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Yes-We-Can president faces twilight of maybes

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Yes-We-Can president faces twilight of maybes

December 28, 2014, 6:58 PM    Last updated: Sunday, December 28, 2014, 6:58 PM
By JULIE PACE and NANCY BENAC
Associated Press

WASHINGTON   — It was supposed to be a joke. “Are you still president?” comedian Stephen Colbert asked Barack Obama earlier this month.

But the question seemed to speak to growing weariness with the president and skepticism that anything will change in Washington during his final two years in office. Democrats already are checking out Obama’s potential successors. Emboldened Republicans are trying to push aside his agenda in favor of their own.

At times this year, Obama seemed ready to move on as well. He rebelled against the White House security “bubble,” telling his Secret Service detail to give him more space. He chafed at being sidelined by his party during midterm elections and having to adjust his agenda to fit the political interests of vulnerable Democrats who lost anyway.

Yet the election that was a disaster for the president’s party may have had a rejuvenating effect on Obama. The morning after the midterms, Obama told senior aides, “If I see you moping, you will answer to me.”

People close to Obama say he is energized at not having to worry about helping — or hurting — Democrats in another congressional election on his watch. He has become more comfortable with his executive powers, moving unilaterally on immigration, Internet neutrality and climate change in the last two months. And he sees legacy-building opportunities on the international stage, from an elusive nuclear deal with Iran to normalizing relations with Cuba after a half-century freeze.

“He gained some clarity for the next two years that is liberating,” said Jay Carney, who served as Obama’s press secretary until this spring. “He doesn’t have as much responsibility for others.”

https://www.northjersey.com/news/yes-we-can-president-faces-twilight-of-maybes-1.1182564

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Is Bill de Blasio the Most Hated Mayor In America?

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Is Bill de Blasio the Most Hated Mayor In America?

The Most Hated Mayor In America? Educated Ignorance At The Top…
12/22/2014

Read more at https://dcgazette.com/hated-mayor-america-educated-ignorance-top/

Bill de Blasio said cops are racist. Is he that ignorant or just plain stupid? Last I checked police officers come in every color, race and religion. Was he talking about white cops, black cops, brown cops, or yellow. This man needs to look in the mirror and take a long hard look. He is a white man that needs to stop being pissed off because God didn’t make him black. He talks about racist while hanging out with the country’s number one racist. He is the mayor of our largest city and is paid to protect people from crime. Cops are out protecting New York against Thugs like Al Sharpton who are inciting violence.
Read more at https://dcgazette.com/hated-mayor-america-educated-ignorance-top/

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Tedesco ready for quick changes in Bergen County

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file photo Boyd Loving

Tedesco ready for quick changes in Bergen County

DECEMBER 29, 2014, 9:57 PM    LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2014, 5:35 AM
BY JOHN C. ENSSLIN
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

From the moment James Tedesco raises his hand in the early hours of Thursday morning to take the oath of office as Bergen County executive, the Paramus Democrat will confront a series of decisions that could go a long way toward defining his administration over the next four years.

Many of the big issues that were debated during Tedesco’s campaign — consolidation of county law enforcement, the future of Bergen Regional Medical Center and the 2015 county budget — will present a quick sequence of choices in the first 100 days of his administration.

Other issues, including construction of an access road to a new public works facility in Paramus and his pledge to sit in on freeholder meetings, will help set the tone of his tenure. He has promised a more cooperative style that will be open to negotiated compromise.

Here is a quick look at what to watch for in the months ahead:

Law enforcement: consolidation or bust?

The hottest-button issue in county government over the last five years is due for a reckoning.

Tedesco — who pushed hard for combining the Bergen County Police force with the Sheriff’s Office — has made this effort one of the top priorities of his first 100 days.

For the last several months, a law enforcement task force appointed by the Democratic freeholder majority has been studying how to carry out what Democrats call “a realignment” of the two departments into one mega-agency.

Those efforts picked up steam after Tedesco’s upset victory on Nov. 4 over one-term Republican incumbent Kathleen Donovan.

