The Ridgewood Blog Brings a Free Market Laissez-faire Point of View to Local, New Jersey State and National Issues.
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ,Over 400 people signed a petition supporting Saurabh Dani add that to the overwhelming turn out in support at the BOE meeting on Monday night signals efforts to “Filter” some residents have failed .
Continue reading Efforts in Ridgewood to “Filter” Some Residents has Failed
‘the staff of the Ridgewood blog
HOLMDEL NJ, The high school teacher who was blamed for a yearbook censorship controversy in Wall Township in 2017 filed a motion in the Superior Court in Monmouth County on Thursday, seeking immediate relief from a Board of Education (BOE) policy that has blocked her from being able to tell her full story to the media.
In her original lawsuit filed on May 6, 2019, Susan Parsons alleged she was framed by members of the school administration as the person responsible for digitally altering a student’s 2017 yearbook photo to remove a “Trump: Make America Great Again” logo from his shirt, a narrative she was unable to refute due to an ongoing BOE media gag order.
Continue reading Teacher Blamed for Trump Yearbook Controversy Claims Her Free Speech Rights are being Violated
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Trenton NJ, Today, the New Jersey legislature passed A-1524/S-1500, similar measures which limit civic engagement and undermine free speech for all New Jerseyans. Specifically, this measure, which Governor Murphy has indicated he will sign, requires nonprofit organizations to disclose the names and addresses of their donors, creates a broad definition for independent expenditures, and makes it more difficult for organizations to engage in issue advocacy that informs the public.
Continue reading NJ Legislature Takes Aim at Free Speech
Marc Lightdale , Staff Writer, @MarcLightdale6:12 p.m. EST December 22, 2016
HACKENSACK — A state Superior Court judge denied a motion without prejudice to dismiss a lawsuit filed by a former Northern Valley Regional High School District board member against a Harrington Park couple she says “mischaracterized” her comments on social media.
LAWSUIT: Ex-Northern Valley Regional board member sues couple.
By Dan Alexander November 7, 2016 2:07 PM
NEW BRUNSWICK — A student columnist for Rutgers’ student newspaper claims he was fired for questioning the choice to edit out the term “illegal immigrants” from one of his pieces.
Aviv Khavich, who is originally from Israel, told New Jersey 101.5 he was writing about a rally held on campus by a group called “Undocurutgers” in support of immigrants to protest pro-Donald Trump “chalkings” written on sidewalks around the Rutgers campus.
“I am an immigrant so I decided to write an article to give my perspective,” he said.
Read More: Rutgers writer: I was fired after using ‘illegal immigrants’ in column | https://nj1015.com/rutgers-writer-i-was-fired-after-using-illegal-immigrants-in-column/?utm_campaign=Observer_NJ_Politics&utm_content=New%20Campaign&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=New%20Jersey%20Politics&trackback=tsmclip
file photo by Boyd Loving
July 28th ,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, After a federal court judge in Newark denied the dismissal of a freedom of speech violation lawsuit filed by a political operative against the City of Hoboken after he was ejected from the October 21 city council meeting.
Its seems that speech can not restricted during public comment at a council meeting . The previous mayor Paul Aronsohn and his administration tried many times either through rules, ordinances ,intimidation or silly anti free speech committees like the “Civility Committee”.
While readers best describe the new council ,”it’s amazing to watch the new council meetings. Respect for all those who ask questions. Even questions that are asked are answered or will be researched and followed up on. Keep up the good work.”
A reader suggests that some Section’s of the Village Code may violate an individual’s right to Freedom of Speech , we are not so sure :
“Except upon consent of the Council, by the majority vote of those present, each person addressing the Council pursuant to this section shall be required to limit his remarks to five minutes and shall at no time engage in any personally offensive or abusive remarks. On a hearing on ordinances on second reading, a person who has previously addressed the Council on the issue may be permitted a period of no more than an additional five minutes, after all others desirous of speaking on the issue have had an opportunity to do so, provided the comments of the speaker are not repetitive. The Chair shall call any speaker to order who violates any provision of this section.”
As does this one:
“Any person who shall disturb the peace of the Council, make impertinent or slanderous remarks or conduct himself in a boisterous manner while addressing the Council shall be forthwith barred by the presiding officer from further audience before the Council, except that if the speaker shall submit to proper order under these rules, permission for him to continue may be granted by a majority vote of the Council.”
