Category: 2016

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Leaker of Confidential of Tax Return Data Gets off Easy

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photo tar and feathering of tax collectors

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, a former IRS contract employee, Charles Littlejohn, unlawfully obtained the tax return data of over 1,000 high-income individuals and transmitted the documents to ProPublica and the New York Times. These publications subsequently released the confidential information, labeling it as a “vast treasure trove of tax data” to support their assertion that wealthy individuals are undertaxed.

Continue reading Leaker of Confidential of Tax Return Data Gets off Easy

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Costco is NOT giving away $75 coupons its a Scam

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Hackensack NJ,  NJ, according to the Costco Management, “Despite several posts out there, Costco is NOT giving away $75 coupons. While we love our fans and our members, this offer is a SCAM, and in no way affiliated with Costco. Thanks to our fans for letting us know about this recurring hoax!” Costco’s website is currently warning of other common scams, including fake checks, fraudulent phone calls and a fake email campaign that Costco Wholesale is offering or may offer them a job.

Continue reading Costco is NOT giving away $75 coupons its a Scam
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ICE: 19 Foreign nationals indicted for Voter Fraud in 2016

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

WILMINGTON NC,  Nineteen foreign nationals were charged with unlawfully voting in the 2016 elections Friday, and a U.S. citizen was charged with aiding and abetting an alien to falsely claim U.S. citizenship to register to vote. The indictments follow an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) as part of a newly created Document and Benefit Fraud Task Force (DBFTF) in the Eastern District of North Carolina.

Continue reading ICE: 19 Foreign nationals indicted for Voter Fraud in 2016

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How many members of the opposition party did the previous administration surveil?

Obama-Golf

By
James Freeman
Updated May 12, 2017 5:42 p.m. ET

Another day brings another series of tweets from President Trump that have his opponents—and even some of his allies—expressing shock and outrage. In one particularly incendiary missive this morning Mr. Trump wrote, “James Comey better hope that there are no ‘tapes’ of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!” It’s no surprise that Mr. Trump is once again dominating the news via Twitter, but reporters might also want to pay attention to presidential use of a much more powerful set of electronic tools.

.https://www.wsj.com/articles/obama-trump-and-surveillance-1494624812.

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Why Don’t Reporters Care Who Killed The DNC’s Seth Rich?

DNC's Seth Rich

5/16/2017

Scandal: Here’s a story that would seem ripe for media bloodhounds to pursue. A disgruntled insider may have leaked damaging information about his employers, and was later murdered on his way home by two unidentified assailants.

Put President Trump’s name somewhere in the mix and it would be the latest scandal-to-end-all-scandals, capturing wall-to-wall coverage, eliciting new calls for independent prosecutors and impeachment, and probably making Jimmy Kimmel cry again.

But since the person involved worked for the Democratic National Committee, it’s being ignored by everyone in the press except a cadre of conservative reporters.

The story involves Seth Rich, a DNC staffer who was gunned down near his home in Washington, D.C., last July — shot twice in the back by two assailants seen following him on a security camera, in what has been described by police as a botched robbery, although the killers didn’t take anything from Rich. His murder remains unsolved.

https://www.investors.com/politics/editorials/why-dont-reporters-care-who-killed-the-dncs-seth-rich/

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President Obama’s team sought NSA intel on thousands of Americans during the 2016 election

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by John Solomon

WATCH | The Obama administration distributed thousands of intelligence reports with the  unredacted names of U.S. residents during the 2016 election.

During his final year in office, President Obama’s team significantly expanded efforts to search National Security Agency intercepts for information about Americans, distributing thousands of intelligence reports across government with the unredacted names of U.S. residents during the midst of a divisive 2016 presidential election.

The data, made available this week by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, provides the clearest evidence to date of how information accidentally collected by the NSA overseas about Americans was subsequently searched and disseminated after President Obama loosened privacy protections to make such sharing easier in 2011 in the name of national security. A court affirmed his order.

https://circa.com/politics/president-obamas-team-sought-nsa-intel-on-thousands-of-americans-during-the-2016-election

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Gender-swap experiment shows Hillary even less likable as a man

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Amber Athey Investigative Reporter@amber_atheyon Mar 09, 2017 at 8:26 AM EDT

An experiment designed to reveal gender bias by reenacting the presidential debates with the candidates’ genders reversed found that Hillary Clinton would have been even less likeable as a man.

The two NYU professors who designed the experiment were “unsettled” to discover that audience members actually found Trump’s style more endearing when it came from a woman.

One female audience member even remarked that she found the male version of Clinton “very punchable” because he smiled so much.

https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=8889

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Records: Soros Fund Execs Funded Paul Ryan, Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush, John McCain, John Kasich, Lindsey Graham in 2016

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by MATTHEW BOYLE 6 Feb 2017Washington, D.C.

Employees of a hedge fund founded by the king of the Institutional Left, billionaire and Democratic Party mega-donor George Soros, donated tens of thousands of dollars to top Republicans who fought against President Donald Trump in 2016, donation records compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics show.

