It Was a Wild and Crazy Summer of Criminalizing Campus Sex
“In an effort to address sexual assault, college campuses are on the verge of entering into an Orwellian nightmare.”
Robby Soave | August 27, 2014
Students returning to class this fall, consider yourselves warned: This was the summer that federal regulators, state lawmakers, and college administrators got together for a threesome—incidentally criminalizing campus sex in the process.
The debate over campus sexual assault—how much it happens, and how to handle it when it does—has been heating up for a while now thanks to increasing federal intervention, but the latest round of action kicked off at the end of spring, when the Office of Civil Rights at the Department of Education (OCR) identified 55 colleges under investigation for failing to report and handle rape allegations. The message to colleges from the federal government was do something, or else.
Colleges are definitely responding to the pressure. Consider Occidental College, which pursued a rape caseagainst a male student for having drunken sex with a female student. Investigators determined that the encounter was consensual, but administrators pursued sanctions anyway, insisting that the female student’s consent was invalidated because she had been drinking. The argument makes no sense—if all drunken sex constitutes rape, then both the accused and the accuser are equally guilty. Nevertheless, the male student was expelled.
Hashing out which person is the initiator of sex and which person is the consenter can be tricky from a legal standpoint. College hookups happen under the influence of substances that impair judgments, and what takes place between the sheets is inherently shrouded from public scrutiny.
But that didn’t stop the California legislature this summer from trying anyway. Responding to the federal government’s call to do something, or else, state lawmakersapproved SB 967, a bill that would force state universities to establish a stricter definition of consensual sex: one that requires the initiator to acquire “unambiguous, informed, freely-given, and voluntary” permission.
That part may not sound so bad—sex, after all, should be absolutely consensual—but forcing college administrators to play the role of judge, jury, and career executioner for the accused students in these cases carries a whole host of problems.
Ridgewood Back to School Updates : School starts on September 4!
8.26.14: The Back-to-School issue of Newsline is out. Click here to view the newsletter as a PDF. Please note that this version has the corrected Back-To-School Night schedule.
NEW! 8.26.14: REVISED Back-To-School Night Schedule: Travell School’s Back-To-School Night begins at 6:30 p.m. rather than 6 p.m. The Willard School Back-To-School Night for Grades K-2 has been changed from September 18 to September 23. Please click here for the newly revised schedule. Please note that this change is an update from that which is printed in the Newsline newsletter sent to Ridgewood homes last week.
8.13.14: Click here to read an opinion piece co-authored by Dr. Fishbein and River Dell Superintendent Patrick Fletcher on unfunded mandates, posted on NJ.com on August 8.
8.05.14: Back-To-School Information: Parents and guardians are asked to update emergency contact information and also are required to review various district policies and grant certain permissions. This Mandatory Annual Online Re-registration process takes place through Skyward Family Access between August 11 and September 12. Detailed instructions will be mailed to homes on or about August 11. For details and links, please click here.
8.12.14: The Ridgewood YWCA offers before and after school programs in the Ridgewood elementary schools. Pleaseclick here for information and registration forms.
The next Regular Public Meeting of the Ridgewood Board of Education will be held on Monday, September 8, 2014 at 7:30 p.m. The public is invited to attend the meeting at the Ed Center, 49 Cottage Place, Floor 3. The meeting will be aired live on FiOS channel 33 and Optimum channel 77. Or it may be viewed live via the district website atwww.ridgewood.k12.nj.us using the “Link in Live” tab.
Click here to view the agenda for the August 25, 2014 Regular Public Meeting.
Click here to view the webcast of the August 25, 2014 Regular Public Meeting.
GUESS WHO TOOK UP THE ICE BUCKET CHALLENGE? The BOE took the challenge on August 25 and put the REA up to the test!
Ridgewood BOE takes on the Ice Bucket Challenge Ridgewood Public Schools Published on Aug 25, 2014
Ridgewood NJ, The Ridgewood Board of Education was challenged to participate in the “Ice Bucket Challenge” by Mr. Scerbo to spread ALS awareness. In this video, Board members Sheila Brogan, Vincent Loncto and Christina Krauss challenge the REA to participate.
IRS ethics lawyer facing possible disbarment, accused of lying
By Jim McElhatton – The Washington Times – Tuesday, August 26, 2014
A lawyer in the IRS ethics office is facing the possibility of being disbarred, according to records that accuse her of lying to a court-appointed board and hiding what she’d done with money from a settlement that was supposed to go to two medical providers who had treated her client.
