not higher commissions or more trades.

I invest discretionary capital for clients in the equity markets through Separately Managed Accounts typically held at Schwab Institutional or Fidelity, which have very low commissions and fees.

What I Look For

My stock screening process is based in part on a proprietary system as well as statistical information produced by leading financial information provider's stock screening process. I look for:

- Fundamental Data Rating
- Earnings Per Share (EPS) Rating
- Sales + Profit Margins + ROE Rating
- Return on Equity (ROE)
- Moving Averages and more !

What I Do

I Advise and Manage "Growth Stock" Separately Managed Investment Accounts:

For client accounts held at Schwab Institutional, I buy stocks of companies that have the fundamental and technical characteristics I "screen" for growth accounts and that fit with each client's risk tolerance, financial situation and investment goals.

Fundamentally, I screen for companies that have a high score as reported by leading financial information providers which include fundamental ranking, earnings per share ranking and SMR (sales, profit, margins, and return on equity) ranking, as well as, return on equity, greater than 100 employees, and positive earnings expectations, and more.

Technically, I screen for stocks whose prices are usually above several moving averages.

logo

I was a Top Ten Performer in the Second Quarter 2008 Top Guns Ranking. Our Global Equity Universe Fund has exhibited superior performance compared to my peers in the PSN Investment Manager Database.

PLEASE REMEMBER:
Past results are not indicative of future returns. There is risk of loss as well as opportunity for gain when investing in separately managed stock accounts.

PHONE:

(203) 622-1305

FAX:

(203) 622-1306

WEB:

http://www.gamgllc.com

E-MAIL:

gamgllc@earthlink.net

MAILING ADDRESS:

Greenwich Asset Management Group, LLC
2 Sound View Dr. Suite 100, Greenwich, CT 06830

Unsubscribe from this list.

Peter Lundstedt is the sole owner of Greenwich Asset Management Group, LLC.
Copyright (C) 2008. Greenwich Asset Management Group, LLC. All rights reserved.

2/12/08 BREAKING NEWS: Town Of Greenwich Started Handing Out Pink Slips Today





Covering the news of Greenwich, Connecticut


Breaking News

The looming layoffs of town employees became a reality today, when cuts began to close a $5 million budget shortfall.

First Selectman Peter Tesei and Board of Estimate and Taxation (BET) Chairman Steven Walko met with the Post and Greenwich Time, announcing that 21 full-time workers would have their jobs eliminated over the course of the next few days, along with 25 part-time positions, which equals about 19 people. Specific names and positions were not revealed, but the Department of Public Works is taking the biggest hit, losing nine full-time employees, followed by four from the Department of Parks and Recreation.

Full-time positions were also set to be eliminated from the Social Services Department, Town Clerk’s office, Assessor’s office, Finance Department, town administrative services and from civilian employees in the Greenwich Police Department. Those departments were expected to have one full-time job cut. Social Services was also set to lose two part-time homemaker positions. Greenwich and Perrot Libraries as well as the law department, IT department, human resources and land use were also set to lose part-time employees.......

Read more


COMMENT:

Where's The Greenwich Time ??????

On Friday, Town Employees Will Start Applying For Unemployment, But The Greenwich Time Is Clueless

Well The Green Kitty Litter Liner Has This Breaking News Story....

Wind causes delays on rail and air
STAMFORD - Metro-North rail service between Stamford and Grand Central Terminal has been restored, but with significant delays of one hour or more.

According to a statement from the railroad, wires were damaged in New Rochelle by wind-blown debris.


The wind has also been causing some substantial delays at New York City area airports.........

UPDATE

11:37 PM

When Greenwich Roundup Types

The Greenwich Time Listens......

Town starts cutting workers - Greenwich Time

By Neil Vigdor
Staff Writer

Posted: 02/12/2009 10:59:32 PM

Simon Wake knew something was amiss Thursday morning when he tried to check his town e-mail account from home and couldn't log in.


The real estate appraiser's worst fears were confirmed a few hours later, when Wake said he was told by his boss that he was being laid off as part of a round of job cuts by the town, a casualty of an economic recession that Greenwich hasn't seen the likes of in recent memory.