Matt Rogers: Are you on this?
John Berlau
Popular financial radio show host Dave Ramsey caused a firestorm on Twitter last week when he weighed in against the “fiduciary rule”—the controversial pending Department of Labor regulation that would impose new restrictions on a vast swath of financial professionals who handle IRAs and 401(k) accounts. Yet, Ramsey was only echoing concerns about the costs of the rule already expressed by Members of Congress from both parties.
Ramsey Tweeted, “this Obama rule will kill the Middle Class and below ability to access personal advice.” A war of Tweets then broke out between opponents of the rule, and supporters, the latter of which includes fee-based investment advisers expected to benefit from the new costs the rule will shower on their broker competitors.
Fittingly, even before Ramsey came out against the rule, one of his critics called for using the rule against Ramsey, supposedly for providing advice said critic deemed harmful to savers. In an Octoberarticle in LifeHealthPro, an online trade journal for insurance agents and financial advisers, Michael Markey, an insurance agent and owner of Legacy Financial Network, called for Ramsey to “be regulated and to be held accountable” by the government for the opinions he gives to listeners. Markey hailed the Labor Department rule as ushering a new era in which “entertainers like Dave Ramsey can no longer evade the pursuit of regulatory oversight.”
JANUARY 8, 2016, 7:04 PM LAST UPDATED: SATURDAY, JANUARY 9, 2016, 12:23 AM
BY HANNAN ADELY
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
A media frenzy that ignited after a Fair Lawn student was questioned about comments she made online about a “pro-Israel girl” in her school has left in its wake a worried family, a divided community, and a school that has been hammered by negative attention from around the world in an incident that some local residents say was misconstrued.
Bethany Koval
The controversy unfolded after high school junior Bethany Koval wrote, in detail, online, about being questioned by administrators over a tweet cheering that a pro-Israel student had “unfollowed” her on Twitter and her sharing the student’s name in a private message to a friend. She believed she was targeted by school administrators, she said, because of her anti-Israel political opinions on Twitter.
On Friday, Koval, 16, continued to draw wide support online as people viewed the incident as an attempt to stifle free speech and criticism of Israel. Locally, some residents defended the school, saying officials were only doing their duty to investigate a bullying allegation that a student had lodged against Koval.
We Could See this in New Jersey ??
by DAVID FRENCH April 20, 2015 4:00 AM From the May 4, 2015, issue of NR ‘
“The Ridgewood Public Schools guards our data and only shares with state and federal officials the information that is required by law. We make every effort to teach our students about good digital citizenship and with the beginning next school year, we will teach it more formally through a Digital Citizenship Curriculum, from kindergarten through Grade 12.”DANIEL FISHBEIN
Students in New Jersey were told repeatedly that they had no choice about taking a test(PARCC) which then resulted in their private information being given to Pearson and also restricted their first amendment rights.
Reader says Please keep growing TRB.com, PJ! We need it here in Ridgewood, now more than ever.
Yes, thank you PJ, and please bear in mind that if for whatever reason you stop providing this local service, not only will the sheer quantity of local public discourse immediately plummet, but its tenor and quality will also take a big hit. This is so in no small part because others whose personal political stock in trade appears to be in gratuitous humiliation and vilification of well-meaning colleagues and private citizens will be emboldened to increase the frequency and scale of their misbehavior.
With all the difficulties you can’t avoid, and must therefore endure, as a modern digital publisher of smallish size, you deserve to be recognized for your inspiring creativity, civic-mindedness, and clear devotion to essential Western values such as freedom of conscience, speech and association, virtuous self-government based on sound morality and a decent respect for the interests of one’s neighbors, and a healthy American skepticism when it comes to the stated, implied, or hidden motivations of elected and appointive government actors at all levels.
Local officeholders and policymakers, and municipal managers, employees, appointees, board members and volunteers know, or at least should know, that when it comes down to brass tacks, TRB.com exists purely for the long-term benefit of the Village, its citizens, its taxpayers, and other residents. Any solicited or unsolicited criticism that comes their way from these parts or at public meetings is meant not for the sake of negativity or to drag anyone down, but to further the best interests of the village as they are perceived in good faith by your very neighbors. Because this fact may not be readily apparent when current issues are being hotly discussed, or when commenters insist on exercising their right (within reason) to remain anonymous, it should not go unmentioned for very long, and it ought to be called to mind by all local actors on a regular basis so that as few people as possible end up with their respective noses out of joint when the dust settles. (How’s that for a public civility strategy, Mr. Mayor?)