The disciplinary arm of the D.C. Court of Appeals has recommended that Takisha McGee, a section manager in the IRS Office of Professional Responsibility, lose her law license over the charge, which stems from a personal injury case she worked about a year before she joined the tax agency.
FBI Examining Whether Russia Is Tied to JPMorgan Hacking
By Michael Riley and Jordan Robertson Aug 27, 2014 5:04 PM ET
Russian hackers attacked the U.S. financial system in mid-August, infiltrating and stealing data from JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and at least one other bank, an incident the FBI is investigating as a possible retaliation for government-sponsored sanctions, according to two people familiar with the probe.
The attack resulted in the loss of gigabytes of sensitive data, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the probe is still preliminary. Authorities are investigating whether recent infiltrations of major European banks using a similar vulnerability are also linked to the attack, one of the people said.
In one case, the hackers used a software flaw known as a zero-day vulnerability in one of the banks’ websites. They then plowed through layers of elaborate security to steal the data, a feat security experts said appeared far beyond the capability of ordinary criminal hackers. The incidents occurred at a low point in relations between Russia and the West. Russian troops continue to mass on the Ukrainian border and the West tightens sanctions aimed at crippling Russian companies, including some of the country’s most important banks.
Why A Six-Figure Salary No Longer Means You’re Rich in Investing by Holly Johnson
I was born in 1980, and I still remember the days when “bringing in six figures” was a sign of extreme wealth and success. It was more than enough to buy the perfect house with a white picket fence, after all, and achieving that sort of income implied a certain level of status that nearly everyone aspired to. You could even say that a six-figure salary was seen as the real “American dream,” simply because earning that much money meant that you had “made it,” at least in financial terms. As a child, I distinctly remember dreaming of a six-figure income myself, and fantasizing about all of the amazing things I could do with so much money.
Times have changed since then, but the public’s perception of a six-figure salary hasn’t necessarily changed with it. With the median household income stuck at around $53,093 in 2014, an annual salary of nearly twice that still seems like more than enough money to succeed and thrive in any economy, no matter the circumstances. However, a convergence of factors have fundamentally changed what it means to rake in a “six-figure salary” in America, and many families who look rich on paper are merely struggling to get ahead along with everyone else.
Why Six Figures Isn’t What it Used to Be
Earning a six-figure salary is still a sign of status and success, but it no longer guarantees a lifetime of wealth like it once did, especially in certain parts of the country. A recent analysis by USA Today goes even further to say that the average price of living the American dream has now risen to $130,000 per year due the rising costs of nearly everything. The authors of the study claim that the American dream is about “finding and pursuing a rewarding career, leading a healthy and personally fulfilling life, and being able to retire in comfort,” adding that only 1 in 8 households in the U.S. currently earn enough to achieve those goals. But, what exactly has changed?
Reader says Don’t blame the State Workers on Pensions
NJ Gov. Chris Christie’s pension moves cost taxpayers and retirees billions Aug 25th 2014 3:05PM
By RYAN GORMAN
Embattled New Jersey Governor Chris Christie faces another possible scandal – this time for possibly costing tax payers nearly $4 billion after diverting state pension funds to Wall Street firms.
Wall Street mega firms Blackstone, Third Point, Omega Advisors, Elliot Associates and The Carlyle Group have reportedly pocketed $3.8 billion dollars in fees since 2010 at a rate triple what was paid to pension fund managers prior to Christie assuming office.
Christie advisor Robert Grady notably had a long career at The Carlyle Group prior to joining the government, according to the International Business Times.
The switch was made in 2010 to give the state “diversified portfolio and maximize returns while appropriately managing risk,” Grady told the trade publication Institutional Investor in a report headlined “New Jersey ups the ante.”
The Carlyle Group has received $450 million in state pension funds while ranking among the top fee earners on Wall Street, according to state disclosure documents.
All management fees paid to firms by the pension have skyrocketed from only $125.1 million in 2009 to nearly $400 million in 2013, according to the New Jersey State Investment Council, which oversees the pension.
Those higher fees coupled with underperforming assets have left the pension with a benefits gap bigger than the state’s entire education budget.