Donovan opposed combining the departments, disputing the Democrats’ claim that it would save taxpayers $90 million to $200 million over the next 25 years through attrition, not layoffs.

So the stage is set for Tedesco to begin implementing that plan. One thing to watch for, however, is the reaction of the union representing county police officers. Officers for PBA Local 49 say that “realignment” is just another word for “merger.”

If so, they contend, a “poison pill” in their existing contract will kick in, requiring that their members be paid raises totaling about $1 million per year. The freeholders say their plan is not a merger, but rather a realignment that keeps the county police force intact while moving it under the command of the sheriff.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/analysis-tedesco-ready-for-quick-changes-in-bergen-county-1.1183009

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FBI briefed on alternate Sony hack theory : disgruntled employee

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FBI briefed on alternate Sony hack theory : disgruntled employee

By TAL KOPAN

12/29/14 7:41 PM EST

FBI agents investigating the Sony Pictures hack were briefed Monday by a security firm that says its research points to laid-off Sony staff, not North Korea, as the perpetrator — another example of the continuing whodunit blame game around the devastating attack.

Even the unprecedented decision to release details of an ongoing FBI investigation and President Barack Obama publicly blaming the hermit authoritarian regime hasn’t quieted a chorus of well-qualified skeptics who say the evidence just doesn’t add up.

Researchers from the cyber intelligence company Norse have said their own investigation into the data on the Sony attack doesn’t point to North Korea at all and instead indicates some combination of a disgruntled employee and hackers for piracy groups is at fault.

The FBI says it is standing by its conclusions, but the security community says they’ve been open and receptive to help from the private sector throughout the Sony investigation.

Norse, one of the world’s leading cyber intelligence firms, has been researching the hack since it was made public just before Thanksgiving.

Norse’s senior vice president of market development said that just the quickness of the FBI’s conclusion that North Korea was responsible was a red flag.

“When the FBI made the announcement so soon after the initial hack was unveiled, everyone in the [cyber] intelligence community kind of raised their eyebrows at it, because it’s really hard to pin this on anyone within days of the attack,” Kurt Stammberger said in an interview as his company briefed FBI investigators Monday afternoon.

He said the briefing was set up after his company approached the agency with its findings.

Stammberger said after the meeting the FBI was “very open and grateful for our data and assistance” but didn’t share any of its data with Norse, although that was what the company expected.

Read more: https://www.politico.com/story/2014/12/fbi-briefed-on-alternate-sony-hack-theory-113866.html#ixzz3NNfE6sfl

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Ridgewood cops hunting clues to shots fired into church at Revolutionary war site

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Ridgewood cops hunting clues to shots fired into church at Revolutionary war site

DECEMBER 29, 2014, 6:23 PM    LAST UPDATED: MONDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2014, 8:03 PM
BY JOHN SEASLY
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

RIDGEWOOD — Authorities investigating Sunday morning’s firing of dozens of shots at Old Paramus Reformed Church — site of a sharp Revolutionary War battle — reported no new information on the case Monday.

No injuries were reported and the motive is unknown; no threats have been reported against the church or its pastor, the Reverend Rob Miller, according to police.

AMY NEWMAN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Shots were fired into a stained glass window of The Old Paramus Reformed Church. A bullet also left a hole in the building’s brick.

Miller could not be reached for comment Monday on the firing of at least 30 shots into the building, which the pastor has said occurred before morning services and resulted in damage, including holes through stained glass windows.

The church grounds occupy a prominent place in Bergen County’s Revolutionary era history: More than two centuries ago, many more shots were fired on the site as British and American forces clashed in bloody combat.

