Author: James

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“How the Feds Asked Me to Rat Out Commenters” – And Why We Pushed Back

big-brother-poster

This sort of thing is one more reason why confidence in government is at all-time lows.

Nick Gillespie|Jun. 25, 2015 8:38 am

Regular readers of Reason.com know all about the recent federal subpoena and gag order we received.

The subpoena asked for identifying information we had on a half-dozen readers who left angry comments on a post about the verdict in the Silk Road Trial.

The comments ranged from suggesting the judge in the case should burn in hell to suggesting, in a well-known Internet homage to the movie Fargo, she be fed “feet-first” into a woodchipper. As Matt Welch and I have written, “The comments are hyperbolic, in questionable taste–and fully within the norms of Internet commentary.” They certainly don’t rise to the level of threat that should trigger requests from federal prosecutors.

We notified the commenters, who could have moved to quash the subpoena. Then the government hit us with a gag order, prohibiting us from talking about even the existence of the subpoena and the gag order. We fought to get the gag order lifted and once it was, we’ve been talking about the case.

I’ve got a new column up at The Daily Beast that gives more background on the matter. Here are some snippets:

 

https://reason.com/blog/2015/06/25/how-the-feds-asked-me-to-rat-out-comment

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Star-Ledger Ed Board Accused of McCarthyism

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Star-Ledger Ed Board does McCarthyism better than McCarthy

June 25,2015

By Scott St. Clair (https://savejersey.com/ )
The Star-Ledger hit a new low of innuendo and guilt-by-association smear tactics in editorially trying to link racists to the Republican Party. You get an A+ in McCarthyism and dirty tricks, but an F in integrity and respect for any point of view other than your own.The editorial’s not-so subliminal message is that Republicans who disagree with the paper’s editorial board or President Obama on policy do so for racially-motivated reasons.

Why not consider that maybe, just maybe, those who disagree do so because the policies are horrible, not in the national interest and complete failures?

Despite the insistence of some, it’s not a tautology that considering Obamacare a waste of money and a failure is racist. Wanting to secure our borders and control who comes into the country isn’t ipso facto bigotry. And maybe those of us who don’t want to see Medicaid expanded believe it’s too expensive and fiscally irresponsible.

clinton goreSmall and insecure thinking slaps the race card to cripple what should be legitimate debate.To paraphrase the words of attorney Joseph Welch in 1954 when he rebuked McCarthy: “You’ve done enough, Star-Ledger. Have you no sense of decency, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?”

The True History of the Democratic Racist Party

https://theridgewoodblog.net/the-true-history-of-the-democratic-racist-party/

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Jonathan Who? AP, NY Times Set the Stage For Gruber News Blackout

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By Tom Blumer | June 23, 2015 | 10:55 PM EDT

Two recent NewsBusters posts have demonstrated that the major broadcast networks other than Fox News have failed to cover new information reported Sunday evening at the Wall Street Journal. Newly available emails reveal that MIT’s Jonathan Gruber “worked more closely than previously known with the White House and top federal officials to shape” the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare. Monday afternoon, NB’s Scott Whitlock noted that “All three network morning shows on Monday ignored” the clearly newsworthy revelations. Very early Tuesday morning, NB’s Curtis Houck observed that “The top English and Spanish-language broadcast networks” did the same thing Monday evening.

The Associated Press and the New York Times, the nation’s de facto news gatekeepers during the Obama era (far more the former than the latter, in my view) were instrumental in this deliberate averted-eyes exercise. Neither outlet has printed a word about what the Journal found. Here are the results of a search on the MIT economist’s last name at the main national web site of the Associated Press shortly after 10 p.m.
A search at the AP’s Big Story site on Gruber’s last name has no story about anyone with that last name after early March. The last time the Big Story section covered anything containing the MIT economist’s name was in late February. Similarly, a search at the New York Times on Gruber’s full name (not in quotes) shows that the last relevant story there was in early March. Not even Josh Earnest’s continued denials in the face of harsh, irrefutable reality have moved either outlet to consider telling the public they claim to serve that the Obama administration has been fundamentally dishonest in representing the scope of Jonathan Gruber’s role for almost six years, going back to well before the Affordable Care Act became law.

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Testicle-munching fish species found in Swedes Lake in South Jersey

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A man and his son caught a strange species in Swedes Lake in South Jersey that turned out to be a rare Amazonian fish known in South America as the “Nutcracker,” according to reports.

