Ridgewood Police Department : Power Outage
Jamuary 1, 2014
Ridgewood NJ, There has been a wide spread power outage affecting the East side of town and several neighboring towns. PSE&G is aware and working to restore power. The Ridgewood Police Department has brought in additional manpower and we will keep you updated when we learn what the problem is from Public Service.
Power has been restored to 95% of Ridgewood. We should be at 100% within the next 20 minutes. Have a safe, healthy and Happy New Year!
Ridgewood Veterinary Hospital New Years Day emergency doctor on call from 8am-11pm
Happy New Year!
Just a reminder that we are closing at 5pm today, and will remained closed tomorrow. While the hospital is closed for New Year’s Day, we will have an emergency doctor on call from 8am-11pm. If you have an emergency, please call the office at 201-447-6000, and a veterinarian will contact you. Enjoy the celebrations and be safe!
Also, for your convenience, we are open on Saturdays and Sundays from 8am-5pm.
320 E Ridgewood Ave, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
(201) 447-6000
These 13 Tax Increases Hit in 2013
Curtis Dubay
December 31, 2013 at 6:30 am
It’s about time for us to uncover our eyes and take a hard look at what 2013 did to our finances.
Did you feel the pinch of the 13 tax hikes that hit Americans this year?
Before you review the list below, put these two on your watch list for 2014:
Obamacare’s individual mandate. Beginning in 2014, it’s mandatory to purchase health insurance. If you don’t, you’ll pay a penalty that dramatically increases over time. It starts at $95 or 1 percent of your income (whichever is greater). It rises to $325 or 2 percent of income in 2015, and $695 or 2.5 percent of income in 2016.
Obamacare tax on insurance companies. If you liked seeing your premiums go up, you’ll love this new tax on health insurers—which they are most likely to pass on to you.
As you start reviewing your tax information for 2013, here’s what you’re contending with.
The 13 Tax Increases of 2013
1. Payroll Tax: increase in the Social Security portion of the payroll tax from 4.2 percent to 6.2 percent for workers. This hit all Americans earning a paycheck—not just the “wealthy.” For example, The Wall Street Journal calculated that the “typical U.S. family earning $50,000 a year” would lose “an annual income boost of $1,000.”
2. Top marginal tax rate: increase from 35 percent to 39.6 percent for taxable incomes over $450,000 ($400,000 for single filers).
3. Phase out of personal exemptions for adjusted gross income (AGI) over $300,000 ($250,000 for single filers).
4. Phase down of itemized deductions for AGI over $300,000 ($250,000 for single filers).
5. Tax rates on investment: increase in the rate on dividends and capital gains from 15 percent to 20 percent for taxable incomes over $450,000 ($400,000 for single filers).
6. Death tax: increase in the rate (on estates larger than $5 million) from 35 percent to 40 percent.
7. Taxes on business investment: expiration of full expensing—the immediate deduction of capital purchases by businesses.
Obamacare tax increases that took effect:
8. Another investment tax increase: 3.8 percent surtax on investment income for taxpayers with taxable income exceeding $250,000 ($200,000 for singles).
9. Another payroll tax hike: 0.9 percent increase in the Hospital Insurance portion of the payroll tax for incomes over $250,000 ($200,000 for single filers).
10. Medical device tax: 2.3 percent excise tax paid by medical device manufacturers and importers on all their sales.
11. Reducing the income tax deduction for individuals’ medical expenses.
12. Elimination of the corporate income tax deduction for expenses related to theMedicare Part D subsidy.
13. Limitation of the corporate income tax deduction for compensation that health insurance companies pay to their executives.
President Obama demanded these higher taxes, but they did nothing to address the actual cause of our deficit and debt problem: too much spending. The proper way to address this problem is through reforms to entitlement programs.
President Obama promised the American people a “balanced approach” of tax increases and spending cuts to reduce deficits and debt. He achieved the tax increase portion of that approach. Now Congress needs to force him to follow through on the spending cuts.
Howard Dean: Individual mandate in Obamacare wasn’t necessary
Former Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean said Monday that the mandate in President Obama’s health care law stipulating that virtually all Americans must buy health insurance or pay a fine wasn’t necessary.
Mr. Dean said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” that the number of younger, healthier people enrolling in Obamacare — who will theoretically broaden the risk pool of those in the insurance marketplace — “doesn’t really matter that much.”
“This is about the individual mandate,” he said. “The individual mandate was not necessary and it’s probably a big political thing, and that is going to hurt the Democrats because people don’t like to be told what to do by the government no matter what party they’re in.”