A different church, built in 1735, occupied the property then. Partly because of the war’s toll, that church was dismantled and replaced in 1800 by the one that stands today. The church and cemetery are a registered historic district. British and American soldiers are believed to be buried on the ground.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/ridgewood-cops-hunting-clues-to-shots-fired-into-church-at-revolutionary-war-site-1.1182990

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Ridgewood debate at Hudson Street lot was ‘past versus parking’

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Photo courtesy of the Ridgewood Library

Ridgewood debate at Hudson Street lot was ‘past versus parking’

December 29, 2014    Last updated: Monday, December 29, 2014, 11:52 AM
By Laura Herzog
Staff Writer |
The Ridgewood New

A historic village building on Hudson Street was demolished in 1993 in exchange for more parking, and to make way for a parking garage. More than 20 years later, the village is still investigating a garage in the crumbling Hudson Street parking lot.

The former 83-year-old building, which served as a firehouse back when Ridgewood used horse-drawn pumpers, came back into the news recently as the result of plans to preserve a priceless sculpture, which was set aside before the structure was demolished. An adjoining municipal building was demolished as well.

Revisiting this history, a question emerged: Given Ridgewood residents’ ever-expanding parking concerns, are several more parking spots, but no parking garage, still worth it, in exchange for 80-plus years of history?

https://www.northjersey.com/community-news/for-ridgewood-debate-was-past-versus-parking-1.1182819

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Reader says the mayor is desperate to smoke a few detractors for purposes of uncivil public vilification

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Reader says the mayor is desperate to smoke a few detractors for purposes of uncivil public vilification

Is the Mayor inviting a public protest? They must be sorely tired of taking on anonymous blog commenters and are now desperate to smoke a few of their detractors out of their caves for purposes of uncivil public vilification. OTOH, to allow the Mayor to even think he is defining the terms of this debate by conducting multiple successive non-public public cumbaya meetings without friction or any sign of philosophical opposition to his agenda seems risky too. Persistent and pesky is this Aronsohn. But ultimately, I think the Force is not strong with this one.

Coffee.clubshow?id=mjvuF8ceKoQ&bids=363195

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BIG CHANGES FOR PARKING IN VILLAGE OF RIDGEWOOD EFFECTIVE 1/5/15

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BIG CHANGES FOR PARKING IN VILLAGE OF RIDGEWOOD EFFECTIVE 1/5/15

-ALL parking METERS AND LOT PARKING will have 3 HOUR time limits
and cost 50 CENTS AN HOUR (including municipal lots)

More time to shop and dine for customers

 – REPEAT PARKING WILL BE STRICTLY ENFORCED.

–*Employees can buy a **monthly pass at Village Hall for parking at-
(**monthly passes can be shared among employees*)
Ken Smith (which is next to the NJ train station/east side) and Cottage Street lot (which is behind The GAP) .*The cost is $80 per month.  Spaces are limited. Credit cards accepted.
*Call Village of Ridgewood 201-670-5500 x200 for the details.  *When you have the monthly pass, you do not pay the meters during the day.*Hang tags only good in lots.

Send your concerns to [email protected]

Customers now can shop and dine for 3 hours and not worry about the meters.
50 cents and hour is what most towns charge for parking.

Please tell your employees and customer about the changes!

Coffee.clubshow?id=mjvuF8ceKoQ&bids=363195

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5 Things About Americans’ Slipping Sense of Duty

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5 Things About Americans’ Slipping Sense of Duty

WASHINGTON — Dec 29, 2014, 2:11 PM ET
By CONNIE CASS Associated Press

Americans are a little less likely to ask what they can do for their country these days.

An Associated Press-GfK poll found that the sense of duty has slipped since a similar survey three decades earlier. Civic virtues such as staying informed or serving on a jury don’t seem as important as they once did ? especially among the younger generation.

The findings fit with research that’s been worrying many experts who study civic engagement or advocate for teaching more about civics in school.

“I don’t see any recovery,” said Rutgers University Professor Cliff Zukin. “The people who were 40 two decades ago aren’t as engaged as the people who were 60 two decades ago. This generational slippage tends to continue.”