And just like that, eight years of working in the assessor's office came to an unceremonious end for Wake, 38, who, carrying a coffee mug and other personal items, hugged co-workers in the hall at Town Hall and left the building for a final time, all under the watchful eye of plain-clothes police officers


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2/12/09 The Raw Greenwich News Feed

Photo: Facebook's founder Mark Zuckerberg

Facebook 'paid out $65m' to end lawsuit claiming idea for website was stolen

Daily Mail

Facebook paid out $65 million to two former classmates to end a lawsuit claiming the idea for the massively successful social networking site was stolen, it has been revealed.

Founder Mark Zuckerberg has been accused in the past of having stolen the idea for the website from his two college room mates who then set up ConnectU, a smaller social network.

Now the law firm that represented ConnectU have included the settlement amount Facebook purportedly paid ConnectU's founders in a newsletter.

Lawyers from law firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges represented ConnectU in a lawsuit that ended in a settlement in June last year.

In the law suit ConnectU's three founders claimed that Mark Zuckerberg agreed to finish computer code for their site while all three were studying at Harvard in 2003.

But they claimed that Zuckerberg repeatedly stalled before eventually created Facebook using their ideas.

Under their settlement, Facebook agreed to pay ConnectU $20 million in cash and 1,253,326 shares of common stock.

The stock was worth $45 million, based on the Microsoft valuation, but only $11 million under Facebook's own appraisal.

That means ConnectU received anywhere from $31 million and $65 million for settling the suit, depending on which stock valuation is used.

Facebook started in 2004, a few months before ConnectU went online, and now has 31 million users, compared with about 70,000 users for ConnectU, based in Greenwich, Connecticut.

This Weekend
The Wilton Bulletin
... Lincoln week As part of a week of Lincoln activities, the Bush-Holley Historic Site in Greenwich will present From Railsplitter to President, a performance by Lou Del Bianco as Abraham Lincoln .........

Cutting UConn funding does more harm than good
Daily Campus
... than any other in the state. Yet, Fairfield County is heavily dependent on hedge funds in Westport, Stamford and Greenwich, investment agencies and financial services; these are precisely the things that have been, perhaps deservedly, hit hardest by ...

Students look at options at job fair
Connecticut Post
... "I think the activity has been greater" at his booth this year, he said. Patrick Cannon, of Interactive Brokers in Greenwich, was on the other side of the table only a few years ago. The online trading firm is looking for entry-level accountants and ...

WWE Professional Wrestling Executive Approved: Capitol Watch
The Hartford Courant
... Classy Freddie Blassie, Ernie "The Big Cat'' Ladd, and George "The Animal'' Steele. A longtime resident of Greenwich's affluent "backcountry'' section, McMahon, 60, serves as the chief executive officer of the Stamford-based WWE, which is a widely ...

Fairfield County Calendar
Stamford Times

Music


Cole Auditorium, Greenwich Library, Greenwich. Sunday, Feb. 15: The Musicians from Marlboro; the touring extension of the renowned Marlboro Music ...

Year of the Bootstrapper
US News & World Report
... gift sales at Whole Foods, surpassing $2 million in sales in 2008. For Theresa Rogers, 53, whose 1989 purchase of Greenwich, Connecticut-based Horseneck Wine and Liquors came during the worst recession since the Great Depression, growing the ...

Mead Johnson rallies in first IPO since November
MarketWatch
... ... and it has very high cash flow," said Kathleen Smith, a principal at IPO research firm Renaissance Capital in Greenwich, Conn. Mead Johnson was expected to headline four initial public offerings worth more than $940 million this week, breaking a ...

Blood And Money
CBS News
... 18, 2006. It was updated July 12, 2007. Forty-six-year-old Andrew Kissel hoped to make his name in real estate in Greenwich, Conn., but instead, as correspondent Erin Moriarty reports, he earned the dubious distinction as the town's first murder ...

Weeden & Co. Introduces Energy Outlook & Focus List of Most Compelling Energy Investment Ideas
Business Wire
... suggests the market expects a trend reversal shortly. We explore an alternative view.

About Weeden & Co., LP:

Greenwich, Conn.-based Weeden & Co., LP is a full-service Institutional broker specializing in domestic and International equity trading, ...

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2/12/09 Greenwich Citizen News Links

In troubling times, creating Safe Places for troubled kids

Children s Librarian Alice Sherwood, at the Greenwich Library, points out the Safe Places decal placed on the West Putnam Avenue doors of the library.