This while the pension eked out a return of only 11.8 percent last year while similar funds average nearly a full percent higher, according to the IB Times.
Both pension funds used by teachers in California saw returns well over 18 percent in June alone, the Associated Press reported. They had expected returns of only 7.5 percent for the whole year.
New Jersey’s fund is also invested at a rate of just over 25 percent in financial firms, according to the NJSIC, more than double any other sector.
At least one person voted against Christie’s diversion plan, and he told the IB Times this outcome was inevitable.
“All the leading players on the [New Jersey State Investment Council] were from the alternative universe and all of their decisions were driven by a political agenda and an investment ideology which had no relationship to facts on the ground,” said Jim Marketti.
“And the facts were that you simply couldn’t justify these investments on the basis of what they cost in fees to generate a dollar of new returns.”
A New Jersey official defended the moves, saying that the state’s pension has earned a return this year of 15.9 percent.
Similar funds are averaging returns of well over 17 percent, according to the IB Times.
This is just the latest in a series of bizarre scandals for Christie that have included the “Bridgegate” traffic tie-up at the George Washington Bridge, the possible bullying of at least one high-profile mayor (Hoboken’s Dawn Zimmer) over Superstorm Sandy recovery funds and scrutiny of real estate deals around the state.
The questionable quandries have put a dent in his reported presidential ambitions as Christie defends the pension problems by saying they are proof retirement benefits to retirees – earned through decades of service to the Garden State – need to be cut.
There’s no word on whether “The Governor” would also demand fees paid to Wall Street also be cut.
The problem with this article is it fails to mention all the graft of prior administrations , looking to blame only Christie while both Corzine and Mac Creepy ( and most of them since Whitman) have far worse records managing the state pension funds ,Mac Creepy even hired non wall street totally unqualified advisors to manage money .
Remember large returns come at a price and you get what you pay for . If they are over charging well that typical politicians ,but the real issue is simple math , while you cant blame most of the workers for taking the checks , you can blame politicians looking for those union contributions to their political campaigns ,while the taxpayer has no representation at the bargaining table ,its a very significant conflict of interest.
The crux of the issues is with all pension systems is that it takes 10 or more workers paying in to take care of every retiree, but productivity and technology continue to shrink the work force .Less workers equal less money being paid in . To make up we increase salaries and hire more people than we should .
Thus a lot of unproductive dead wood . The private sector found this out a long time ago with US Steal, Bethlehem Steal and the auto industry .
After a certain point you read the law of diminishing returns and for the tax base it becomes totally unsustainable ,.
For example in 1900 it took 5000 people to make 1 ton of steal , in 1980 it took 50 , so now the 50 were paying the pensions for 4950 people…ouch .
States like New Jersey are well past the breaking point ,with companies and taxpayers high tailing it out of here , leaving fewer and fewer people to pick up the tab .
Depending on huge returns on wall street for prolonged periods of time is foolish and very dangerous as the article points out fees need to be cut , money borrowed needs to be returned with interest,and retirees living out of state need to be taxed on their pension at a higher rate as well as current state employees need to pay a far
Blackberry Blackout! Nets Refuse to Report That IRS Destroyed Lerner’s Phone After Probe Began
By Geoffrey Dickens | August 26, 2014 | 11:12
On the heels of a Department of Justice (DOJ) lawyer admitting to Judicial Watch that Lois Lerner’s missing e-mails do exist comes another stunning revelation.
On Monday evening the New York Observer reported “the IRS destroyed Lerner’s Blackberry after it knew her computer had crashed and after a Congressional inquiry was well underway.” Big Three (ABC, CBS, NBC) network coverage of this fishy behavior on the part of the IRS and Lerner? 0 seconds.
There hasn’t been a single story on the Blackberry destruction or the DOJ lawyer’s admission of the existence of Lerner’s e-mails on any of the Monday evening or Tuesday morning shows on ABC, CBS or NBC.
All three morning shows on Tuesday did find time (5 minutes, 32 seconds) to cover the altercation on a plane caused by an unruly passenger upset about the “Knee Defender” product intruding on her personal space.
On August 25, the New York Observer reported the following:
“The IRS filing in federal Judge Emmet Sullivan’s court reveals shocking new information. The IRS destroyed Lerner’s Blackberry AFTER it knew her computer had crashed and after a Congressional inquiry was well underway. As an IRS official declared under the penalty of perjury, the destroyed Blackberry would have contained the same emails (both sent and received) as Lois Lerner’s hard drive.”
