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Cardinal Joseph Tobin, the Archbishop of Newark, believes that the Saint John’s JV Black team should not have been penalized for mistakes that adults have made

Cardinal Tobin

Statement on CYO Sports Issues

February 15, 2017

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, The following is a statement from James Goodness, Vice Chancellor and Director of Communications for the Archdiocese of Newark.

While the unfortunate situation at Saint John’s School in Clark has affected many, the Archdiocese of Newark has special concern for the students involved – the two girls and the boys on the Saint John’s JV Black team, and all other students participating in the league – who have been upset through no fault of their own. The CYO basketball program is organized not only for the enjoyment of the students involved, but also to teach them the importance of fair play, good and healthy competition and how faith can be expressed through sports and in community.

By their very nature, competitive sports call for rules and regulations. What is more, the educational purpose of CYO athletics needs policies that create a safe and healthy environment for the athletes, while serving the goals of the Catholic Youth Organization.

For more than two decades, the rules and practices in the Archdiocese of Newark CYO call for boys-only and girls-only teams in older grades. The rule recognizes that some sports, like basketball, feature greater physical contact and aggression as student players age and mature. The logic is similar to the rules requiring the separation of players by age groupings. Both rules seek to reduce the possibility of injury to a younger, smaller child by older and more physically developed athletes.

While he recognizes that the recent decisions by CYO officials were aimed at an appropriate and consistent application of the organization’s rules, Cardinal Joseph Tobin, the Archbishop of Newark, believes that the Saint John’s JV Black team should not have been penalized for mistakes that adults responsible for following the league rules may have made.

Consequently, the Cardinal has directed that the Saint John’s JV Black team may retain its current team roster as a co-ed team for the remainder of the current season, and have its win/loss record restored. The league will attempt to reschedule the final two games of the season that the JV Black team had forfeited, and the team will participate in the league playoffs.

Further, the Cardinal has directed that CYO officials, under the aegis of the Archdiocesan Secretariat for Catholic Education, convene a working group to study the current league rules regarding participation and team makeup in all age groups.

“We want the children to play for the very reasons CYO sports leagues were established: to provide a source of both recreation and reaffirmation of our Christian faith,” Cardinal Tobin said.

We regret the difficulty, disappointment and discouragement that have affected the children, whose growth remains our highest priority and concern.

In a separate matter dealing with litigation brought by a family against St. Theresa School in Kenilworth, Cardinal Tobin has directed Archdiocesan legal counsel to cease seeking to enforce the school’s Parent/Student handbook provision about removal of students because of litigation.  The two girls in this matter will continue to attend St. Theresa for the remainder of the year. It should be noted, however, that St. Theresa Parish and School will continue to defend itself in the lawsuit brought against it by the family.

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Privately Sponsor a Refugee

CBD Ridgewood by ArtChick

photo by ArtChick

A Private Solution to the Syrian Refugee Crisis

11/18/2015 Tho Bishop

The political response to last Friday’s tragic terrorist attack in Paris has been woefully predictable.

President Obama has vowed renewed commitment to his current ISIS strategy – whatever that may be.

Republicans in Congress have railed against the President’s strategy and called for a stronger response – whatever that may be.

Governors and State legislatures have responded to public concern about Syrian refugees by taking vocal stands resisting refugees enter their states by any means at their disposal – whatever that may be.

While there is a great deal of moral indignation in the media – including among libertarian publications – about the response of these governors, this sort political posturing is inevitable. As long as America is a democratic country whose people lack any confidence in their government to accomplish simple tasks – much less separating good guys from bad guys – fear will drive public policy. After all, if Washington had demonstrated any competence in this area, maybe ISIS wouldn’t be quite so well armed.

While I find it much more useful to focus my outrage on America’s continued militarism in the Middle East than the predictable pandering of politicians, I did find a Huffington Post article on Syrian immigration quite interesting. It details the efforts of a coalition of humanitarian organizations that have appealed to President Obama to allow for private organizations and individuals to personally sponsor refugees.

As Omar Hossino of the Syrian American Council told HuffPo:

Every single day we get phone calls from Americans who want to privately sponsor a refugee. But since the private sponsorship is not legal, it’s not an option, the government doesn’t permit that, they’re unable to do that.

The article goes on to outline the success Canada has had with its own private sponsorships program.

Private sponsorships in Canada have helped resettle more than 200,000 refugees since the program was created in 1979, according to the Canadian Council for Refugees. Groups there can sign on to sponsor refugees, typically with a commitment to provide for them for 12 months or until they become self-sufficient, if that happens first.

Of course this idea of immigration-by-invitation is a very libertarian concept.