Tesei mulls possible fixes to bridge $5 million budget gap

First Selectman Peter Tesei is grim as he announces possible cutbacks in Greenwich government.

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2/12/08 Greenwich Post News Links


Written by Ken Borsuk, Staff Reporter

Layoffs of town employees are expected this week as the Board of Estimate and Taxation (BET) resumes discussion about the 2009-10 town budget.


Written by Kristan Zimmer, editor

Why should we care and what can we do about moderate-income housing in Greenwich?

Those are questions panelists hope to answer at next week’s educational forum organized by the United Way of Greenwich, Greenwich Chamber of Commerce and Greenwich Library.....


Written by Ken Borsuk, Staff Reporter

Women who have thrived both in business and in the community were honored last Friday at the YWCA of Greenwich’s annual Brava awards at the Hyatt Regency in Old Greenwich.


Written by Ken Borsuk, Staff Reporter

To demonstrate just how severe the economic condition is in Connecticut, state Sen. L. Scott Frantz brought a prop with him to the League of Women Voters’ annual legislative breakfast last Thursday.


Written by Paul Silverfarb

In commanding style, the Greenwich Academy squash team claimed its stake as the best team in the country during Saturday’s high school national championship tournament held at Yale University.

The Gators beat familiar foe Episcopal Academy 5-2 to win the school’s fourth national championship in five years.


Written by Paul Silverfarb

This was the kind of victory that Greenwich boys ice hockey head coach Bob Russel was waiting to see from his team.

Playing in a physical game against rival Darien High School Monday night at the Dorothy Hammil rink, Big Red was able to play stingy defense while attacking the Blue Wave zone consistently. The result was a very important 3-1 victory that has huge implications, both in the upcoming Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference and class LL standings as well.


Written by Paul Silverfarb

A confident Greenwich High School cheerleading team took the mat during Saturday’s Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference championships at Wilton High School and didn’t disappoint.

In what head coach Mary Anne Catalano said was the team’s best performance of the season, the Cardinals finished third overall with 149 points. Trumbull High School just edged out GHS for second with 149.5 points and St. Joseph won the event with 150 points.


Across the square of an Italian village was a café and outside the café sat a group of Communists, drinking espresso and grumbling about the state of the world.


As the financial crisis deepens and money becomes tighter for many Greenwich families, it is a perfect time to think about the great value of the public schools in Greenwich. During the past three and a half years that I’ve spent at Greenwich High School, I’ve grown to appreciate the numerous opportunities and resources Greenwich High School (GHS) has to offer. Here are the top 10 things I like about my school:


Dear Larry,
I’ve been reading a lot of good news and reviews regarding Microsoft’s new Windows 7 beta operating system. My question is this: Should I upgrade my computer now and immediately take advantage of its strengths? — F. P.


The Greenwich Symphony Orchestra’s Young People’s Concerts will present “Creative Kids,” a celebration of some of music’s greatest “early bloomers,” on Feb. 18. It will be attended by students in sixth and seventh grade from Greenwich public and private schools. The students in the audience will learn what some other young people achieved at about their age.


The Musicians from Marlboro, the touring extension of the renowned Marlboro Music Festival in Vermont, will return to Greenwich Library on Sunday, Feb. 15, at 4 p.m., as part of the Friends of Greenwich Library’s Cole Concert Series. Five musicians will play works by Joseph Haydn, Zoltán Kodály and Johannes Brahms in the Cole Auditorium.


It doesn’t take a trust fund or a stash of money under your mattress to get the kitchen you want, even if the market tumble leaves you without the usual stocks to cash in. That’s what Elizabeth Abbasi of Byram is discovering as she gives her kitchen a facelift without starting from scratch.



Credit checkup

When Realtors obtain a credit report for a client wishing to rent a property they provide a credit summary from a credit service to a listing agent of the landlord. This summary rolls up or analyzes the credit history of the prospective tenant. The summary highlights the strengths and weaknesses of the prospective tenant along with a credit score.


