New Jersey’s retail landscape is changing in the bleakest way possible.
An array of major chains are announcing the complete or partial shutdown of brick-and-mortar stores, and New Jersey locations are included in the mix.
In just the past week, retailers American Apparel, BCBG Max Azria and HHGregg joined the list of companies who can’t financially manage to keep any or some of their operations afloat. BCBG has not specified locations, but all four American Apparel and all three HHGregg locations in New Jersey will be no more.
Decisions to close shops are typically made after the holiday shopping season, but when the list includes major names such as Macy’s, J.C. Penney and Sears, industry observers can’t help but be alarmed.
Ridgewood NJ, the regular public meeting of the Ridgewood Village council will feature Graydon Pool Fees,Ridgewood Water irrigation policies, sewer discharge fees, parking, the Stable rental and Recognition to 2016 Boys Cross Country!
VILLAGE COUNCIL REGULAR PUBLIC MEETING
VILLAGE OF RIDGEWOOD
VILLAGE COUNCIL REGULAR PUBLIC MEETING
MARCH 8, 2017
8:00 P.M.
1. Call to Order – Mayor
2. Statement of Compliance with the Open Public Meetings Act
3. Roll Call – Village Clerk
4. Flag Salute and Moment of Silence
5. Acceptance of Financial Reports
6. Approval of Minutes
7. Proclamations
Declare March Red Cross Month
Declare March Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month
C. Declare March as DeMolay Month
8. Presentation of Certificates of Recognition to 2016 Boys Cross Country North 1, Group 4 State Sectional Champions
9. Comments from the Public (Not to exceed 3 minutes per person – 40 minutes in total)
10. Village Manager’s Report
11. Village Council Reports
12. ORDINANCES – INTRODUCTION – RIDGEWOOD WATER
3588 – Amend Chapter 269 – Water Irrigation Schedule and Water Emergencies – Limits watering of lawns for both governmental and non-governmental properties to two days per week, year-round. Irrigation by a hand-held hose or drip/micro irrigation system is allowed any day. Defines the exceptions to this ordinance as well as the hours when watering of lawns is permitted, and enforcement policies and procedures.
13. ORDINANCES – PUBLIC HEARING – RIDGEWOOD WATER
NONE
14. RESOLUTIONS – RIDGEWOOD WATER
THE FOLLOWING RESOLUTIONS, NUMBERED 17-68 THROUGH 17-70 ARE TO BE ADOPTED BY A CONSENT AGENDA, WITH ONE VOTE BY THE VILLAGE COUNCIL. THERE IS A BRIEF DESCRIPTION BESIDE EACH RESOLUTION TO BE CONSIDERED ON THE CONSENT AGENDA. EACH RESOLUTION WILL BE READ BY TITLE ONLY:
17-68 Title 59 Approval – Water Billing and Data Collection/Processing Services –Approves the specifications for Water Billing and Data Collection/Processing Services prepared by Ridgewood Water, pursuant to Title 59
17-69 Award Contract – Water Billing and Data Collection/Processing Services (NTE $237,395) – Awards the second year of a two-year contract to the sole responsible bidder, Computil, Inc., 30 Controls Drive, Shelton, CT
17-70 Authorize Agreement for GIS Data Exchange from Ridgewood Water to Bergen County for Use by Public Safety – Authorizes a GIS Data Sharing Agreement between the Village and Bergen County for the GIS Data Exchange from Ridgewood Water to Bergen County. This GIS data will be used by Bergen County and other Municipal public safety agencies in order to deliver emergency services.
15. ORDINANCES – INTRODUCTION
3589 – Establish Rules and Regulations for Rental of Rooms in The Stable – Establishes rules and regulations for rental of rooms at The Stable, including an application form, Hold Harmless Agreement, and Certificate of Insurance. Also establishes Class Usages, based on the group’s affiliation with the Village; whether or not they are charitable and/or civic in nature; and the size of the groups.
