The Ridgewood Blog Brings a Free Market Laissez-faire Point of View to Local, New Jersey State and National Issues.
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Ridgewood NJ, Housing affordability has plummeted to its lowest point since the 1980’s, presenting a grim picture for prospective buyers grappling with steep mortgage rates and skyrocketing home prices.
Continue reading Housing affordability Hits the Lowest Point Since the 1980’s
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Ridgewood NJ, the Village Planning Board successfully adopted the 2022 Master Plan. This has been an incredibly involved process that could not have happened without the dedicated residents and stakeholders of the Village of Ridgewood. Beginning with the visioning process, which involved extensive public outreach initiatives and culminated in Our Village Our Future, and working our way through the multifaceted master plan process, the Village has demonstrated its commitment to investing in the future of its citizens and business owners.
Continue reading Village of Ridgewood Adopts Comprehensive Master Plan!
Continue reading ORANGE & ROCKLAND JOINS NATIONAL ANTI-SCAM CAMPAIGN TO PROTECT CUSTOMERS
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Trenton NJ, Board of Public Utilities President Joseph Fiordaliso at Wednesday’s post Isaias press conference : Thank you, Governor. Just as a matter of some comparison here, as the Governor mentioned, at the peak, we had 1.4 million people approximately without power, or customers. Sandy, Super Storm Sandy, at its peak, we had 1.7 million customers without power. Here’s a storm that just came through the entire state of New Jersey thank goodness at a more rapid pace than Sandy, but we still had devastating damage. And New Jersey was probably one of the hardest hit states from this particular storm. We are now down to, as the Governor mentioned, approximately 977,000 people without power. So we have – excuse me – almost 500,000 people who have been restored. Regionally, 3.5 million were without power in 14 states. New Jersey got literally whacked, and it really left its mark throughout the entire state. If you were to ask me what region of New Jersey was hit the hardest, I would have difficulty explaining or recognizing any particular area. The entire state was ravaged by this quick-moving storm.
Continue reading NJ Board of Public Utilities By Friday 80% of Customers Will Have Power Restored
January 12.2018
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Ridgewood NJ, FCC’s chairman, Ajit Pai, became the subject of almost daily persecution by left wing loons and bigots. It seems no figure has been as controversial since Al Gore discovered the Internet in the early 90’s.
It all started with the FCC’s decision to scrap an Obama-era rule implemented in 2015 deemed “net neutrality.” The end of net neutrality will allow internet service providers to, if they choose, privilege the content of providers that they own or support. Pai has been since the target of a campaign of harassment that amounts to a national scandal.
HBO lefty host John Oliver was among the first mainstream cultural figures to organize a net-neutrality campaign, which he dubbed “Go FCC Yourself.” He encouraged followers to bombard the FCC’s website with comments supporting the regulation, and so they did.
According to the NY Post , “Those comments were peppered with claims that Pai was a pedophile, a “dirty, sneaky Indian” who should self-deport and reminders that anonymous online hordes maintain the “power to murder Ajit Pai and his family.” Oliver was eventually compelled to release a video urging his followers to dial back the racism and death threats.”
Matt Rooney of the Save New Jersey blog , ” the Internet survived (and thrived) from the day Al Gore invented it up until 2015 when the Obama Administration imposed so-called ‘net neutrality.’ I suspect it’ll function just fine now that the FCC is rolling back those regs.”
The fact is Net neutrality is misnamed. There’s nothing “neutral” about it. The government controls it. The government regulates it. If you like government regulation, if you like how government regulation retards things, slows things down, gums things up, causes mistakes to be made, then by all means support net neutrality. Net Neutrality was an attempt by the federal government to regulate and control your internet browsing and control your internet feed and curtail the number of independent information outlets like the Ridgewood blog.
“Net Neutrality” was nothing more than using “Big Brother” as a gate keeper for the internet.Protesting for Net neutrality is like protesting for high taxes , for less freedom , perhaps a trip to social paradise Venezuela will warm you heart instead.
December 15,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Washington DC, The FCC voted 3-2 on Thursday to approve chairman Ajit Pai’s plan to repeal “net neutrality” rules backed by the Obama Administration that reclassified internet-service providers as common carriers under Title II of the Communications Act of 1934. Title II prohibits “any unjust or unreasonable discrimination in charges, practices, classifications, regulations, facilities, or services.”
The Net Neutrality rules effectively deemed the internet a utility, former chairman Tom Wheeler turned the FCC ie the Federal Government into a political gatekeeper. The rules prohibited broadband providers from blocking, throttling and favoring content, which Mr. Wheeler ostensibly intended to help large content providers like Google , and Netflix gain leverage against cable companies.
