News Corp CEO Rupert Murdoch, in a discursive speech Monday evening, blasted Secretary of State John Kerry and attacked the left for creating an “identity crisis” that he charged has undermined American strength and fostered terrorism around the world.
And he drew a connection between U.S. foreign policy and domestic culture, arguing that “in recent years, there has been far too much institutionalization of grievance and victimhood.”
The Australian-born media mogul, a naturalized U.S. citizen, also touched on the Republican presidential primary, which he said “has articulated a deep distaste for the slow descent of our country.”
“Before delivering my modest message,” Murdoch joked at the outset of his address accepting the Hudson Institute’s Global Leadership Award, “I feel obliged to alert college students, progressive academics and all other deeply sensitive souls that these words may contain phrases and ideas that challenge your prejudices — in other words, I formally declare this room an ‘unsafe space.’”
After a few words of praise for former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who had just introduced him to the hawkish think-tank crowd, Murdoch quickly pivoted to a sweeping indictment of U.S. foreign policy under Barack Obama, though he did not mention the president by name.
“For a U.S. secretary of state to suggest that Islamic terrorists had a ‘rationale’ in slaughtering journalists is one of the low points of recent Western diplomacy and it is indicative of a serious malaise,” Murdoch said, referring to Kerry’s recent mangled attempt to draw a distinction between the assault on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and the more recent Paris attacks. “For America to be embarrassed by its exceptionalism is itself exceptional and absolutely unacceptable.” (Kerry quickly walked back those comments, remarking the next day that “such atrocities can never be rationalized, and we can never allow them to be rationalized.”)
The CEO of UnitedHealthCare on Tuesday said he regretted the decision to enter the ObamaCare marketplace last year, which the company says has resulted in millions of dollars in losses.
“It was for us a bad decision,” UnitedHealth CEO Stephen Hemsley said at an investor’s meeting in New York, according to Bloomberg Business.
UnitedHealth, the country’s largest insurer, announced last month that it would no longer advertise its ObamaCare plans over the next year and may pull out completely in 2016 — a move that sent shockwaves across the healthcare sector.
Hemsley’s remarks double down on his earlier warning that the ObamaCare exchanges remain weaker than expected after two years and that it will take far longer for insurers to profit from the millions of new enrollees.
A highlight of the Great Recession was the flight of the unemployed to the far-flung precincts of higher ed. Many of those people left school for the job market in recent years, but higher ed experts viewed this as an opportunity for lower income groups to become better acclimated to the idea of going to college.
Foundations bank-rolled this effort, including new organizations like Complete College America, while money was poured into college prep programs. Between the 2008-09 academic years, government grant aid increased by about 40%, from $82 billion to $123 billion in 2013-14.
But a contrarian trend has emerged, one that higher ed honchos find troubling. According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the percentage of students from low-income families enrolling in higher education immediately after graduating from high school has dropped by over 10% since 2008, from 56% of graduates then to 46% today. As a result, the percentage of low-income students attending college today is only about 3% higher than it was two decades ago.
Retail Store Sales Fell 10% Thanksgiving Weekend as Online Gains
Lauren Coleman-Lochner LaurenLochner
December 1, 2015
U.S. holiday shoppers spent more of their time last weekend online and less in line.
Consumer spending at brick-and-mortar retail locations in the U.S. fell 10 percent to $20.4 billion over the four-day Thanksgiving weekend, according to ShopperTrak. The Chicago-based research firm gathers sales and traffic data from receipt information and devices in stores.
Retailers cut back on Thanksgiving hours, rolled out discounts earlier this year and ran more of their bargains online, putting less pressure on consumers to rush out for discounts after their turkey dinners or the next morning. The strategies also contributed to a 26 percent increase in online sales over the weekend, according to International Business Machines Corp. But even after the brick-and-mortar drop, ShopperTrak maintained its forecast that those sales will rise 2.4 percent this holiday season.
“The success of the holiday season doesn’t hinge on the performance of a single day,” said Bill Martin, ShopperTrak’s founder. “Seven out of the top ten sales days still remain, and December is anticipated to be strong.”
ShopperTrak’s forecast for the holiday season is weaker than that of the National Retail Federation, which has predicted a 3.7 percent sales gain for November and December.
Spending Less
The shoppers that did hit the mall last weekend may have kept a lid on spending. About half of Americans shopped on Black Friday this year, similar to last year, the International Council of Shopping Centers said Tuesday. But 55 percent said they spent the same or less than last year, according to a survey of 1,016 adults the trade group commissioned from Opinion Research Corp.