3590 – Amend Chapter 145 – Fees – Establish Rental Fees – The Stable – Establishes various fees for the use of rooms in The Stable, depending on the group’s affiliation with the Village; whether or not they are charitable and/or civic in nature; the size of the groups; and the hours the rooms are rented
3591 – Repeal Chapter 29, Historic Preservation Commission, Amend Chapter 190, Land Use and Development, and Repeal Chapter 251, Swimming Pools – This ordinance deletes duplicative or obsolete provisions in the Village Code; clarifies the meaning and application of existing regulations; reconciles conflicting and/or inconsistent provisions in the Village Code; addresses various omissions in the Village Code; and provides for more reasonable and more rational development standards
16. ORDINANCES – PUBLIC HEARING
3581 – Amend Chapter 265 – Vehicles and Traffic – Prohibit Parking – Sections of Sherman Place 3582 – Amend Chapter 265 – Vehicles and Traffic – Angle Parking
3583 – Amend Chapter 238 – Sewers and Sewage Disposal – Addition of Masticated Food Waste
3584 – Amend Chapter 145 – Fees – Sewers and Sewage Disposal – Liquid Waste Acceptance Program Fees 3585 – Amend Chapter 265 – Vehicles and Traffic – Bus Stops
THE FOLLOWING RESOLUTIONS, NUMBERED 17-71 THROUGH 17-82 ARE TO BE ADOPTED BY A CONSENT AGENDA, WITH ONE VOTE BY THE VILLAGE COUNCIL. THERE IS A BRIEF DESCRIPTION BESIDE EACH RESOLUTION TO BE CONSIDERED ON THE CONSENT AGENDA. EACH RESOLUTION WILL BE READ BY TITLE ONLY:
17-71 Endorse Submission of Recycling Tonnage Grant – Annual resolution which endorses the submission of the Municipal Recycling Tonnage Grant Application to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and designates John R. Spano, Recycling Coordinator, to ensure that the application is properly filed
17-72 Approve Budget Reserve Transfers – Annual resolution which transfers money in the 2016 budget from departments which have excess funds to those departments which do not have adequate funds
17-73 Award Contract Under State Contract – Purchase of Parts and Related Services – Fleet Services – Awards a contract under State contract for various parts and related services used by the Village’s Fleet Services Division
17-74 Title 59 Approval – Horticultural Supplies – Approves the plans and specifications for Horticultural Supplies for the Years 2017 and 2018 prepared by the Parks and Recreation Department, pursuant to Title 59
17-75 Award Contract – Horticultural Supplies (NTE $45,000) – Awards a contract to the low bidder, SiteOne Landscape Supply, 100 Weyerhauser Road, Mahwah, NJ. The Parks Department budget will pay $35,500 and the Project Pride budget will pay $9,500.
17-76 Title 59 Approval – Coach Bus Transportation Services – Approves the plans and specifications for Supply of Coach Bus Transportation Services prepared by the Department of Parks and Recreation, pursuant to Title 59
17-77 Award Contract – Coach Bus Transportation Services – H.I.L.T. (NTE $9,000) –Awards a contract to the low bidder, Vanderhoof Transportation Co., Inc., 18 Wilfred Street, West Orange, NJ
17-78 Title 59 Approval – Concession Refreshment Services – Graydon Pool – Approves the plans and specifications for Concession Refreshment Services – 2017, 2018, The Water’s Edge Café, Graydon Pool
17-79 Award Contract – Concession Refreshment Services – Graydon Pool –Awards a contract to the sole proposal by Michael Sims, Mellsworth Foods, Inc., 102 East Main Street, Ramsey, NJ which will pay the Village $9,300 for the summer season
17-80 Authorize Payment for Settlement of Property Damage – PSE&G Pole ($6,643.95) – Authorizes the payment for settlement of property damage to be paid to PSE&G for damage sustained to their pole which was caused by a Village vehicle
17-81 Award Professional Services Contract – Professional Appraiser –Appoints Ernest Del Guercio, SCGREA, CDA and Darren Raymond, MAI, of Associated Appraisal Group, 266 Harristown Road, Glen Rock, NJ to provide professional appraisals of several properties
17-82 Appoint Member to Green Team Advisory Committee – Appoints Christopher Rutishauser as the staff member of the Village of Ridgewood for a term which expires on 12/31/17 and Emily Shovlin as a resident member for a term which expires on 12/31/19
18. Comments from the Public (Not to Exceed 5 minutes per person)
The math doesn’t work. The net asset value of the Pension Fund assets managed by the NJ State Investment Division was $72.9bn as of June 30, 2016. 41% of the 785,000 members in seven public pension systems are retired versus 51% of the members who are still working and contributing to the pension plans, while 8% are vested members no longer accruing benefits but not yet retired. That 41% of 785,000 = 321,850 retirees being supported by only 400,350 members still contributing to the plan, i.e. 1.24 workers per retiree. You need over 2 workers for every retiree to have a solvent plan, so already this is a mess with too few employees contributing to a system with too many retirees. Those 321,850 retirees draw annual pensions on average worth $31,070 but this number will explode as baby boomers retire through 2024. For example, note twelve of the fifteen +$100,000 a year public pension retirees in the Village of Ridgewood as of 2015 were police & fire, with only three from the BoE. But we just had seven more policemen retire in 2016. Once the baby boomers all retire, there are potentially less workers than retirees in NJ, which is the definition of a PONZI scheme with $10bn a year paid to plan beneficiaries vs. plan assets $72.9bn.