The pacu is native to the Amazon
By David Lawler, Washington

9:08PM BST 24 Jun 2015

A species of fish best-known for attacking human testicles has apparently invaded America.

A father and son were fishing in New Jersey when they got a bite from an unfamiliar fish with a startling array of near-human teeth. It was a pacu, a relative of the piranha that is native to the Amazon.

The pacu has accumulated some colourful nicknames – nutcracker, ball cutter – and a sighting in Sweden in 2013 led to a warning for male swimmers to keep their trunks on.

This time the catch came not in Sweden but in Swede’s Lake, a man-made body of water near Philadelphia. Fortunately for Ron Rossi, this particular fish went for the bait.

Mr Rossi knew as soon as he “scooped” the fish that he had “never seen anything like” it. He originally thought he had caught a piranha.

Henrik Carl, a Danish fish expert, said that was a common mistake.

“They are almost identical to the piranha, you couldn’t even tell from the outside,” he explained after the Scandinavian pacu sighting. “It’s just that they have different teeth. Flatter and stronger, perfect for crushing.”

“The pacu is not normally dangerous to people but it has quite a serious bite, there have been incidents in other countries, such as Papua New Guinea where some men have had their testicles bitten off,” Mr Carl said.

The freshwater fish can grow up to 90 centimetres and weigh up to 25 kilograms.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/11697491/Testicle-munching-fish-species-found-in-US-lake.html

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Another beautiful day at Graydon

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Photo credit:   Boyd A. Loving
Another beautiful day at Graydon
June 24,2015
Boyd A. Loving

Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood Councilman Michael Sedon and his 17 month old son Hunter enjoyed a morning of play at Graydon Pool on Wednesday, June 24.

Village resident Anne Loving and her grandson Declan, who is 23 months old, joined in on the some of the fun.

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Graydon Pool Memberships and Aquatic Programs

Please visit the Graydon Pool homepage at www.ridgewoodnj.net/graydon to learn about membership rates, program offerings and pool amenities. Be sure to bookmark our Graydon homepage on your computer for future special events and program offerings. Opening day for Graydon Pool was Saturday, June 6th.

2015 season memberships may now be purchased online via Community Pass at www.ridgewoodnj.net/communitypass. Be sure to refer to your online confirmation when purchase is complete for detailed information on how to obtain your photo identification badge.

Aquatic programs, including the Graydon Swim Team and instructional and recreational swim, are also available online at Community Pass, or you may review levels and print program registration forms from our Graydon homepage referenced above. Meet the Aquatic Staff and learn more on the following dates at the pool: Saturday, June 6th, 10 am to 1 pm, and Saturday, June 20th, 10 am to 1 pm.

American Red Cross Waterfront Lifeguard Training (recertification/bridging and new) is available through Ridgewood Parks and Recreation. Details/registration are also available on the Graydon Pool homepage.

For more information please call 201-670-5560.

 

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NJ Transit labor strife could hike fares further

lasttraintoclarksville_theridgewoodblog

Riders on NJ Transit are already hopping mad about a proposed 9 percent fare increase. Hundreds of them have bombarded the agency since April with angry emails, letters and in-person testimonials opposing the move, which will fill a $56 million budget gap if approved three weeks from now by NJ Transit’s board members.

But what if this fare increase is only the beginning?  (Maag/The Record)

https://www.northjersey.com/news/nj-transit-labor-strife-could-hike-fares-further-1.1362166

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Ridgewood firefighters set to compete in World Police and Fire Games

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file photo by Boyd Loving

JUNE 24, 2015, 3:46 PM    LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24, 2015, 5:33 PM
BY STEFANIE DAZIO
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

Forget chasing fires. Three Ridgewood firefighters will be chasing gold medals at the World Police and Fire Games for the next week.

Capt. Chris DuFlocq, Lt. Brendan Corcoran and Fireman Brian Peacock are among the 12,000 international athletes — all police officers and career firefighters from 70 countries — competing in the Olympics-style games in Fairfax County, Va., that begin Friday and run through July 5.

DuFlocq, a 56-year-old Midland Park resident, placed an ad in a union magazine in 2011 to pull together a soccer team. Firefighters and cops from all over the state responded. “It was more successful that I thought it would be,” he said.