Janeen Price, who was shopping with her daughter in Greensboro, North Carolina, over the weekend, said she was a more serious Black Friday bargain-hunter in previous years. Now, her kids are grown up and she doesn’t feel the need to butt heads with other shoppers, said Price, 50.
DECEMBER 1, 2015 LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2015, 9:45 AM
BY MARK KRULISH
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
(This article is the third of an ongoing series examining the Schedler property and the issues surrounding it.)
In the woods on the edge of Route 17 in Ridgewood stands a brown farm house. Drivers traveling the speed limit on the highway would be hard-pressed to spot it, and it is best they don’t in the interest of automobile safety. But even those taking a trip on West Saddle River Road might miss it if they are not paying attention.
Yet that little brown house is considered a remarkable piece of history that at least some residents in the Village of Ridgewood believe is worth preserving for future generations.
The Zabriskie-Schedler house has become the subject of much speculation and discussion since the village purchased the 7-acre property in 2009. Current plans propose a 90-foot baseball field with multi-purpose overlay field, which has caused some residents in the neighborhood to worry about their quality of life while others are also concerned about the fate of the historic house.
Somewhat miraculously, the Schedler house has had few owners in its approximately 180 years and it may be one of the reasons the house has stood for so long in the middle of an otherwise developed region of New Jersey.
NOVEMBER 30, 2015, 5:47 PM LAST UPDATED: MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2015, 5:47 PM
BY STEVE JANOSKI
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
RIDGEWOOD — Local officials will ask for public comment Wednesday night regarding the size and scope of the proposed Hudson Street parking garage, the construction of which is expected to ease longstanding parking concerns in the village’s crowded downtown.
Mayor Paul Aronsohn said the 7:30 p.m. meeting will feature a presentation by parking deck designer Desman Design Management and give residents a chance to provide opinions on the structure’s height, square-footage, and car capacity. Aronsohn intends to hold an informal council vote that night and introduce a bond ordinance on Dec. 9 to fund construction.
Voters endorsed the garage by nearly a 2-to-1 majority in a non-binding referendum last month. That referendum’s wording said the garage was anticipated to provide a net increase of about 300 spaces without having a “negative impact” on property taxes because parking revenues would be used to pay off the construction debt.
According to documents on the village website, three parking decks of varying sizes have been proposed.
Ridgewood NJ, A male juvenile who was riding a bicycle sustained a non-life threatening leg injury after being struck by a pickup truck at the intersection of North Van Dien and Linwood Avenues in Ridgewood on Tuesday, 12/01 at about 4:45 PM. The victim was transported by ambulance to The Valley Hospital. Ridgewood PD, EMS, and FD units responded to the scene.
NOVEMBER 30, 2015, 7:02 PM LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2015, 12:30 AM
BY CHRISTOPHER MAAG AND SHAWN BOBURG
STAFF WRITERS |
THE RECORD
No one likes a toll hike. And next week, a toll hike package approved in 2011 will reach its zenith — starting Sunday, cash-paying drivers will have to pay $15 to cross the George Washington Bridge, nearly double what it cost just a few years ago.
But there could be a small silver lining. Because after a series of back-to-back annual increases beginning in 2011, this may be the last toll hike North Jersey drivers will have to pay for at least a few years, according to a major credit agency’s prediction. The cash |toll currently is $14. Drivers with E-ZPass will see their tolls rise |75 cents during peak hours, to $12.50.
The toll increases were included in a controversial package approved by the Port Authority’s board in 2011. Two years later, The Record revealed that the increase was part of a coordinated plan by Governor Christie and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to subvert public input and advance an even higher increase, only to impose a slightly more modest hike to make themselves appear financially responsible.
The strategy may backfire on the Port Authority, according to Moody’s, a credit rating firm. The toll increase makes the PA more dependent than ever on money from its interstate bridges and tunnels, as revenue from airports has declined. But total vehicle traffic is down, and many people remain angry about the rising costs.
That could make future toll hikes politically difficult, good news for drivers but bad for the Port Authority.
In the decades following World War II, the world witnessed the greatest movement of populations in history. War refugees from displaced persons camps in Europe were helped to begin life anew in other countries and on other continents. Massive population exchanges in Asia were often bloody and brutal, when the new countries of Pakistan and Bangladesh were created as Muslim states and India achieved independence, its population majority Hindu. At the same time, the Jewish state of Israel achieved independence and rose to the challenge of accepting refugees from neighboring Arab countries, from Yemen to Morocco to Egypt.