NJ pension funds cut checks to retirees worth over $10bn last year versus pension plan assets of $72bn. The problem is the benefits are too generous. At the current cash burn rate, the funds will be insolvent in less than a decade, with liabilities far in excess of plan assets. Think about that: we pay out over $10 billion per year in public pension benefits to retired public sector workers. So even with assets of over $70 billion, the system is fragile. Public pension plan and health care benefits need to be diminished before taxes can be raised further as we are already the highest taxed residents of any state in the nation. Start by lowering the assumed annual rate of return to 7%, use the updated actuarial mortality data to add 2-3 years of life expectancy to the liability. Then start moving all new hires to defined contribution pension plans like 401(k) plans to prevent politicians and unions from meddling with employee pension assets. If the pension assets are in the hands of the employees and not the state and municipalities, they will be protected. Then convert all current employees from Platinum to Bronze level health coverage, which is the equivalent of what is offered in the private sector. Only then can taxes be raised for funds specifically earmarked to close the pension liability gap.
James, something doesn’t make sense here: When the Ridgewood teacher contract was approved last October, it put the district $2.5 million over the 2% property tax cap during the life of the three-year contract for teacher salaries alone which grow over 2.7% in year two and three of the contract and over 2.13% for the life of the contract. At the time Sheila Brogan explained that the amount was still above the 2% cap, necessitating certain cuts to be made to programs and personnel to make the district cap compliant and that the challenge of funding the contract “will require budgetary reductions next year that will result in changes to staffing and programming.” So what happened? This budget is a $4 million YoY INCREASE in spending. How is that a sign that the BOE has worked closely with Superintendent Fishbein to identify reductions that will have the least impact on the instructional programs and extra-curricular offerings? Looks like this budget adds to the budget above and beyond the $2.5 million three year excess just for teacher salaries under the new contract, how does this make any sense? Let’s hope this budget is voted down. It’s all about teacher salaries, not about our kids.
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady, left, and Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden, right, unveil their Obamacare replacement plan, the American Health Care Act. (Photo: Shawn Thew/EPA /Newscom)
After seven years of promises to repeal and replace Obamacare, House Republicans finally have a bill detailing how they plan to reform the health care system once the Affordable Care Act is dismantled.
The House Ways and Means and Energy and Commerce committees revealed their replacement plan, the American Health Care Act, on Monday evening. The bill repeals key provisions of Obamacare, but also implements parts of a replacement.
The 123-page bill is the culmination of weeks of discussions and negotiations—and years of calls for Obamacare to be repealed and replaced—from House Republicans on the relevant committees who worked through the weekend putting the final touches on the legislation.
The Congressional Budget Office has yet to release cost and coverage estimates for the replacement proposal.
Republicans are using a budget tool called reconciliation to fast-track the replacement plan through the Senate, where it needs 51 votes to pass.
GOP leaders in both chambers have a tough sell—so far, the replacement hasn’t been well received from Congress’ right flank, who have called on their leaders to bring a bill from 2015 unwinding the health care law before members for a vote.