Please keep growing TRB.com, PJ! We need it here in Ridgewood, now more than ever.
Reader says Diversity of thought is the most socially beneficial form of diversity.
Thesis. Antithesis. Synthesis. Repeat. This is the very definition of social progress.
“Small is the number of them that think with their own minds, and feel with their own hearts.” (Albert Einstein)
Diversity of skin color is a dying distinction over which paleoliberals, thugs and other hustlers are obsessed, solely for their own benefit. Someday we’ll wake up and find ourselves rid of them. What a blessed day that will be!
OTOH cultural distinctions are both particularly sticky and extremely consequential. The in and outs, ups and downs, benefits and drawbacks, of cultural diversity are therefore demonstrably worthy subjects of national discussion.
Race? Not so much.
file photo
Ridgewood continues civility roundtable talks
March 16, 2015 Last updated: Monday, March 16, 2015, 10:49 AM
By Mark Krulish
Staff Writer |
The Ridgewood News
Another round of discussions on the concept of civility took place last week, this time in the more informal and intimate setting of the first floor senior lounge at Village Hall.
The discussion, which was led by the Rev. Jan Phillips, began with the reiteration of the purpose for holding these meetings, which was not to dictate comment or limit speech, but rather to eliminate hate speech and promote understanding between people.
“I had done a program with Pastor [Gregory] Lisby of Christ Church,” Philips said. “We were talking about backlash that has been happening because of these committee meetings and he said there’s this notion that telling people how to behave civilly is such a classist thing. That’s not where we’re coming from.”
The group explored how communication and behavior can shape a person’s perspective and examples of incivility during public meetings, while also branching off into various topics that affect the community.
Hans Jurgen Lehmann, a member of the Ridgewood Zoning Board of Adjustment, noted there have been times when audience members at meetings express skepticism that professionals testifying on behalf of applicants are being truthful with the information they give to the board.
“When they listen to the experts from the applicant, they don’t trust any of those people,” Lehmann said. “They just think they’re out there to scam them, but they are very factual.
“I’m constantly puzzled, in this society that’s supposedly very democratic, why we’re so suspicious about government. I just don’t get it,” he added.
https://www.northjersey.com/news/civility-discussion-continues-in-ridgewood-1.1289918
Congressman Leonard Lance (NJ-07) Calls FCC Release of Depression-Era Net Neutrality Regulations regulatory overreach and job-killing
Mar 12, 2015
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
WESTFIELD, N.J. — Congressman Leonard Lance (NJ-07), New Jersey’s only Republican member of the House Energy and Commerce Communications and Technology Subcommittee, commented on the Federal Communications Commission’s release of its Depression-era rules to regulate the Internet.
In January Lance stated ,the obvious to everyone except the Obama administration, “The Internet is a medium that continues to experience tremendous technological growth and today’s action by the D.C. Circuit Court striking down the FCC’s efforts to regulate the Internet protects consumers, increases competition and encourages new investment and innovation in broadband. As a member of the House Communications and Technology Subcommittee I will continue to work with my colleagues to ensure that the FCC does not overstep its authority on the issue of network neutrality.”
Lance continued his attack on Net Neutrality in February , “The Federal Communications Commission has voted in favor of a net neutrality plan that is the most dramatic government intervention in the Internet in two decades. The FCC’s proposal to regulate the Internet will hurt consumers and discourage new investment and innovation in broadband. It is Congress, not an unelected federal commission, that is tasked with modernizing our Nation’s telecommunications laws and today’s action is a blatant overstep of authority that threatens to stifle one of the Nation’s most important economic engines.”
The FCC’s Release of the Net Neutrality regs on Thursday, Rep. Leonard Lance (NJ-07), seized on the opportunity to condemn what he views as “Depression-era” rules.“The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has finally released its sweeping proposal following weeks of secrecy and stonewalling. The American People now have an opportunity to read the FCC’s 300-plus page plan to regulate the Internet as a utility — a plan I believe will hurt consumers, discourage new investment and innovation in broadband, and lead to billions of dollars in new fees and taxes. That’s why I have joined many of my colleagues on the House Communications and Technology Subcommittee and introduced H.R. 1212, the Internet Freedom Act, that will put the brakes on this FCC overreach and protect our innovators from these job-killing regulations.”