Here are five things to know about Americans’ sense of civic duty:

https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/things-americans-slipping-sense-duty-27879036

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Free speech is so last century. Today’s students want the ‘right to be comfortable’

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Free speech is so last century. Today’s students want the ‘right to be comfortable’

Student unions’ ‘no platform’ policy is expanding to cover pretty much anyone whose views don’t fit prevailing groupthink

Have you met the Stepford students? They’re everywhere. On campuses across the land. Sitting stony-eyed in lecture halls or surreptitiously policing beer-fuelled banter in the uni bar. They look like students, dress like students, smell like students. But their student brains have been replaced by brains bereft of critical faculties and programmed to conform. To the untrained eye, they seem like your average book-devouring, ideas-discussing, H&M-adorned youth, but anyone who’s spent more than five minutes in their company will know that these students are far more interested in shutting debate down than opening it up.

I was attacked by a swarm of Stepford students this week. On Tuesday, I was supposed to take part in a debate about abortion at Christ Church, Oxford. I was invited by the Oxford Students for Life to put the pro-choice argument against the journalist Timothy Stanley, who is pro-life. But apparently it is forbidden for men to talk about abortion. A mob of furious feministic Oxford students, all robotically uttering the same stuff about feeling offended, set up a Facebook page littered with expletives and demands for the debate to be called off. They said it was outrageous that two human beings ‘who do not have uteruses’ should get to hold forth on abortion — identity politics at its most basely biological — and claimed the debate would threaten the ‘mental safety’ of Oxford students. Three hundred promised to turn up to the debate with ‘instruments’ — heaven knows what — that would allow them to disrupt proceedings.

https://www.spectator.co.uk/features/9376232/free-speech-is-so-last-century-todays-students-want-the-right-to-be-comfortable/

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PATH could be targeted for privatization, service reduction under Port Authority plan embraced by governors

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PATH could be targeted for privatization, service reduction under Port Authority plan embraced by governors

JERSEY CITY — A report by the Port Authority that’s supported by the governors of New York and New Jersey floats the idea of eliminating overnight PATH service and turning over the system’s operation to an outside organization — public or private.

Those ideas, along with others in the 99-page report that was released Saturday night, were slammed today by Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop, who said curtailing service on one of the region’s most vital transportation links would hurt not just his city’s economy, but the state as a whole.

“I think that all too often politicians assume the public is stupid, and this is an example of that,” said Fulop, a Port Authority critic whose administration in May filed a $400 million lawsuit against it alleging owed back taxes. “The fact that you’re releasing a report in between Christmas and New Year’s, the fact that there are components of it that are nothing more than a mere power grab.”

But Port Authority Chairman John Degnan, who was on the panel that prepared the report, said the recommendations are not final and that curtailing service is one of several options to save money.

https://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2014/12/port_authority_panel_recommends_eliminating_overnight_path_service.html

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Reality TV facing its own reality: a ratings slump

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Reality TV facing its own reality: a ratings slump
By Scott Collins

Just a few years ago, underemployed TV writers were complaining that reality programming was taking over their industry.

Now the scribes are having their revenge: Unscripted programming is mired in an unexpected slump.

Onetime smashes such as “Survivor” and “Dancing With the Stars” are drooping with age. Coca-Cola recently wrapped up its 13-year sponsorship of “American Idol” after Fox’s singing hit plummeted in the ratings last season. NBC’s own singing show, “The Voice,” saw its season finale drop nearly 10% this month.

And what’s worse, no new hits are taking their place.

Fox bet the farm early this season on “Utopia,” a voyeuristic series in which a group of isolated “pioneers” was observed trying to create a new society. Viewers yawned, and the network eventually canceled the program, for a loss that insiders pegged at more than $50 million. ABC drew disappointing results this summer with its gimmicky singing show “Rising Star.”

“Reality TV was supposed to be a long-term fix to the problems of television, but that optimism was misguided,” said Jeffrey McCall, a media studies professor at DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind. “Program executives overestimated the true value of the commodity and drove the genre into the ground.”

Even cable networks, a longtime proving ground for the genre, are seeing diminishing returns.