“But the truth is, that wasn’t necessary, and the insurance companies like it because it does bring young, healthy people who aren’t likely to get sick into the system,” he continued.
The year ahead: ten amazing science and technology innovations coming up in 2014
From the world’s largest underground hotel to Star Wars-style holographic communication, the coming year is set to unveil an array of incredible advances in science and technology
By Paul Kendall and Chris Bell
10:00PM GMT 28 Dec 2013
Beam yourself across the world
The growth in video communication has been exponential. Skype now boasts 300 million users, and a 2012 Ipsos/Reuters poll revealed one in five people worldwide now frequently “telecommuted” to work. But Star Trek fans will be happy to hear that incoming technology will add a further dimension to international conference calls. Known as holographic telepresence, it involves transmitting a three-dimensional moving image of you at each destination – allowing you to converse as if you were in the room. One system from Musion, based in Britain, uses Pepper’s Ghost, an effect popular with illusionists, to beam moving images onto sloped glass. Musion has already digitally resurrected rapper Tupac Shakur at a music festival. But full 3D holographic communication is not far behind – in the shape of the Polish company Leia. Named after the Star Wars princess, its Leia Display XL uses laser projectors to beam images onto a cloud of water vapour. The result is a walk-in holographic room, in which 3D objects can be viewed and manipulated from every angle. An IBM survey of 3,000 researchers recently named holographic video calls as one technology they expected to see in place in the next year or so.
Since 2003, anti-American billionaire George Soros has spent more than$52 million funding media properties, and he has direct ties to more than30 news outlets—including The New York Times, The Washington Post,the Associated Press, CNN, and ABC.
Americans’ consumption of “news” is on the rise. Between online news, social media, and new digital platforms, Americans are spending more time getting their news than ever before. Interestingly, with this trend comes a DROP in the number of viewers who are watching networks like CNN and MSNBC.
On average, Americans spend about an hour every day getting their news from TV, radio, or newspapers. But now, Pew Research shows that they are ALSO spending an additional 13 minutes getting news online—increasing their total consumption to 70 minutes a day.
Why do media matter? Think about it—it’s everywhere: newspapers, magazines, the Internet, television, radio . . . we can’t get away from it. In fact, 83 percent of Americans say they get news in some format every single day. If we consume this much information, it is critical that we at least get the TRUTH. But do we?
Lawmaker: Members quietly working on plan to cut $2.5T from deficit
December 30, 2013, 04:36 pm
By Pete Kasperowicz
Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.) said Monday that members of Congress are working in private on a deal to cut the deficit by $2.5 trillion over the next decade.
Mulvaney told WRHI radio in South Carolina that while the two parties are still openly deadlocked on the issue of spending cuts versus raising taxes, he thinks they are making progress.
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“It’s amazing when you close the door and folks are willing to talk privately about things how reasonable some Democrats can be in terms of reforming entitlement programs and how Republicans can be in terms of, say, reforming the tax code,” Mulvaney said.
Mulvaney did not reveal which members are negotiating and said the group has no formal name. But he said many Democrats have a real interest in cutting the budget deficit and the national debt, which has risen to $17.2 trillion.
“I have real hard-core, left-wing Democrat friends who are afraid of the deficit,” he said. “They want to fix it in a way slightly different than I do. That’s fine, as long as they’re convinced that it’s the risk that it is.”
Ridgewood Boys Basketball : The Maroons win the All Groups Boys Basketball Tournament title with an 85-70 victory over Cresskill
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2013
BY GREG MATTURA
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD
MONTVALE – Mentally, Ridgewood may have popped the celebratory cork a tad early.
The Maroons won the All Groups Boys Basketball Tournament title with an 85-70 victory over Cresskill on Monday night at Pascack Hills that was made possible by a magnificent first quarter.
Ridgewood (3-1) was near perfect in the opening eight minutes and built a 30-4 lead, only to watch as Cresskill (2-2) began fighting back late in the second quarter and came as close as 75-64 midway through the fourth.
“I think we were too confident,” Ridgewood senior guard Tim Nolan said. “We were overconfident, definitely, because we saw we were up so much, so I guess we pulled back a little bit. We just have to get used to keep going and keep attacking and keep pressuring even more.”
Civilian drones could be tested in New Jersey skies
MONDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2013 LAST UPDATED: MONDAY DECEMBER 30, 2013, 10:20 PM
BY HERB JACKSON
WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT
THE RECORD
A bombing range in the Pinelands in southern New Jersey and airspace over the Atlantic Ocean could be part of a nationwide effort to develop guidelines for using unmanned aerial drones in civilian life.