Bans on throttling content may poll well, but the regulations have created uncertainty about what the FCC would or wouldn’t allow. This has in tern throttled investment. Price discrimination and paid prioritization are used by many businesses. Netflix charges higher prices to subscribers who stream content on multiple devices. Has this made the internet less free?
Mr. Pai’s rules require that broadband providers disclose discriminatory practices unlike now. Thus cable companies would have to be transparent if they throttle content when users reach a data cap or if they speed up live sports programming. Consumers can choose broadband providers and plans accordingly. The Federal Trade Commission will have authority to police predatory and monopolistic practices, as it had prior to Mr. Wheeler’s power grab.
Despite the screams from the left Mr. Pai’s net-neutrality rollback will also support growth in content. Both content producers and consumers will benefit from increased investment in faster wireless and fiber technology. Apple is pouring $1 billion into original content to compete with Amazon, Netflix and YouTube.
Disney is buying the 21st Century Fox assets in an effort to compete with Netflix and other streaming services, build leverage with cable companies and establish a global footprint. Netflix has more than 47 million international subscribers and streams in nearly every country. Fox will keep its news and main sports channels, which can offer “live” content to consumers. The antitrust concerns should be negligible.
More positively consumers will also benefit from the speeding up of the breakdown of the cable monopoly as they offer more customized “bundles” like Hulu or a Disney stream that may cost less and no longer force large expensive packages of channels on customers Americans will also enjoy new distribution options, which could have been barred by the old net-neutrality rules.
This week T-Mobile announced its acquisition of Layer3 TV, a Denver startup that streams high-definition channels online and will compete with AT&T’s DirecTV Now. Verizon Wireless last month said it will start delivering high-speed broadband to homes over its wireless network late next year. Google and AT&T are experimenting with similar services that will be cheaper than digging dirt to lay cable. This could be a boon for rural America.
Google, YouTube and Facebook have vigorously promoted net neutrality in theory but less in practice. While Google says it remains “committed to the net neutrality policies,” the search engine like Facebook uses opaque algorithms to prioritize and discriminate against certain content, sometimes in ways that undercut competitors. Net neutrality for thee, but not me should be Google , YouTube and Facebooks mantra . In simple terms these providers till search results to favor politically correct view points. Google, YouTube as well as Facebook should be far more transparent about these discriminatory practices.
Technology and markets change faster than the speed of regulation, which Ajit Pai’s FCC has recognized by taking a neutral position and restoring the promise of internet freedom.
file photo Ridgewood PD
April is New Jersey Underground Damage Prevention Month
April 1, 2014
(Newark, NJ – April 1, 2014) April is NJ Underground Damage Prevention Month, and Public Service Electric & Gas Company is reminding customers, contractors and excavators that they must call before digging to avoid hitting underground gas and electric lines. To make it easy to call, 811 has been designated as the national dialing code to have underground lines located and marked.
When you call 811, you are automatically connected to the New Jersey one-call center, which collects information about your digging project. The one-call center then provides the information to the utility companies, who will send representatives to mark the locations of underground lines in the immediate vicinity of the planned work location with flags, paint or both. Once lines have been properly marked and your locate request becomes valid, you are free to carefully dig around the marked areas.
Every digging project, even a small project like planting a tree or building a deck, requires a call to 811. The call must be made whether you are hiring a professional or planning to do the job yourself. Striking a single line can cause outages and result in repair costs and fines.
Here’s important information to consider:
Underground gas and electric lines are everywhere, even on private properties. You can easily damage them if you don’t know where they are, with the potential to seriously injure yourself or others. Digging into these lines also can disrupt the vital utility services and result in costly delays, expensive repairs and environmental or property damage.
Whether planning a major home improvement project or installing something as simple as a fence or mailbox post, a call must be placed beforehand to know where it’s safe to dig.
Call 811 or 1-800-272-1000 at least four business days before each job to have underground pipes, wires and equipment located. Utility workers will respond and place markers where utility lines are buried, free of charge.
Be sure to wait three full business days after calling before doing any digging. Don’t dig until lines have been marked.
Property owners must maintain and respect the marks. Always hand dig within two feet of marked lines.
If you accidentally damage gas piping or smell gas when excavating, please call 911 immediately from a safe area. Then call PSE&G at 1-800-436-PSEG (7734).
Call before you dig is more than a good idea — it’s the law.
Additional information, including a damage prevention booklet on safe excavating practices and the protection of underground facilities, can be found online at: https://www.pseg.com/call811.