>>>Conservatives Offer Solution to Repeal Obamacare, Defund Planned Parenthood: Pass 2015 Bill Again
In a memo to its members, policy staff for the Republican Study Committee detailed their concerns with the legislation, which included the Medicaid expansion and tax credits.
Additionally, members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus raised concerns about the replacement plan and said changes will need to be made to the legislation before it earns their support.
“We really need to look at some amendments to make sure we get rid of the taxes,” Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows, R-N.C., told Fox News on Monday night. “We put something on President [Barack] Obama’s desk just a few months ago, and to suggest that what we put on President [Donald] Trump’s desk sets a new entitlement, keeps some taxes, doesn’t repeal all of Obamacare, we’ve got to do better.”
“Negotiations start now,” he continued.
Republican leaders in the House and Senate have slim margins for success in getting the replacement plan across the finish line.
In the House, Republicans control 237 seats and cannot lose more than 19 votes.
In the Senate, they control 52 seats and cannot lose more than two votes.
Here is the rundown of the American Health Care Act:
What the Bill Repeals
-The penalties for the individual and employer mandates.
The American Health Care Act lessens the fines for not complying with the mandates to $0, effective Dec. 31, 2015. This provision provides retroactive relief for consumers who didn’t have coverage in 2016 and are filing their taxes now.
-Obamacare’s subsidies beginning in 2020.
-Medicaid expansion beginning in 2020.
-The “Cadillac Tax” on expensive employer-sponsored plans until 2025.
-All of Obamacare’s taxes, effective after 2017.
-Payments to insurers for cost-sharing reductions by 2020.
What the Bill Replaces
-Advanceable, refundable tax credits based on one’s age.
Under 30: $2,000
Between 30 and 39: $2,500
Between 40 and 49: $3,000
Between 50 and 59: $3,500
Over 60: $4,000
The credits are available in full to individuals making up to $75,000 and families making up to $150,000. For every $1,000 in income higher than those thresholds, the credits decrease by $100.
-Expanded health savings accounts.
The American Health Care Act increases the maximum contributions to health savings accounts, or medical savings accounts, to $6,550 for individuals and $13,100 for families beginning in 2018.
-Protections for consumers with pre-existing conditions.
-Continuous coverage requirement.
Regardless of whether they’re healthy or have a pre-existing condition, Americans must maintain continuous coverage. If there is a lapse in coverage for longer than 63 days, individuals will face a 30 percent surcharge from insurers.
-Age ratio of 5-to-1 for how much more insurers can charge elderly customers versus younger customers.
-Per-capita caps for Medicaid, which depend on each state’s number of enrollees, beginning in 2020.
-Funds for states to set up high-risk pools, reduce out-of-pocket costs, or stabilize health insurance markets.
-One-year freeze on government funding to Planned Parenthood.
What the Bill Leaves in Place
-Essential health benefits requirements.
-Letting adults remain on parents’ plans until age 26.
TRENTON — Lawmakers in New York and New Jersey are pushing legislation that would give the governors of both states the authority to block actions by the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor, a six-decade old, bi-state agency charged with rooting out corruption at the ports.
The proposal marks the latest attempt to wipe away tough regulations the commission has imposed on the maritime shipping industry in both states and comes less than two years after New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie vetoed a bill that sought to abolish the organization entirely.
By Adam Clark | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on March 07, 2017 at 8:45 AM, updated March 07, 2017 at 11:42 AM
TRENTON — Facing a shortage of bilingual teachers in its public schools, New Jersey has made it easier to become one.
The state Board of Education this month approved what education officials called a “slight relaxation” to the score teachers need on the written proficiency test for bilingual teachers, a move officials expect will boost the number of bilingual educators by 10 to 15 percent.
The change applies only to prospective teachers for students learning English as their second language. It does not affect foreign language teachers for native English speakers.
Despite the lower qualifications, the state isn’t expecting any decline in the quality of its bilingual teachers, said Mark Biedron, president of the Board of Education.
“I am confident that teachers coming through the program will be highly proficient,” Biedron said.