Chef John Benjamin of Park West Tavern in Ridgewood on his favorite kitchen tool and least favorite diner requests
AUGUST 27, 2014 LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2014, 1:21 AM THE RECORD
After graduating from the Culinary Institute of America, John Benjamin worked at some highly venerated restaurants, including Aureole in Manhattan and The French Laundry in California’s Napa Valley. And before he was named executive chef for the Park West Tavern this past December, the soft-spoken 45-year-old Greenwood Lake resident worked as executive chef for eight years at one of New Jersey’s most formal and acclaimed dining establishments, Restaurant Latour at the Crystal Springs Resort in Hardyston. Last month, Park West Tavern received three out of four stars from The Record.
Favorite kitchen tool: Japanese mandolin. It’s good for slicing garlic, potatoes, mushroom, onions very thin. And the Japanese one is plastic, thin and not too expensive – maybe $23. It fits in any kitchen cabinet.
Dish I’m most proud of: Right now we are offering a simple salad of watermelon, heirloom tomatoes and burrata cheese, with a spicy red-wine vinaigrette for $12. I like it ’cause it’s nice and refreshing; it’s light and cool.
What diners don’t know about chefs: The long hours they work —10 in the morning to midnight for me; the dedication we have for the craft we have; the stress.
What irks me most about diners: They want to create their own entrée. Someone will say, “I don’t want the pork in the pappardelle pasta.” But it has pork in it for a reason.
Grease-laden spill cleaned up at Ridgewood treatment plant in Glen Rock
AUGUST 26, 2014, 6:06 PM LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2014, 6:11 PM BY CHRIS HARRIS STAFF WRITER THE RECORD
Ridgewood officials said municipal workers dealt with a substantial cooking grease spill Tuesday at the village’s wastewater treatment plant on Prospect Street in Glen Rock.
Roberta Sonenfeld, Ridgewood’s village manager, said 200 gallons of “watery FOG [fats, oils, and gases]” spurt from a “burst transfer line” connected to a delivery truck’s storage tank.
Some of the grease ended up draining into the wetlands of a nearby stream that feeds into the Ho-Ho-Kus Brook.
Officials said containment booms were used to control the spill.
“Our vacuum then sucked up the contained material,” Public Works director and Village Engineer Chris Rutishauser said, adding none of the grease reached the water.
Neighbors living next to the plant, sited at the intersection of Rock Road, said Tuesday that the area smelled “like a Burger King parking lot” following the accident. Those neighbors reported seeing village workers in the stream.
Village officials said this is the first time such a spill has happened there, and added that they immediately contacted the state’s Department of Environmental Protection about the spill.
New Jersey Alerts Consumers on Car Sharing Services
New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance Commissioner Ken Kobylowski today alerted consumers to the potential loss of insurance coverage in connection with popular business activities known as car-sharing or Transportation Network Companies (TNC) provided by online firms such as Lyft, SideCar and UberX. TNCs offer transportation services for a fee using smart phone applications to connect potential passengers with drivers offering their personal vehicles. When individuals use their own private passenger automobiles to transport individuals for a fee, they risk driving without proper insurance and/or having inadequate coverage for themselves, their vehicle, their passengers and third parties who may sustain personal injury and/or property damage.
“Car-sharing is growing in popularity with New Jersey consumers who are obtaining and providing transportation through Internet purveyors,” said Commissioner Kobylowski. “In many cases, there may not be auto insurance coverage for these activities. There may also be legitimate coverage denials under personal automobile policies in the unfortunate event of an accident. Consumers need to use caution when weighing whether to pay for transportation or to make their personal vehicles available to others for a fee through these companies.”
Typically, personal auto insurance policies exclude coverage for drivers using their personal vehicles as “public or livery conveyances,” that is providing rides to members of the public for a fee. In addition, the failure to disclose this use of the vehicle to the insurer may result in the insurer seeking to void the policy for misrepresentation. The TNC may have an insurance policy that purports to cover the driver and passengers while the vehicle is transporting a paying passenger. However, New Jersey consumers should be aware that these policies are not reviewed by the Department. Further, being covered by different policies for different uses of the vehicle is a new concept that has not been tested under our State’s laws and in our courts.