In his paper The Case for Free Trade and Restricted Immigration, Dr. Hans-Hermann Hoppe touches on immigration-by-invitation when he outlines the inherent differences between the libertarian arguments for “free trade” and “open borders”:

For free in conjunction with trade then means trade by invitation of private households and firms only; and restricted trade does not mean protection of households and firms from uninvited goods or services, but invasion and abrogation of the right of private households and firms to extend or deny invitations to their own property. In contrast, free in conjunction with immigration does not mean immigration by invitation of individual households and firms, but unwanted invasion or forced integration; and restricted immigration actually means, or at least can mean, the protection of private households and firms from unwanted invasion and forced integration.

The ability for private organizations and individuals to personally sponsor refugees would create a framework for a policy of immigration-by-invitation. While such a solution is sure to not satisfy everyone, it at least offers a meaningful step forward and allows us to start detangling an incompetent Federal government from a complex and important humanitarian issue.

Unfortunately, there seems to be little hope that the Obama Administration will take this practical step.

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The United States is now ranked 17th in economic freedom

Obama-Golf

COMMENTARY BY

Anthony B. Kim@AKFREEDOM

Anthony B. Kim researches international economic issues at The Heritage Foundation, with a strong focus on economic freedom. Kim is the research manager of the Index of Economic Freedom, the flagship product of the Heritage Foundation in partnership with The Wall Street Journal. Read his research.

It’s already been eight years since the Great Recession, yet the U.S. economy has been just inching along, with its productivity flagging and millions being locked out of the labor market.

One critical underlying factor for this lack of economic dynamism has been the startling decline of America’s economic freedom, an unfortunate legacy of Barack Obama’s eight-year presidency.

The Heritage Foundation’s 2017 Index of Economic Freedom—an annual global study that compares countries’ entrepreneurial environments—highlights the urgent need for the U.S. to change course. For the ninth time since 2008, America has lost ground.

According to the 2017 index, the U.S. ranks 17th out of 180 rated economies, lagging behind other comparable advanced economies such as Switzerland (fourth), Australia (fifth), Canada (seventh), and the United Kingdom (12th).

The U.S. remains mired in the ranks of the “mostly free,” the second-tier economic freedom status into which it dropped in 2010.

Since 1995, the index has measured a nation’s commitment to limited government and free enterprise on a scale of 0 to 100 by evaluating four critical policy pillars, including rule of law and regulatory efficiency.

These commitments have powerful effects: Countries achieving higher levels of economic freedom consistently and measurably outperform others in economic growth, long-term prosperity, and social progress. Those losing freedom, on the other hand, risk economic stagnation, high unemployment, and deteriorating social conditions.

In fact, America’s standing in the index had dwindled steadily during the Obama years. This largely owed to increased government spending, regulations, and a failed stimulus program that enriched the well-connected while leaving average Americans behind.

Registering its lowest economic freedom score ever, America continued its string of discouraging trends in the 2017 index. Obama’s Washington-first, government-centric approach to policymaking has inflicted long-term damage to U.S. economic growth.

A substantial expansion in the size and scope of government under the Obama administration—including through new and costly regulations in areas like finance, health care, and the environment—has hit wide swaths of the economy, affecting almost every American in some way and reducing opportunities for nongovernmental production and investment.

The growth of government has been accompanied by increasing cronyism that has undermined the rule of law and perceptions of fairness.

Our nation’s fiscal health has been grossly dented as well. The national debt has nearly doubled since 2009, growing from $10.6 trillion to around $20 trillion. In dollar terms, this is the largest increase in the national debt in U.S. history.

In practice, all of these negative developments that undercut America’s economic freedom have amounted to a gradual slide toward a more heavily bureaucratic state and an increasingly politicized economy over the past eight years.

Today, the imperative to restore America’s economic freedom and thereby revitalize vibrant entrepreneurial growth is stronger than ever. Americans deserve better, and they can do better.

It should be noted that free-market capitalism built on the principles of economic freedom does not just conserve the status quo. In many cases, it overturns and transforms. It pushes out the old to make way for the new so that real and true progress can take place. It leads to innovation in all realms: better jobs, better goods and services, and better societies.

The 2016 election was a game-changer. America has been given an incredible and unique opportunity to move away from Obama’s failed liberal policy agenda and toward an agenda that strives to restore America’s economic freedom and spur dynamic growth.

The Heritage Foundation has introduced such a plan, called “Blueprint for Reform: A Comprehensive Policy Agenda for a New Administration in 2017.”

It is time to act on this plan and once again unleash economic freedom and flourishing in America.