Soros Fund Management, a former hedge fund that serves now as an investment management firm, was founded by progressive billionaire George Soros in 1969. It has risen to become one of the most profitable hedge funds in the industry. Employees of the firm are heavily involved in backing political candidates giving millions upon millions to groups that were supporting failed 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Rodham Clinton for the presidency.

But more importantly, perhaps, than the unsurprising giant lump sums of cash funneled into Democratic Party and Clinton coffers is the revelation thanks to the Center for Responsive Politics that employees of the Soros firm—now run by his son Robert Soros—pumped tens of thousands of dollars into the campaigns of top anti-Trump Republicans over the course of 2016.

https://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/02/06/records-soros-fund-execs-funded-paul-ryan-marco-rubio-jeb-bush-john-mccain-john-kasich-lindsey-graham-in-2016/

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Assange : Source For WikiLeaks Was Not Russian Government

Wikileaks_founder_Julian_Assange_theridgewoodblog

January 3,2017

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, Julian Assange tells Sean Hannity the source for WikiLeaks was not Russian government.In an exclusive interview with FOX News Channel’s Sean Hannity the founder of WikiLeaks Julian Assange said Russia was not the source for the DNC and John Podesta hacks.

HANNITY: Can you say to the American people, unequivocally, that you did not get this information about the DNC, John Podesta’s emails, can you tell the American people 1,000 percent that you did not get it from Russia or anybody associated with Russia?

JULIAN ASSANGE: Yes. We can say, we have said, repeatedly that over the last two months that our source is not the Russian government and it is not a state party.

Hannity’s full interview with Assange will air Tuesday night at 10pm ET. More from the interview:

ASSANGE: Our publications had wide uptake by the American people, they’re all true. But that’s not the allegation that’s being presented by the Obama White House. So, why such a dramatic response? Well, the reason is obvious. They’re trying to delegitimize the Trump administration as it goes into the White House. They are trying to say that President-elect Trump is not a legitimate President…

ASSANGE: Our source is not a state party, so the answer for our interactions is no. But if we look at our most recent statement from the US government, which is on the 29th of December, OK, we had five different branches of government, Treasury, DHS, FBI, White House presenting their accusations to underpin Obama’s throwing out 29 Russian diplomats. What was missing from all of those statements? The word WikiLeaks. It’s very strange.

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Trump Down Plays Russian Election Tampering

JAR
December 30,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ,  President-elect Donald J. Trump released the following statement in response to Presidents Obama’s action against Russia:“It’s time for our country to move on to bigger and better things.   Nevertheless, in the interest of our country and its great people, I will meet with leaders of the intelligence community next week in order to be updated on the facts of this situation.”

The Obama administration is under intense pressure to release any evidence confirming Russian interference in the presidential election before leaving office.

The administration up until now has provided little documentation to back up its official October assessment that the Russian government was attempting to interfere in the U.S. election.

Nor has it corroborated subsequent leaks from anonymous officials contending that the CIA believes the campaign was an attempt by Russian President Vladimir Putin to ensure Donald Trump’s victory.

Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) called the Obama administration’s new sanctions targeting Russia for meddling in the U.S. presidential election “overdue.”

“While today’s action by the administration is overdue, it is an appropriate way to end eight years of failed policy with Russia. And it serves as a prime example of this administration’s ineffective foreign policy that has left America weaker in the eyes of the world,”
The Joint Analysis report of JAR released today by the Administration comes with a huge disclaimer and little evidence other than conjecture by some intelligence analysis reminding one of the  “weapons of Mass destruction” claim that led to the invasion of Iraq.
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Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group Returns Home

Dwight D

December 30,2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

NORFOLK, Va. (NNS), More than 6,000 Sailors from Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 10 are scheduled to arrive at their homeports Dec. 30 after completing a highly successful seven-month deployment.

The aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) (Ike), guided-missile cruiser USS San Jacinto (CG 56) and guided-missile destroyers USS Mason (DDG 87) and USS Nitze (DDG 94) are returning to Naval Station (NS) Norfolk. USS Roosevelt (DDG 80) is returning to its homeport of NS Mayport, Florida.

Commanded by Rear Adm. James Malloy, the Eisenhower CSG is comprised of Ike, embarked squadrons of Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 3, CSG 10 staff and Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 26 staff and ships.

CVW-3 is commanded by Capt. Marc Miguez and is comprised of squadrons based out of Naval Air Station (NAS) Oceana, NAS Whidbey Island, NAS Jacksonville, NAS Lemoore and NS Norfolk. CVW-3 includes Strike Fighter Squadrons (VFA) 32 “Swordsmen,” VFA-86 “Sidewinders,” VFA-105 “Gunslingers” and VFA-131 “Wildcats;” Tactical Electronics Warfare Squadron (VAQ) 130 “Zappers;” Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron (VAW) 123 “Screwtops;” Fleet Logistics Support Squadron (VRC) 40 “Rawhides;” Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 74 “Swamp Foxes;” and Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 7 “Dusty Dogs.”