As of January 2009, there were 577 single family houses on the market this year and 206 condominiums on the market in Greenwich. The following is the breakdown and a comparison of the number of homes on the market in 2009 versus 2008:

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2/12/08 Greenwich Time News Links

THE PICTURE:

Carl Mecky as Abe Lincoln and displays how the 6-foot-4 inch president handled an axe during a Lincoln workshop for kids at the Bush-Holley Historic Site in Cos Cob Wednesday. (Bob Luckey/Greenwich Time photo)


THE GREENWICH TIME TOP STORY:

Greenwich historical site brings Lincoln to life
GREENWICH - Of the nation's 44 presidents, only a handful have left legacies known to even the youngest Americans. One is President Abraham Lincoln, who was born 200 years ago today.
To celebrate the man who ended American slavery and preserved the Union, the Bush-Holley Historic Site in Cos Cob is hosting a three-day vacation workshop on Lincoln. The workshop concludes Friday......
Full Story

Children brush up on tooth skills
Chocolate may be better than sticky fruit-flavored snacks, but both can create cavities. These were the hard truths that Sabrina Romero, 6, learned at the town Health Department's "Whole Tooth and Nothing But the Tooth" program held Wednesday at the Boys and Girls Club of Greenwich on Horseneck Road.
Full Story

Board of Ed contractors reviewed
Budget officials have asked the school district to take a closer look at how it spends money on consultants and private contractors to identify potential savings in the education budget.
Full Story

Budget crisis endangers firehouse
Set against the backdrop of layoffs from the town work force, the fate of a project to build a new firehouse on upper King Street has become clouded by questions of staffing levels there.
Full Story

Greenwich woman faces more charges in investment scheme
A Greenwich woman charged this summer for her alleged involvement in a million-dollar investment scheme was hit with additional changes in federal court in White Plains, N.
Full Story

GHS junior to lead fundraising walk
Despite undergoing extensive treatment for leukemia, including chemotherapy and spinal taps, Greenwich High School junior Brad Davis still found time and energy to raise more than $35,000 for pediatric cancer research through his foundation, the BRAD fund.
Full Story

Teacher job fair casts wide net
School officials say they hope to cast a wider net for teaching talent by opening their second annual recruitment fair, which last year targeted only minority educators, to all job applicants this year.
Full Story

In town
Audubon seeks bird counters Audubon Greenwich, 613 Riversville Road, seeks bird watchers to join the 12th annual Great Backyard Bird Count from Friday through Monday.
Full Story

Body dragged nearly 20 miles by van
NEW YORK -- A van traveled for nearly an hour over busy New York City roads before its driver discovered the horrific cargo it had dragged almost 20 miles: the partially scraped-away body of a man who was plowed over by an SUV just before he got caught under the van.
Full Story

Record numbers frisked by NYPD
NEW YORK -- Newly released figures show New York City police stopped, questioned and frisked a record-high 531,159 people last year.
Full Story

Year of the bull
Year of the Ox The Japan Society of Fairfield County welcomed 2009, the Year of the Ox, with a traditional Oshogatsu Festival.
Full Story

Lawmaker pushing capitol to conserve
Rep. Beth Bye, D-West Hartford, and a task force were working on a list of ways for capitol employees to conserve paper, water and electricity when inspiration struck in the form of the latest copy of the Connecticut general statutes.
Full Story

Senate OKs WWE chief for school board
The state Senate voted 34-1 Wednesday to approve World Wrestling Entertainment CEO Linda McMahon to Connecticut's school board.
Full Story

Schools Will Ignore Behavior Problems Instead Of Nipping Them In The Bud:

Emotionally disturbed children will not get behavior management in a positive and productive way......

Rell pushes delay of school suspension rules
One of the "unfunded mandates," passed in 2007, requires that school administrators provide in-school programs for suspended students.

Greenwich schools Superintendent Betty Sternberg, former state commissioner of education, said the intention is good but "this is one of those situations, not unlike No Child Left Behind, where there's too much specificity and requirements."

While the law was debated, superintendents complained about the cost of hiring more teachers and finding more classroom space to meet the requirements. But lawmakers passed the bill out of concern that suspended students were sent home, often unsupervised, and missing valuable instruction.....


Brunswick basketball tops Hopkins to earn top seed in FAA
A 17-point halftime lead was the difference for the Brunswick basketball team Wednesday as they defeated Hopkins 64-50 to clinch the top seed in the Fairchester Athletic Association playoffs......
MORE SPORTS HEADLINES:


My cheapie valentine
Ah, Valentine's Day is almost upon us. It's a time for romance, enchantment ... and spending a lot of money. Seriously, do you know how much dinner and a movie can cost these days?