A&E’s “Duck Dynasty” ratings have plunged, even though they are still high by cable standards. TLC this fall quickly shelved its hit “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo” after matriarch Mama June was accused of dating a sex offender, but viewership had already declined sharply. And this fall, AMC largely abandoned a three-year foray into unscripted programming, deciding to return its primary focus to its signature scripted series such as “Mad Men” and “The Walking Dead.”

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-st-reality-television-20141228-story.html#page=1

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Ridgewood Police Issue Special Press Release – Midnight Gun Shots at Church

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Ridgewood Police Issue Special Press Release – Midnight Gun Shots at Church
December 29,2014

Ridgewood NJ, At approximately 11:15 am on Sunday December 28th the Ridgewood Police Department was called to the Old Paramus Reformed Church on E. Glen Avenue on a report of damage to the property from what they believed to be gun shots. Upon arrival to the Church, officers observed damage to the Church which was caused by a firearm.

The detective bureau and the Bergen County Crime Scene Investigation Unit were contacted to collect evidence and begin an investigation. The time frame of the incident has been determined to be the early morning hours of December 26. There are no known motives or threats received by the Church or the Pastor. The Chief of Police has increased police presence in the area. If anyone has any additional information, please contact the Ridgewood Detective Bureau at 201-251-4537

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RIDGEWOOD WATER BOIL WATER ADVISORY – Upper Blvd. Water Main

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RIDGEWOOD WATER BOIL WATER ADVISORY – Upper Blvd. Water Main

For customers of Ridgewood Water – 00251001.

Ridgewood Water is providing notification that a water main break has occurred at Upper Blvd. in Ridgewood, NJ. which has caused customers within our service area to (Select applicable phrase: be without water or experience a significant loss of pressure). A potential or actual threat to the quality of water being provided to you currently exists. As a precaution, we are implementing a (Select applicable phrase: system wide or limited Boil Water Advisory until testing of the water supply is deemed satisfactory.

What should I do? What does this mean?

Effect immediately and until further notice, customers within the impacted service area of Upper Blvd. Customers are instructed to bring tap water to a rolling boil for one minute and allow the tap water to cool before using, or use bottled water. Boiled or bottled water should be used for drinking; preparing foods; mixing baby formula, food, juices or drinks; washing vegetables and fruit; cooking; cooking; making ice; brushing teeth; and washing dishes until further notice. Boiling kills bacteria and other organisms in the water.

The following measures are also recommended:

– Throw away uncooked food or beverages or ice cubes made with tap water during the day of the advisory;

– Keep boiled water in the refrigerator for drinking;

-Do not swallow water while showering or bathing;

– Rinse hand-washed dishes with a diluted bleach solution (one tablespoon of household bleach per gallon of tap water) or clean your dishes in a dishwasher using the hot wash cycle and dry cycle;

– Do not use home filtering devices in place of boiling or using bottled water; most home water filters will not provide adequate protection from microorganisms;

– Use only boiled water to treat minor injuries;

– Provide pets with drinking water that has been boiled and cooled.

Please continue to boil your water or use bottled water until you are notified that the water quality is satisfactory.

further information: Larry Coslow at 201/670-5524

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Due, Ridgewood Captures One of the year’s 10 best dishes in North Jersey restaurants

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www.boozyburbs.com

Due, Ridgewood Captures One of the year’s 10 best dishes in North Jersey restaurants

DECEMBER 28, 2014    LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2014, 10:57 AM
BY ELISA UNG
RESTAURANT CRITIC |
THE RECORD

Bucatini and turkey meatballs with braised pork ragu

Where: Due, Ridgewood (18 E. Ridgewood Ave.; 201-857-3231; dueridgewood.com)

I’ll admit it, I’m a sucker for spaghetti and meatballs. But this dish from executive chef Adam Weiss makes the classic even more deeply satisfying with a stick-to-your-ribs sauce flavored with wood-grilled pork, moist meatballs and luscious fresh ricotta ($25).

https://www.northjersey.com/food-and-dining-news/dining-news/the-year-s-10-best-dishes-1.1182349