With one singular exception, all people who were refugees in the second half of the 20th century have long been settled and integrated in their new countries. The one exception, which has been allowed to languish and be used as a political pawn, is Palestine. This was done with the connivance of the United Nations and the Arab League. We don’t want to see similar manipulation and mishandling of today’s Middle East refugees, with Syrians fleeing the horrors of four years of civil war and terror.
Most Syrian refugees find themselves in Turkey or Jordan, where every aspect of life is extremely difficult. Those who arrive with savings are permitted to live in the cities, such as Amman, where food and other expenses are high. Because they are not permitted to work, they soon spend their savings. When the refugee families’ funds are gone, their only choice is to move into a refugee camp and live on U.N. food vouchers. Many are now housed in refugee camps, such as the one I visited, the Azraq refugee camp.
The Azraq camp is located in a bleak and deserted stretch of desert that was built to house Iraqis and Kuwaiti Gulf war refugees. First opening in 2014, the United Nations and Jordan built Azraq with the capacity to hold 130,000 residents, which would have made it the largest refugee camp in the region. Today it is nearly empty, with a population of around 27,000 residents.
Is the camp nearly empty because the authorities have been so efficient in resettling those refugees? Quite the contrary! Conditions in Azraq, and the failure of Arab nations to receive refugees, have led to the refugees’ desperate flight in unsafe boats to Europe.
Here is a picture of life in Azraq: The camp is a bleak expanse of row after row of white sheet metal shelters. There is no electricity or air conditioning or heat against the scalding desert summer temperatures or cold winds of winter. Lack of electricity adds further hardship, as people are forced to choose between having light to see their way to the bathroom at night (six shelters share one bathroom) and charging their cellphones, which connects them to family and the outside world.
Despite the fact that refugees are in host countries that share their language, culture, ethnicity and religion, they are not helped to integrate into those countries, or into the many neighboring Arab, Muslim countries. Many refugees are educated professionals; many have other skills and occupations. But they are not allowed to work, and their children do not attend schools.
No wonder they want to leave! And they have, in droves — some preferring to take their chances back in Syria.
The media has focused on Europe and the United States’s willingness or unwillingness to welcome these refugees. This focus is all wrong. The solution to the Syrian refugee crisis is with Syria’s neighbors.
Syrian refugee resettlement should be concentrated in Arab countries, which are in the best position to help. The rich Persian Gulf states — Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and United Arab Emirates — have the resources to provide services that refugees require. With no language barrier and no religious or cultural gaps to overcome, refugees can find new and fulfilling lives with only enough support to make the transition. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and other refugee aid organizations can best use their resources to train these Gulf states to provide housing and social services effectively.
Syrians have a reputation as being very hard working, determined people, which should only enhance the overall economic health of the neighboring Arab countries that accept and integrate them into the general population. The humanitarian crisis presented by the fleeing Syrian refugees can be addressed if the nations of the world with resources would provide financial and material support to the aforementioned countries as well as encouragement. There is much beauty in Syria, and I suspect that many displaced Syrians will return there when peace is restored.
This is a forward-thinking and wise strategy.
Carson, a retired Johns Hopkins neurosurgeon, is a candidate for the 2016 Republican nomination
We had Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday. Did you know that today is Giving Tuesday? If you haven’t already, please donate to our “Heartbeat of the RCB” Percussion Fundraising Campaign!
The percussion (drums) section is the heartbeat of any musical ensemble and percussion section of the Ridgewood Concert Band (RCB) is no exception. The percussionists of the RCB keep the pulse of the music and add color and texture to the music that we play each season.
The Ridgewood Concert Band is committed to making a substantial contribution to the music and artistic life of our community by providing audiences with the highest level of wind music performances. In order to perform at the highest level our musicians need the highest level quality instruments. Most band members provide their own personal instruments because they play just one instrument (eg. clarinet, trombone). However, the percussion music includes such a wide variety of instruments (marimba, xylophone, timpani, bass drum, cymbals, snare drum….just to name a basic few!) that a percussionist may play three, four, or five instruments in the course of just one piece! Because a percussionist simply cannot own, store, and transport EVERY percussion instrument, the RCB has a selection of percussion equipment that it owns for its members to use. However, after 33 seasons the equipment being used is showing its age and it is time to provide instruments that match the quality of the percussionists playing them.
This Percussion Fundraiser is being spearheaded by the Ridgewood Concert Band Society (RCBS), which is a group of donors and members that are committed to supporting the creative endeavors of the ensemble and insuring that the RCB can be financially sound both today and in the future. The RCBS has created this Percussion Fundraiser in order to purchase items off of the “Percussion Section Wishlist”, including a vibraphone and a set of timpani.