The team — dubbed “N.J. Guns and Hoses” — went on to win national gold medals in 2013 and 2014. More than a dozen players practice once or twice a week and they play in tournaments throughout the year.

“We’ve got national, now we want to see if we can compete with the world,” DuFlocq said. “It’s going to be a struggle. It’s going to be some tough games.”

Corcoran, 37, of Ridgewood said he has already broken two world records. He has smashed the Guinness World Records for one-mile and half-marathon runs in full firefighter gear but he is waiting for it to be made official. He ran in 25 pounds of gear to raise awareness for firefighter fitness, as well as raise money for Code 3 for a Cure Foundation, a national non-profit charity that supports firefighters with cancer.

 

https://www.northjersey.com/news/ridgewood-firefighters-set-to-compete-in-world-police-and-fire-games-1.1362096

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SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS NATIONWIDE HEALTH CARE LAW SUBSIDIES

obamacare_theridgewood blog

BY MARK SHERMAN
ASSOCIATED PRESS

The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the nationwide tax subsidies under President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul, in a ruling that preserves health insurance for millions of Americans.

The justices said in a 6-3 ruling that the subsidies that 8.7 million people currently receive to make insurance affordable do not depend on where they live, under the 2010 health care law.

The outcome is the second major victory for Obama in politically charged Supreme Court tests of his most significant domestic achievement.

Chief Justice John Roberts again voted with his liberal colleagues in support of the law. Roberts also was the key vote to uphold the law in 2012. Justice Anthony Kennedy, a dissenter in 2012, was part of the majority on Thursday.

“Congress passed the Affordable Care Act to improve health insurance markets, not to destroy them,” Roberts wrote in the majority opinion.

Nationally, 10.2 million people have signed up for health insurance under the Obama health overhaul. That includes the 8.7 million people who are receiving an average subsidy of $272 a month to help pay their insurance premiums.

https://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_SUPREME_COURT_HEALTH_OVERHAUL_SUBSIDIES?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

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Floodgates Open for High Density Housing plans in Central Business District

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June 25,2015
the staff of the Ridgewood blog

RIDGEWOOD NJ, On its June 2nd Vote the Planning Board has approved resolutions of four master plan amendments permitting high-density, multifamily housing projects downtown.The resolutions were passed by the Village Planning board last week in its first meeting since its recent vote increasing the number of allowable housing units per acre in four distinct village zones to 35 from 12.

35 Units per acre was approved by the Ridgewood Planning Board in a 6  to 3 vote, in what can only be described as a victory for special interests over the residents of the Village . Last night the Planning Board approved a  change to the Village master plan from a density of 12 units per acre (current) to a density of 35 units per acre (almost triple) , giving the Village Central Business District a higher density than Hackensack 22 units per acre, Teaneck 28 units per acre, or Fair Lawn 17 units per acre. https://theridgewoodblog.net/ridgewood-planning-board-approves-high-density-35-unit-per-acre-plan-for-central-business-district/

The Village Council still has to approve the changes in the Master Plan .The amendments will be discussed by the council for the first time at its meeting Wednesday  July 8, were the council will review the draft ordinances and suggest changes. These changes could be formally adopted by September.

There are three proposed developments are The Dayton, a 106-unit luxury garden apartment complex at the site of the former Brogan Cadillac dealership; the 50-unit Chestnut Village, on Chestnut Street; and the 52-unit Enclave, on East Ridgewood and North Maple avenues and of coarse there is also the matter of the new parking garaged planned for Hudson Street.

All three developers still need to file applications with the village, seeking approval from the Planning Board for each of their projects.

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Readers Not buying Democrat Tax Increase will cover Pension Funding Gap

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Taxing the 1% won’t cover the under-funding gap, you’d either have to raise state income taxes by 29% overall or raise the NJ sales tax to 10% just to maintain existing benefits…such measures would face significant obstacles from State constitutional mandates on the use of specific revenue sources for particular purposes, such as the dedication of all income taxes to property tax relief. In addition, the State must obey federal mandates, honor bonded obligations and meet other funding demands. As a result, roughly 87% of State revenues are effectively committed to specific purposes before the budgeting process begins. The remaining funds—$4.3 billion in the current budget—are counted on for vital functions such as law enforcement, public safety, the judiciary, and executive department offices. A “millionaires’ tax” imposing an average $50,000 additional annual tax on each millionaire, for example, would make only a small dent in the funding shortfall. It would still require the State to impose a 23% income tax increase on every other taxpayer. As a matter of political reality, potential tax increases of this magnitude would first be preceded by substantial benefit reductions. If existing pension and retiree health benefits are considered beyond reach, the remaining options would involve actions such as reducing active employees’ health benefits to the equivalent of Bronze-level coverage under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) and eliminating retirement benefits for employees hired after 2010.