Edgewater NJ, Bergen County Prosecutor Gurbir S. Grewal announced the arrests of DARNELL MILLER (DOB: 5/24/1982; single; and unemployed) of 52 Myrtle Avenue, Edgewater, New Jersey; ALLEN STATAM (DOB: 06/02/1961; single; and unemployed) of 8831 SW 22nd Street, Miramar, Florida; Juan NORZAGARAY (DOB: 05/04/1983; single; and unemployed) of 6473 East Garden Stone Drive, Tucson, Arizona; and GARY MERTIL (DOB: 11/14/1984; single, and employed as Uber driver) of 407 56th Street, Apt. 406, West New York, New Jersey on drug-related charges. These arrests are the result of an investigation conducted by members of the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office under the direction of Chief Robert ANZILOTTI, the Edgewater Police Department under the direction of Officer-in-Charge Alex HANNA, the Hackensack Police Department under the direction of Officer-in-Charge Francesco AQUILA, the Bergen County Sheriff’s Office under the direction of Sheriff Michael SAUDINO, and the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) West Paterson Post of Duty under the direction of Group Supervisor Steve ORTMAN.
On Thursday, March 2, 2017, members of the Hackensack Police Department responded to a call of two suspicious males in the parking lot of the Riverside Square Mall, located at 400 Hackensack Avenue, Hackensack, New Jersey. An investigation revealed that ALLEN STATAM and JUAN NORZAGARAY were found to be in possession of approximately $68,881.00, which was believed to be derived from criminal activity. Following additional investigation, they were both arrested on money laundering charges.
Shortly thereafter, members of the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office were contacted and advised of the money laundering arrest. The Hackensack Police Department was then assisted by the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office in this investigation. Thereafter, members of the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office coordinated with members of the Hackensack Police Department, the Edgewater Police Department and the DEA, and responded to an address in Edgewater, New Jersey that was suspected to contain narcotics and additional U.S. currency.
Upon their arrival, GARY MERTIL was located outside of the residence, and was found to be in possession of marijuana. He was placed under arrest without incident. Based upon further intelligence, a court-authorized search warrant was obtained for the residence in Edgewater, in which DARNELL MILLER was located. During the execution of the search warrant, detectives located a “drug mill” on the lower level, which included approximately three kilograms of cocaine, approximately thirty pounds of marijuana, approximately one ounce of heroin, a kilogram press machine, U.S. currency counting machine, large digital scales, one hand gun, and approximately $181,885.00 in U.S. currency.
DARNELL MILLER was arrested without incident and charged with one count of Possession with the Intent to Distribute a Controlled Dangerous Substance, namely Cocaine in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:35-5b (1), a First Degree Crime; one count of Possession With the Intent to Distribute Marijuana, in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:35-5b10a, a First Degree Crime; one count of Maintaining or Operating a Premise for the Manufacturing of Cocaine / Heroin / Marijuana, in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:35-4, a First Degree Crime; one count of Possession With the Intent to Distribute Heroin 2C:35-5b (2), a Second Degree Crime; one count of Possession of a Firearm while committing a controlled dangerous substance crime in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:39-4.1, a Second Degree Crime; one count of Money Laundering in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:21-25, a Second Degree Crime; one count of Tampering with Evidence in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:28-6(1), a Fourth Degree Crime; three counts of Possession With the Intent to Distribute Cocaine, Heroin, and Marijuana, While Within a School Zone in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:35-7, a Third Degree Crime; three counts of Possession With the Intent to Distribute Cocaine, Heroin, and Marijuana, While Within a Park Zone in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:35-7.1, a Second Degree Crime. MILLER was issued a warrant and held at the Bergen County Jail pending a first appearance in the Bergen County Central Judicial Processing Court.
ALLEN STATAM was charged with one count of Money Laundering, specifically by possessing $68,881.00 which is believed to be derived from Criminal Activity, in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:21-25, a Third Degree Crime. He was released on his own recognizance pending a first appearance date in Bergen County Central Judicial Processing Court.
JUAN NORZAGARAY was charged with one count of Money Laundering, specifically by possessing $68,881.00 which is believed to be derived from Criminal Activity, in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:21-25, a Third Degree Crime. He was released on his own recognizance pending a first appearance date in Bergen County Central Judicial Processing Court.