Please consider putting your support behind this endeavor to make sure the heartbeat of the RCB remains strong!
December 1,2015
Ridgewood the staff of the Ridgewood blog
NJ, Planning Board Meeting tonight 7:55 p.m. – 9:15 p.m. – Continued discussion of the reexamination of the Master Plan and development regulations – Residential Land Use.
Our Master Plan has not had a thorough re-examination in 30 years. According to our Village Planner, Blais Brancheau, 90% of the language needs to be re-written. This is a huge undertaking for our planning board. Please attend.
FBI Director James Comey is the pivotal figure in the 2016 presidential race that no one is talking about.
Comey, a Republican appointed by President Obama who enjoys a stellar reputation on both sides of the aisle, is investigating Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server as secretary of State.
Clinton is the overwhelming favorite to win the Democratic presidential nomination next year and is expected to be a tough candidate for any Republican to face in 2016.
Yet the controversy surrounding her private email account remains an Achilles’ heel.
The GOP-created House Benghazi Committee flopped in October when Clinton testified for 11 hours. That hearing failed to produce anything newsworthy about her use of a private server and attracted criticism from liberals and conservatives alike.
Its failure makes it clear that the FBI will have the final say on whether Clinton did anything wrong or illegal. And whatever the verdict is, both parties will have to accept it because Comey is, in many ways, untouchable.
The 54-year-old FBI chief, confirmed by the Senate to a 10-year term in a 93-1 vote this summer, is known for his independence and aggressive prosecutions.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Federal Bureau of Investigation has used a secretive authority to compel Internet and telecommunications firms to hand over customer data including an individual’s complete web browsing history and records of all online purchases, a court filing released Monday shows.
The documents are believed to be the first time the government has provided details of its so-called national security letters, which are used by the FBI to conduct electronic surveillance without the need for court approval.
The filing made public Monday was the result of an 11-year-old legal battle waged by Nicholas Merrill, founder of Calyx Internet Access, a hosted service provider, who refused to comply with a national security letter (NSL) he received in 2004.
Merrill told Reuters the release was significant “because the public deserves to know how the government is gathering information without warrants on Americans who are not even suspected of a crime.”
National security letters have been available as a law enforcement tool since the 1970s, but their frequency and breadth expanded dramatically under the USA Patriot Act, which was passed shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. They are almost always accompanied by an open-ended gag order barring companies from disclosing the contents of the demand for customer data.
A federal court ruled earlier this year that the gag on Merrill’s NSL should be lifted.
NOVEMBER 30, 2015 LAST UPDATED: MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2015, 1:43 PM
BY JIM MCCONVILLE
CORRESPONDENT |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
RIDGEWOOD – On Saturday, just before 4 p.m., the Ridgewood High School football team will run out of the tunnel at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford to play the North 1, Group 5 championship game against Passaic County Tech.
Let that sink in for a minute. For the seventh time in program history, the Maroons (9-2) will play for a state-sectional title. Those are words that many would not have associated with this team a few months ago.
Yet, this merry band of overachievers has put together one of the most improbable and impressive seasons in head coach Chuck Johnson’s 32 seasons at RHS, and they capped it off on Friday, Nov. 20 with a little history.
With its come-from-behind, 24-17 victory in overtime against No. 5 seed Montclair, top-seeded Ridgewood exorcised its biggest playoff demon.
The Mounties had won each of the teams’ previous four playoff meetings, including a 33-0 shellacking in the North 1, Group 5 final two years ago, which ruined the Maroons’ unbeaten season.
“Wow. I’m so happy for this group,” Johnson said. “They’ve been so great to coach, and they’ve worked as hard as any team we’ve had. The commitment they put in the weight room this summer paid off for them.”
NOVEMBER 30, 2015 LAST UPDATED: MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2015, 9:53 AM
BY MATTHEW SCHNEIDER
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
Benjamin Franklin Middle School (BF) hosted a charity run on Nov. 20, collecting frozen turkeys that were donated to help those less fortunate this Thanksgiving.
The school’s 21st Annual Turkey Trot, which was started as a community service project, was success again, according to Donna Skettini, a health and physical education teacher at BF and one of the event organizers.
“We had almost 1,000 people participate,” she said. “It is a huge hit and lots of fun.”
According to a flyer sent home to parents of BF students, “This tradition has been a day to celebrate with fitness and fun, while we all recognize the needs of others.”
The goal was to donate one turkey to the Social Service Association of Ridgewood and Vicinity for every 50 laps around the BF track accomplished as a group.
Giving to families in need has been the event’s goal since its inception, according to Skettini.