Traditional share-the-expense carpooling or ride-sharing arrangements in which friends, neighbors, or co-workers share driving duties and the cost of gasoline are not considered commercial-type activities and are typically covered by individual insurance policies.
“Garden State consumers should not find out after the fact that they do not have sufficient insurance coverage to engage in TNC activities,” said Commissioner Kobylowski. “Taking steps now, before entering into TNC agreements, can prevent serious financial losses.”
Commissioner Kobylowski offered the following tips for consumers considering TNC transactions:
•Carefully review any written agreements offered by a TNC;
•Before relying on any TNC provided insurance coverage, ask for a copy of the firm’s insurance policy;
•Consumers should review their own personal auto policies for possible exclusions of coverage for using the vehicle to carry passengers for a fee (also known as “livery”);
•Consumers should also consult with their carrier or agent to identify the correct type of policy and coverage if they intend to engage in TNC activities including considering purchase of a commercial policy for TNC activities.
More Information
Consumers who want more information on buying auto insurance can visit the Department’s Web site at: https://www.state.nj.us/dobi/autoplanner.htm.
The best way for New Jersey consumers to protect their financial interests is to research any agent or company being considered for coverage and should:
•STOP before writing a check, signing a contract or giving out personal information;
•CALL the Department at 1-800-446-7467, or
•CONFIRM that the agent and company are licensed to write insurance in New Jersey by going online for agents at: https://www20.state.nj.us/DOBI_LicSearch/insSearch.jsp, and for carriers at: https://www.state.nj.us/dobi/data/inscomp.htm.
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is working to forge a sweeping international climate change agreement to compel nations to cut their planet-warming fossil fuel emissions, but without ratification from Congress.
In preparation for this agreement, to be signed at a United Nations summit meeting in 2015 in Paris, the negotiators are meeting with diplomats from other countries to broker a deal to commit some of the world’s largest economies to enact laws to reduce their carbon pollution. But under the Constitution, a president may enter into a legally binding treaty only if it is approved by a two-thirds majority of the Senate.
To sidestep that requirement, President Obama’s climate negotiators are devising what they call a “politically binding” deal that would “name and shame” countries into cutting their emissions. The deal is likely to face strong objections from Republicans on Capitol Hill and from poor countries around the world, but negotiators say it may be the only realistic path.
“If you want a deal that includes all the major emitters, including the U.S., you cannot realistically pursue a legally binding treaty at this time,” said Paul Bledsoe, a top climate change official in the Clinton administration who works closely with the Obama White House on international climate change policy.
GOV. JERRY BROWN TO MEXICAN ILLEGALS: ‘YOU’RE ALL WELCOME IN CALIFORNIA’
On Monday evening, California Governor Jerry Brown said all Mexicans, including illegal immigrants, are welcome in California.
According to the Los Angeles Times, while introducing Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, who said America is “the other Mexico,” Brown “spoke about the interwoven histories of Mexico and California.” He “nodded to the immigrants in the room, saying it didn’t matter if they had permission to be in the United States.”
“You’re all welcome in California,” Brown reportedly said.
Brown has made California a sanctuary state by signing the Trust Act, giving driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants. He has also expanded financial aid to illegal immigrants by signing the California DREAM Act. Peña Nieto reportedly “thanked state officials for embracing foreigners, citing measures that extend state benefits to immigrants.”
Mises Daily: Monday, August 25, 2014 by Frank Shostak
Despite all the massive monetary pumping over the past six years and the lowering of interest rates to almost zero most commentators have expressed disappointment with the pace of economic growth. For instance, the yearly rate of growth of the European Monetary Union (EMU) real GDP fell to 0.7 percent in Q2 from 0.9 percent in the previous quarter. In Q1 2007 the yearly rate of growth stood at 3.7 percent. In Japan the yearly rate of growth of real GDP fell to 0 percent in Q2 from 2.7 percent in Q1 and 5.8 percent in Q3 2010.
In the US the yearly rate of growth of real GDP stood at 2.4 percent in Q2 against 1.9 percent in the prior quarter. Note that since Q1 2010 the rate of growth followed a sideways path of around 2.2 percent. The exception is the UK where the growth momentum of GDP shows strengthening with the yearly rate of growth closing at 3.1 percent in Q2 from 3 percent in Q1. Observe however, that the yearly rate of growth in Q3 2007 stood at 4.3 percent.