Marketing agencies must adapt
Direct marketing agencies in the region are feeling the pressure from their clients to find novel and economical ways to promote their businesses as the economy continues to stagger.


MORE BUSINESS HEADLINES:


The higher the temperature, the cooler the temper
Amateur gardeners like me get a bit impatient around this time of the year. I tend to get somewhat ornery, nasty at times, crabby at others and downright awful to be around.


GREENWICH TIME EDITORIAL:


Editorial:




By Jerry Dumas
Posted: 02/12/2009 07:38:48 AM EST


I've got to admit I had completely forgot all about indulgences, plenary or otherwise, as an underpinning of Catholic belief.


As a once strikingly upright and eager-to-learn Catholic boy (morbidly questioning in dark of night) in 1940s Detroit, I was pointed to as a prime example of what all fine boys should be -- scrubbed, bright-eyed, unwavering (even if my mother was Lutheran and her father a white-whiskered German minister). I was even awarded a small, silver trophy for having never missed Mass once in eight years. I didn't deserve that triumph; it was all a matter of luck -- good health, and being hauled out of bed. When asked today what my religion is -- which I hardly ever am -- my reply is that the Catholic Church is the church I frequently do not attend.


But now the news is out, on Web sites and in newspapers: Indulgences are back. I hadn't known they were gone. As a wary, good, slightly suspicious Catholic youth, I never gave them much thought, once I found out what they were.


First of all, you had to believe, once you were informed about them, in heaven, purgatory and hell. If you didn't believe in those three areas, then indulgences didn't matter. Purgatory is where you go if, after you die, you are deemed not bad enough for hell and not good enough for heaven. When asked how long one might expect to spend in purgatory, nobody, neither priest nor nun, could ever say.

"But like what? A hundred years? A thousand? Ten thousand?".....


.....The Lutheran Church originated because Martin Luther, a priest, protested the sale of indulgences -- the rich could buy into heaven, and the church could get rich. (The church outlawed the sale of indulgences in 1567.) As a Catholic boy, I thought old Martin was completely right, but didn't go far enough. He should have said the whole idea of indulgences, paid for or prayed for, was silly, and asked whose idea it was.

So we all forgot about this business for a while. But Pope John Paul II got them going again, and his successor Pope Benedict is really pushing them.

I like what one Catholic woman said who was baffled by the return of a practice she never understood in the first place. She asked, "What does it mean to get time off in purgatory? What is five years in terms of eternity?" Exactly what we boys asked, an eternity ago.

Bishop Nicholas DeMarzio said, "We want people to return to the ideas they used to know."....



HEY WAIT A
NEW YORK "TIMES"
MINUTE


THIS GREENWICH TIME EDITORIAL REMINDS ME OF OF NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE I READ THREE DAYS AGO.....


PLEASE SEE:


Feb 9, 2009

Indulgences are being offered at churches in New York City



By PAUL VITELLO


The announcement in church bulletins and on Web sites has been greeted with enthusiasm by some and wariness by others. But mainly, it has gone over the heads of a vast generation of Roman Catholics who have no idea what it means: “Bishop Announces Plenary Indulgences.”

First of all, you had to believe, once you were informed about them, in heaven, purgatory and hell. If you didn't believe in those three areas, then indulgences didn't matter. Purgatory is where you go if, after you die, you are deemed not bad enough for hell and not good enough for heaven. When asked how long one might expect to spend in purgatory, nobody, neither priest nor nun, could ever say.


In recent months, dioceses around the world have been offering Catholics a spiritual benefit that fell out of favor decades ago — the indulgence, a sort of amnesty from punishment in the afterlife — and reminding them of the church’s clout in mitigating the wages of sin.


The fact that many Catholics under 50 have never sought one, and never heard of indulgences except in high school European history (Martin Luther denounced the selling of them in 1517 while igniting the Protestant Reformation), simply makes their reintroduction more urgent among church leaders bent on restoring fading traditions of penance in what they see as a self-satisfied world.


“Why are we bringing it back?” asked Bishop Nicholas A. DiMarzio of Brooklyn, who has embraced the move. “Because there is sin in the world.”