Very few private sector jobs offer pensions anymore, and subsidized health care coverage until age 65 is only for public sector workers. So why are my taxes going to subsidize these things for public workers, some of whom make more than the median household income in Ridgewood? The original contract to provide a pension and healthcare coverage for those in public service was based off of trade-off: lower wages in return for retirement security. That trade-off no longer holds true, and because retirees are living longer in to their mid-80s on average, the pension and healthcare bills are piling up… and yet these guys in Trenton just want to keep on raising my taxes?

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Parking garage may now cost up to $15 million

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June 24,2015
Boyd A. Loving

Ridgewood NJ, Despite the contention by Ridgewood Deputy Mayor Albert Pucciarelli that nobody on the dais knows exactly how much the new parking garage will cost (“. . . no price has been set. . . “) the number $15 million was put into play during Wednesday evening’s Village Council Work Session.  The last I heard (just a few weeks ago), the number being kicked around was $10 million.  A 50% increase in less than 60 days; I must say, somewhat surprising, but not utterly shocking.

Ridgewood Mayor Paul Aronsohn said on Wednesday evening that between $10-$15 million in public finding would “presumably” be “asked for.”  Then the Mayor read the draft of a question intended to be part of a non-binding referendum the Council is considering including on the ballot of November’s general election.

The draft question was read as follows:  “Do you support a proposal to finance and build a downtown parking garage on the Hudson Street lot, located on the corner of Hudson Street and South Broad Street, by bonding up to $15 million of public funds through Parking Utility revenues.”

Remember folks; following damage caused by Hurricane Floyd, renovations to Village Hall were expected to cost $4.5 million (or at least that’s what taxpayers were told).  Change orders approved by the Village Council back then escalated the actual costs to above $11 million.  How far above $11 million we spent is a closely guarded secret.

So now we’re being told, by our mayor, that we might spend up to $15 million to build a single garage.  Anyone out there want to hazard a guess on what the real number will turn out to be?  Will history (the Village Hall renovation fiasco) repeat itself?

And what about the language of that draft question (and you can insert any number you want into the equation).  Is it just me, or would many of you interpret that language to indicate Parking Utility revenues will completely pay for the project (including bond interest?).  Translation, our property taxes won’t increase?  Am I the only one who’s a bit worried by that statement?

I am neither for nor against the financing and construction a parking garage at this point, but I am completely against being misled as to projected costs and the impact on an average homeowner’s property tax bill.  I refuse to be fooled again.

If there is a non-binding referendum on your November ballot, be sure to read the entire financing plan very carefully before you make a choice.

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Ridgewood schools receive $85K grant for science classroom upgrades

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JUNE 24, 2015    LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24, 2015, 9:54 AM
BY DARIUS AMOS
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

Thanks in part to a large donation, learning at the Ridgewood middle school level is about to step into the future.

The Ridgewood Education Foundation (REF) has awarded an $85,000 leadership grant to the Board of Education to “kick off the renovation of science classrooms” at George Washington and Benjamin Franklin middle schools, according to REF Board of Trustees President Jennie Smith Wilson.

“This is much more about hands-on learning, understanding how things are made, learning by doing,” Wilson told The Ridgewood News last week. “Classrooms are outfitted for the old way of learning and teaching. Science classrooms match what learning was, not what it will be.”

According to Stacy Hughes, executive board member of the George Washington Home and School Association, the grant could not have come at a better time.

“It’s a generous gift for some well-deserving schools. It’s exciting to have the opportunity to create a hands-on, interactive learning environment for the kids,” Hughes said. “At GW, the classroom environment is a little antiquated, so this will be a huge and exciting change for the kids.”

 

https://www.northjersey.com/news/education/upgrade-project-gets-boost-in-funding-1.1361827

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WHITE HOUSE BLAMES WHITE MALE RESENTMENT FOR OBAMA FAILURES ON GUNS, RACE

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It is perfectly emblematic of the empty, hashtagging political era that the primary role of government after a mass murder would be as a semiotic interpreter for the nation.