While deployed, the strike group performed admirably in the 5th and 6th U.S. Fleet areas of operations while providing maritime security, conducting combat missions and launching F/A-18 strikes against ISIL in Syria and Iraq. The strike group’s support of Operation Inherent Resolve, Operation Odyssey Resolve and Operation Oaken Steel was integral to each mission’s success.

While conducting operations in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandeb Strait, USS Mason defended itself and other U.S. ships from multiple inbound anti-ship cruise missiles during the week of Oct. 9. In response to these threats, Sailors aboard Nitze swiftly carried out a defensive Tomahawk strike against three radar sites on the Yemeni coast. These combined actions reduced adversary capabilities in this strategic maritime chokepoint and helped ensure continued free-flow of commerce throughout the region.

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Socialism for the Uninformed

Bernie Sanders

By Dr. Thomas Sowell

May 31, 2016  5 Min Read

Socialism sounds great. It has always sounded great. And it will probably always continue to sound great. It is only when you go beyond rhetoric, and start looking at hard facts, that socialism turns out to be a big disappointment, if not a disaster.

While throngs of young people are cheering loudly for avowed socialist Bernie Sanders, socialism has turned oil-rich Venezuela into a place where there are shortages of everything from toilet paper to beer, where electricity keeps shutting down, and where there are long lines of people hoping to get food, people complaining that they cannot feed their families.

With national income going down, and prices going up under triple-digit inflation in Venezuela, these complaints are by no means frivolous. But it is doubtful if the young people cheering for Bernie Sanders have even heard of such things, whether in Venezuela or in other countries around the world that have turned their economies over to politicians and bureaucrats to run.

The anti-capitalist policies in Venezuela have worked so well that the number of companies in Venezuela is now a fraction of what it once was. That should certainly reduce capitalist “exploitation,” shouldn’t it?

But people who attribute income inequality to capitalists exploiting workers, as Karl Marx claimed, never seem to get around to testing that belief against facts — such as the fact that none of the Marxist regimes around the world has ever had as high a standard of living for working people as there is in many capitalist countries.

Facts are seldom allowed to contaminate the beautiful vision of the left. What matters to the true believers are the ringing slogans, endlessly repeated.

https://www.creators.com/read/thomas-sowell/05/16/socialism-for-the-uninformed

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Will Obama pardon Clinton? And if he does, will she accept?

Hillary-Clinton

BY DAVID WEISBERG, CONTRIBUTOR – 12/27/16 01:00 PM EST

Can Obama Save Clinton?

Executive orders barring offshore drilling in most U.S. Arctic waters; an abstention at the U.N. permitting the Security Council to declare all Israeli settlement activity to be illegal and an obstacle to peace; the possibility of further action at the U.N. to formalize the administration’s comprehensive vision of a two-state solution to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict — President Obama is sprinting, not jogging, to the finish line.

In dashing through his last few weeks in office, will one of Obama’s final acts be to pardon Hillary Clinton for any violations of federal law she might have committed while she was secretary of State?

It’s an interesting and complex question.

https://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/the-administration/311883-pardon-the-interruption-clinton-allegation-may-force

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Consumer confidence climbed in December to the highest level in 13 years

Trump_hat_boarder-theridgewoodblog

December 28,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, Consumer confidence climbed in December to the highest level since August 2001. Americans were more upbeat about the economic outlook than at any time in the past 13 years, according to a report Tuesday from the New York-based Conference Board.

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Obama Quietly Signs The “Countering Disinformation And Propaganda Act” Into Law

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by Tyler Durden
Dec 26, 2016 4:01 PM

Late on Friday, with the US population embracing the upcoming holidays and oblivious of most news emerging from the administration, Obama quietly signed into law the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) which authorizes $611 billion for the military in 2017.

In a statement, Obama said that:

Today, I have signed into law S. 2943, the “National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017.” This Act authorizes fiscal year 2017 appropriations principally for the Department of Defense and for Department of Energy national security programs, provides vital benefits for military personnel and their families, and includes authorities to facilitate ongoing operations around the globe. It continues many critical authorizations necessary to ensure that we are able to sustain our momentum in countering the threat posed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and to reassure our European allies, as well as many new authorizations that, among other things, provide the Departments of Defense and Energy more flexibility in countering cyber-attacks and our adversaries’ use of unmanned aerial vehicles.”

Much of the balance of Obama’s statement blamed the GOP for Guantanamo’s continued operation and warned that “unless the Congress changes course, it will be judged harshly by history,” Obama said. Obama also said Congress failed to use the bill to reduce wasteful overhead (like perhaps massive F-35 cost overruns?) or modernize military health care, which he said would exacerbate budget pressures facing the military in the years ahead.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-12-24/obama-signs-countering-disinformation-and-propaganda-act-law