GARY MERTIL was charged with one count of Possession of Marijuana in an amount under fifty grams in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:35-10A(4). He was released on his own recognizance pending a first appearance date in Bergen County Central Judicial Processing Court.
Prosecutor Grewal states that these charges are merely accusations and that the defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, and would also like to thank the Hackensack Police Department, Edgewater Police Department, DEA, and the Bergen County Sheriff’s Office for their assistance in this investigation.
file photo Bergen County Executive James J. Tedesco
Steve Janoski , Staff Writer, @SteveJanoskiPublished 3:12 p.m. ET March 6, 2017 | Updated 12 hours ago
WAYNE – Christina D’Aloia, assistant Bergen County counsel, has been named acting director of the county’s consumer affairs division following the suspension of Director Michael R. Bradley, who was arrested two weeks ago in Oakland on drunk-driving charges.
Bergen County Executive James J. Tedesco III said D’Aloia had already been working closely with the consumer affairs division and was “very qualified” to hold the acting director post.
Joe Malinconico, Paterson PressPublished 7:49 p.m. ET March 3, 2017 | Updated 16 hours ago
PATERSON – The city school district has filed disciplinary charges against the president of the teachers union, accusing him of verbally attacking and intimidating a vice principal last year.
The district is seeking to revoke the tenure of John McEntee Jr., who is president of the Paterson Education Association, a union that has more than 3,000 members.
TERRY SPENCER, Associated Press9:23 a.m. ET March 6, 2017
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Many of the Medicare fraud charges against prominent Florida eye doctor Salomon Melgen are complicated, but one is simple — federal prosecutors say he claimed reimbursement for treating both eyes of patients who have one prosthetic.
Melgen is scheduled to go on trial Monday in West Palm Beach, facing 76 counts charging him with stealing up to $190 million from Medicare between 2004 and 2013. Prosecutors say he prescribed unneeded treatments, filed claims for procedures he never performed and charged for medicine he never purchased. If convicted, the 62-year-old doctor faces up to 610 years in prison. He is free on $18 million bond. He faces a bribery trial this fall in New Jersey with Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez
Ridgewood NJ, on Saturday Ridgewood ‘s favorite ice cream shop Van Dyk’s opened for the season. Daylight savings time is near and spring can’t be far behind.
In 2012 Van Dyk’s was named by CBS as one of New Jersey’s 4 best homemade Ice Cream shops. In 2014 New Jersey family magazine also picked Van Dyk’s as one of the Garden States best ice cream shops.
Don’t be surprised if you have never heard of Van Dyk’s.Unless you’re a long time Ridgewood native or heard about it via word of mouth, you probably don’t know about Van Dyke’s.Van Dyke makes all its own ice cream right on premises. The shop is located on the intersection of Ackerman Avenue and Spencer Place in Ridgewood. There’s a wooden sign in the parking lot which isn’t lit up at night, they don’t advertise and the shop basically looks like a residential house with a somewhat bigger parking lot than some of the other houses in the neighborhood.
Van Dyk’s It’s located at 145 Ackerman Ave and open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. seven days a week,(201) 444-1429.
There could be as many as 2 million stray and feral cats roaming New Jersey’s streets, backyards and woods.
While it’s no issue seeing a stray cat cross your path every once in a while, the growing population of these free-roaming felines presents real challenges in certain parts of the state.
Many communities have systems in place to get a handle on these populations, and reduce the spread of disease, in a humane way.
“Every single municipality is plagued with a feral cat population,” said Ross Licitra, executive director of the Monmouth County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. “It is truly one of the number one problems out there with every shelter and rescue group.”
Ridgewood NJ, Today, Tuesday 7 March 2017, WikiLeaks begins its new series of leaks on the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. Code-named “Vault 7” by WikiLeaks, it is the largest ever publication of confidential documents on the agency.
Recently, the CIA lost control of the majority of its hacking arsenal including malware, viruses, trojans, weaponized “zero day” exploits, malware remote control systems and associated documentation. This extraordinary collection, which amounts to more than several hundred million lines of code, gives its possessor the entire hacking capacity of the CIA. The archive appears to have been circulated among former U.S. government hackers and contractors in an unauthorized manner, one of whom has provided WikiLeaks with portions of the archive.