As governor of Arkansas, Bill Clinton celebrated his state’s Confederate heritage with a special star in his state’s flag. Now his wife is running for president as an ardent foe of Confederate remembrance. The GOP consensus of 20 years ago was that the display of the Confederate battle flag was up to the ones displaying it. Now they are falling over each other to denounce its public display.

None of it makes much difference in the lives of Americans or on the question of good governance.

These are things that politicians do not as part of leadership but of followership – public cues intended to show voters that a candidate is “one of them.” But they do not do much to shape outcomes. Quite the opposite. These are things you do when you can’t do anything real.

Is racism a problem in America? Not nearly what it was, but of course it is. Is it something that the federal government is going to be able to remedy? Not a chance. Are mass killings, regardless of the ideological fixation of the killer, an ongoing problem? America ranks fourth in the world for mass-shooting fatalities, so there’s certainly a problem. Is it likely to be fixed by legislation? Almost certainly not.

So what’s with all the focus on the flag?

We get an insight into the thinking of the president and his party from a WaPo piece on his many frustrations with his administration’s failures on gun control and race relations:

“‘If you are a white man in America, this country is changing dramatically. You have always been in charge,’ said a senior administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity [to] be candid. ‘So there is something to white men feeling like something has been taken away from them.’”

Not one in 1,000 white males cares about the presence of a Confederate war monument on the grounds of the South Carolina statehouse. Not one in 1 million would share the racist worldview of the Charleston killer. The overwhelming majority are focused on keeping themselves and their families afloat in the face of enormous challenges.

But focusing on them as villains is revealing and attributing the resistance to gun control and other issues as a personal response to Obama’s African heritage is an unintentionally damning revelation.

There’s nothing the president can do about the real issues, so finding and blaming a boogeyman becomes job one

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/white-house-blames-white-male-resentment-for-obama-failures-on-guns-race/article/feed/2176323?custom_click=rss

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The urge to “do something” after the Charleston church attack inspires half-baked proposals.

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Jacob Sullum | June 24, 2015

“If Congress had passed some common-sense gun safety reforms after Newtown,” President Obamasaid on Friday, “we don’t know if it would have prevented what happened in Charleston.” Actually, we do know: Had the bill to which Obama was referring been enacted, it would not have stopped Dylann Roof from murdering nine people at Charleston’s Emanuel AME Church last week.

Obama’s comment reflects the magical thinking that horrific crimes like Roof’s seem to invite: If only we had adopted Policy X, this might not have happened. That tendency—driven by the understandable desire to “do something,” as Obama put it—is most conspicuous among supporters of gun control but is not limited to them.

Obama was talking about legislation proposed following the December 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut—in particular, “reforms that 90 percent of the American people supported,” meaning expansion of the background check requirement for gun buyers to include sales that do not involve federally licensed dealers. But as CNN reported the day of Obama’s remarks, Roof bought the .45-caliber Glock Model 41 pistol he used in the church attack from a Charleston gun store, which means he passed a background check.

There is no reason to think he wouldn’t, since Roof apparently did not have a criminal or psychiatric record that would have disqualified him from owning a gun under federal law. Although he wasarrested for illegal possession of Suboxone, a Schedule III narcotic, in February, the misdemeanor charge was not enough to bar him from buying a firearm.

https://reason.com/archives/2015/06/24/massacres-and-magical-thinking

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Whole Foods in NYC under investigation for overpricing customers

whole_foods_theridgewoodblog

By Rich Calder and Joe Tacopino

June 24, 2015 | 2:09am

The city Department of Consumer Affairs is investigating Whole Foods for allegedly deceiving customers with incorrect weight-based pricing, the company disclosed Tuesday.

Whole Foods denied the allegations and said it would “refund any items found to have been incorrectly weighed or priced.”

Company spokesman Michael Sinatra said the upscale grocer would never resort to such sleazy tactics.

“Whole Foods Market has never intentionally used deceptive practices to incorrectly charge customers,” Sinatra said in a statement.

https://nypost.com/2015/06/24/whole-foods-under-investigation-for-overpricing-customers/?utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_source=NYPFacebook&utm_medium=SocialFlow