The Federal Aviation Administration on Monday picked a proposal using those test sites, developed by Rutgers University, Virginia Tech and the University of Maryland, as one of six projects around the country that will oversee “critical research.”
Drones have been used mainly by the military for spying and rocket strikes in areas where manned aircraft would pose a risk to those personnel, but some have questioned the morality of remote-control warfare. Civilian uses range from package delivery to environmental testing to crop dusting, but raise other issues, including privacy, terrorist attacks or the danger to those on the ground if two drones crash.
Today, drone use is tightly restricted, with operators such as researchers or police needing waivers from airspace regulations. Congress last year told the FAA to develop operational guidelines to streamline the process by the end of 2015.
Problems researchers must tackle include standards for crash avoidance, integration with air traffic control systems, and safe operation when aircraft lose contact with operators. The Mid-Atlantic Aviation Partnership, which includes Rutgers, will conduct “failure mode testing and identify and evaluate operational and technical risk areas,” according to an FAA news release.
– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/NJ_Pinelands_site_could_be_part_of_drone_aircraft_research.html#sthash.5qQCmRBz.dpuf
In an almost annual ritual, Congress is letting a package of 55 popular tax breaks expire at the end of the year, creating uncertainty — once again — for millions of individuals and businesses.
Lawmakers let these tax breaks lapse almost every year, even though they save businesses and individuals billions of dollars. And almost every year, Congress eventually renews them, retroactively, so taxpayers can claim them by the time they file their tax returns.
No harm, no foul, right? After all, taxpayers filing returns in the spring won’t be hurt because the tax breaks were in effect for 2013. Taxpayers won’t be hit until 2015, when they file tax returns for next year. (Associated Press)
where Senator in hiding Former Mayor of Newark Cory Booker? and why is no one asking ?
Jeffries: “We’re in the mist of an historic epidemic of violent Newark crime
In a city barraged by violent crime, 104 murders this year, 45 of them in the South Ward, mayoral candidate Shavar Jeffries on a cold street corner this afternoon doubled down on an attack plan to retake control of Newark.
In crisis mode, the former Assistant Attorney General, a native of the South Ward, stood with grieving families in front of the elementary school in the South Ward attended by slain teenager Zainee Hailey.
“We’re in the midst of an historic epidemic. [But] even during this time of despair, there is cause for hope,” said Jeffries. “We are optimistic because our own history in Newark teaches us that we can do better. We are optimistic because leaders and residents in places like East Orange, the Bronx, and Brooklyn have turned war zones that were violently unlivable into safe, secure neighborhoods by investing in the right policies and programs. (Pizarro/PolitickerNJ)
Solid waste collection revisions considered in Ridgewood
MONDAY DECEMBER 30, 2013, 10:41 AM
BY DARIUS AMOS
STAFF WRITER
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
A request from Ridgewood’s solid waste department has given rise to a question that goes beyond the simple complexities of the popular paper or plastic debate. In the village, issues of worker safety and the environment are at the forefront.
Council members are mulling over changes to the municipal sanitation collection policy, particularly with increasing environmental concerns and risk of on-the-job injuries as a result of improperly disposed materials. At a work session meeting earlier this month, the council began discussion on the possibility of requiring residents to use only plastic bags when tossing out their trash.
“There are environmental problems because [residents] are using inappropriate materials or none at all,” said acting Village Manager Heather Mailander. “I was actually surprised to hear that there are some residents who take their garbage cans and waste baskets from their kitchens and house and dump [the contents] into their outside garbage cans without a bag or anything,”
How The NSA Hacks Your iPhone (Presenting DROPOUT JEEP)
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/30/2013 12:22 -0500
Following up on the latest stunning revelations released yesterday by German Spiegel which exposed the spy agency’s 50 page catalog of “backdoor penetration techniques”, today during a speech given by Jacob Applebaum (@ioerror) at the 30th Chaos Communication Congress, a new bombshell emerged: specifically the complete and detailed description of how the NSA bugs, remotely, your iPhone. The way the NSA accomplishes this is using software known as Dropout Jeep, which it describes as follows: “DROPOUT JEEP is a software implant for the Apple iPhone that utilizes modular mission applications to provide specific SIGINT functionality. This functionality includes the ability to remotely push/pull files from the device. SMS retrieval, contact list retrieval, voicemail, geolocation, hot mic, camera capture, cell tower location, etc. Command, control and data exfiltration can occur over SMS messaging or a GPRS data connection. All communications with the implant will be covert and encrypted.”