“Year Zero” introduces the scope and direction of the CIA’s global covert hacking program, its malware arsenal and dozens of “zero day” weaponized exploits against a wide range of U.S. and European company products, include Apple’s iPhone, Google’s Android and Microsoft’s Windows and even Samsung TVs, which are turned into covert microphones.
Since 2001 the CIA has gained political and budgetary preeminence over the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA). The CIA found itself building not just its now infamous drone fleet, but a very different type of covert, globe-spanning force — its own substantial fleet of hackers. The agency’s hacking division freed it from having to disclose its often controversial operations to the NSA (its primary bureaucratic rival) in order to draw on the NSA’s hacking capacities.
By the end of 2016, the CIA’s hacking division, which formally falls under the agency’s Center for Cyber Intelligence (CCI), had over 5000 registered users and had produced more than a thousand hacking systems, trojans, viruses, and other “weaponized” malware. Such is the scale of the CIA’s undertaking that by 2016, its hackers had utilized more code than that used to run Facebook. The CIA had created, in effect, its “own NSA” with even less accountability and without publicly answering the question as to whether such a massive budgetary spend on duplicating the capacities of a rival agency could be justified.
In a statement to WikiLeaks the source details policy questions that they say urgently need to be debated in public, including whether the CIA’s hacking capabilities exceed its mandated powers and the problem of public oversight of the agency. The source wishes to initiate a public debate about the security, creation, use, proliferation and democratic control of cyberweapons.
Once a single cyber ‘weapon’ is ‘loose’ it can spread around the world in seconds, to be used by rival states, cyber mafia and teenage hackers alike.
Julian Assange, WikiLeaks editor stated that “There is an extreme proliferation risk in the development of cyber ‘weapons’. Comparisons can be drawn between the uncontrolled proliferation of such ‘weapons’, which results from the inability to contain them combined with their high market value, and the global arms trade. But the significance of “Year Zero” goes well beyond the choice between cyberwar and cyberpeace. The disclosure is also exceptional from a political, legal and forensic perspective.”
Wikileaks has carefully reviewed the “Year Zero” disclosure and published substantive CIA documentation while avoiding the distribution of ‘armed’ cyberweapons until a consensus emerges on the technical and political nature of the CIA’s program and how such ‘weapons’ should analyzed, disarmed and published.
Wikileaks has also decided to redact and anonymise some identifying information in “Year Zero” for in depth analysis. These redactions include ten of thousands of CIA targets and attack machines throughout Latin America, Europe and the United States. While we are aware of the imperfect results of any approach chosen, we remain committed to our publishing model and note that the quantity of published pages in “Vault 7” part one (“Year Zero”) already eclipses the total number of pages published over the first three years of the Edward Snowden NSA leaks.
Ridgewood NJ, in a March 6th warning the NJ Department of Homeland Security “ISIS: Weaponizing UAVs” warns over the possible use of Weaponized Drones.
In the warning, NJDHS says, “The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) will likely continue refining its unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) capabilities and touting successes as proofs of concept for future operations. Since February, ISIS claims it has conducted approximately 80 UAV attacks in Iraq and Syria, killing approximately 40 and injuring 100. The UAVs are primarily quadcopters, which can be easily purchased online and customized to drop small explosive munitions.
ISIS has conducted surveillance with commercial drones since 2014, according to West Point’s Combating Terrorism Center, and the group has advanced its UAV program by experimenting with weaponization in 2015-16 and industrializing the drone production this year.”
ISIS is posting videos ,on January 24, ISIS released the video “Knights of the Dawawin,” showing militants using a Chinese Skywalker X8 drone and dropping explosives on US-led coalition forces and armored vehicles.
And now instructions are in English. Recent ISIS English-language propaganda provides operational “how-to” guides intended to inspire homegrown violent extremists (HVEs) in the United States—an avenue the group will likely expand to weaponized drones. In November 2016, ISIS released a guide outlining effective methods for carrying out vehicular assaults, which resulted in HVE Mohammed Naji plotting to use a truck to target the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade in New York City.
On February 1, ISIS released an image called the “Islamic State Nightmare,” featuring fighters preparing to launch a UAV over an image of the Statue of Liberty.