Like the Latin Mass and meatless Fridays, the indulgence was one of the traditions decoupled from mainstream Catholic practice in the 1960s by the Second Vatican Council, the gathering of bishops that set a new tone of simplicity and informality for the church. Its revival has been viewed as part of a conservative resurgence that has brought some quiet changes and some highly controversial ones, like Pope Benedict XVI’s recent decision to lift the excommunications of four schismatic bishops who reject the council’s reforms.


The return of indulgences began with Pope John Paul II, who authorized bishops to offer them in 2000 as part of the celebration of the church’s third millennium. But the offers have increased markedly under his successor, Pope Benedict, who has made plenary indulgences part of church anniversary celebrations nine times in the last three years. The current offer is tied to the yearlong celebration of St. Paul, which continues through June.......

"But like what? A hundred years? A thousand? Ten thousand?".....


....“It’s what?” asked Marta de Alvarado, 34, when told that indulgences were available this year at several churches in New York City. “I just don’t know anything about it,” she said

The return of indulgences began with Pope John Paul II, who authorized bishops to offer them in 2000 as part of the celebration of the church’s third millennium. But the offers have increased markedly under his successor, Pope Benedict, who has made plenary indulgences part of church anniversary celebrations nine times in the last three years. The current offer is tied to the yearlong celebration of St. Paul, which continues through June.....


......Octavia Andrade, 64, laughed as she recalled a time when children would race through the rosary repeatedly to get as many indulgences as they could — usually in increments of 5 or 10 years — “as if we needed them, then.”

Still, she supports their reintroduction. “Anything old coming back, I’m in favor of it,” she said. “More fervor is a good thing.”

Karen Nassauer, 61, said she was baffled by the return to a practice she never quite understood to begin with.

“I mean, I’m not saying it is necessarily wrong,” she said. “What does it mean to get time off in Purgatory? What is five years in terms of eternity?”......


.....“It faded away with a lot of things in the church,” said Bishop DiMarzio. “But it was never given up. It was always there. We just want to people to return to the ideas they used to know.” ....

QUESTION NUMBER 1:

Shouldn't Hearst Newspapers And Jerry Dumas Have Given Credit To The New York Times And Paul Vitello For The "Original Work" Which Appeared In The Paper Of Record Three Days Ago

Or

Is The Rumor True That The "Fox News Wanna Be Of Lower Fairfield County", AKA, The Greenwich Time Is Not Allowed To Credit The New York Times In A Positive Way?

The Fact Is That The New York Times Has A Higher Penitration Rate In Greenwich Time. Which Means That More Households In Greenwich Get There News From The New York Times Instead Of The Greenwich Time.

Take A Drive Down Just About Any Residential Street In Greenwich And Count The Number Of New York Times Sitting In Driveways As Opposed To The Greenwich Time.

Or Better Yet Walk Down Greenwich Avenue Early One Morning And Do And You Will Get A Count Of Close To 10 To 1.

It Looks Like That Greenwich Time Editorial Board Members Like Jerry Dumas, Like Most Other Greenwich Residents Get Thier News From The New York Times

That's Why Greenwich Residents Get So Excited When They Are Featured In The New York Times Instead Of The Greenwich Time.

A Cuople Of Month's Back Ex-Greenwich Time Editor And Now Columnist Bernie Yudin Wrote About Greenwich Bloger Chris Fountain His Blog Called For What Its Worth Got A Bump Of About 100 Visitors.

But When A New York Times Columnist Mentioned the Same Blogger And Blog A Couple Of Weeks Later Chris Fountain Ended Up With Over 3,000 Unique Visitors In One Day.

Question Number 2:

Why Is This Even A Greenwich Time Editorial?
Are Catholic Churchs In Greenwich Pushing This Indulgence Idea?
Or
Was There No "Local" And "Hard Hitting" Greenwich Time Editorial For Today And Local Cartoonist Jerry Dumas' Weekly Column Thrown Up As An Editorial At The Last Minute?

By The Way:

Being A Somewhat Devious Seven Month Old Christian The Idea Of These Get Out Of Hell Free Indulgences Were Very Appealing To Me.

So I Went To My Church, Harvest Time Church, To Get Some.

I Was Told If I Could Find Indulgences In The Bible, That The Church Leaders Would Give Me As Many Indulgences As I Wanted

I Am Still Reading .....

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