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President Trump: Continues his Crusade of Cutting Red Tape for American Businesses

Trump Signs 3 Sweeping Executive Orders
February 15,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Washington DC, Yesterday, President Donald J. Trump signed legislation (House Joint Resolution 41) eliminating a costly regulation that threatened to put domestic extraction companies and their employees at an unfair disadvantage.

This creates a level playing field with companies like BP who were formed solely for the purpose of bribing, ie political contributions, PILOT, jobs, taxes and so on foreign governments to exploit the natural resources.
Critics of the Gulf Oil spill have long claimed BP bribed its way out of trouble in the gulf with a huge payment to the Obama Administration.

H.J. Res. 41 blocks a misguided regulation from burdening American extraction (oil )companies.

By halting this regulation, the President has removed a costly impediment to American extraction companies helping their workers succeed. This legislation could save American businesses as much as $600 million annually in regulatory compliance costs and spare them 200,000 hours of paperwork. The regulation created an unfair advantage for foreign-owned extraction companies.

BUILDING ON PRESIDENTIAL ACTION: President Trump has been steadfast in his commitment to reducing the regulatory burden on everyday Americans, their pocketbooks, and their businesses.

President Trump has required that for every new Federal regulation, two existing regulations be eliminated.
President Trump will initiate fundamental changes to the United States healthcare system to reduce the financial burden on Americans by getting the government out of the way.
President Trump has placed a moratorium on all new regulations by executive departments and agencies that are not compelled by Congress or public safety.
President Trump directed his Secretary of Commerce to streamline Federal permitting processes for domestic manufacturing and to reduce regulatory burdens on domestic manufacturers.
President Trump signed an Executive Order expediting the environmental review and approval processes for domestic infrastructure projects.
President Trump directed the Secretary of the Treasury to conduct a full review of Dodd-Frank to ensure associated, burdensome regulations receive proper scrutiny.
President Trump ordered re-examination of the Department of Labor’s fiduciary rule, to make certain that it does not harm Americans as they save for retirement.

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Stuck on Stupid :Trenton Drops All Governing Responsibilities to Focus on Trump

14405_trenton_new_jersey_s_state_house_capitol_in_trenton

February 15,2017

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, public frustration continues to grow towards the New Jersey Assembly spending so much time and energy attacking President Trump instead of focusing on any of New Jerseys myriad of serious problems.

Trenton is ignoring everything from property tax relief, school funding, pension payments and reform, the list is endless. New Jersey ranks the number one state to move out of, and ranks near the bottom in almost every economic category, but instead of working on the difficult issues the state faces , Trenton Democrats and some Republicans assisted by the New Jersey media are engaging   non-stop Trump bashing.

 Assembly, New Jersey, 39th, Republican Holly Schepisi summed it up best ,”Tomorrow we have a “special” voting session in Trenton to vote on such pressing NJ matters as providing guidance to our municipalities on affordable housing, fixing the Pension crisis, reforming the school funding formula…..just kidding! Instead of fixing any of NJ’s major issues, we are voting on at least seven political resolutions targeting our President.”

Schepisi went on to call out her ccolleagues, ” Over the past several days several of my colleagues in the State Legislature have indicated they would try to move forward legislation protecting “Sanctuary Cities” who lose federal funding by mandating the State of NJ pay these cities any monies lost by their refusal to comply with federal law. While I understand the motive behind such bills seeks to protect the legislators’ constituent cities, the practical implications are financially destructive for all of the non-sanctuary areas of the State.

New Jersey is almost broke. We have not made a full payment on our pension obligations in decades. A majority of our schools receive virtually no funding from the State. Indeed most of the areas I represent receive less than $500 per student per year. On the flip side, below are just some of the numbers of aid currently being provided to our “Sanctuary Cities”. If these bills were to go through, the State would be on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars of additional aid into these communities. MONEY THAT DOES NOT EXIST.

In Newark,19-percent of all city residents are undocumented entrants. Newark currently receives $206.7 million in federal aid, amounting to $733 per resident or $2,932 per family of four. This aid is on top of an additional $742 million in school aid given to Newark by the State of New Jersey and $31 million in transitional aid also given by the State of New Jersey.

Jersey City, also a sanctuary city with more than 10 percent of residents being undocumented, receives $148 million in federal aid on top of $417 million in school aid given by the State of New Jersey.

Other NJ sanctuary cities include:
Trenton – $10 million in federal aid, $229 million in State school aid
Camden- $52 million in federal aid, $280 million in State school aid
Union City – $32.5 million in federal aid, $179 million in State school aid
West NY – $17 million in federal aid, $94 million in State school aid

https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2016/Bills/S3500/3007_I1.PDF

 

 

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The Dark Origins Of Valentine’s Day

st valentines

February 13, 20118:36 AM ET
ARNIE SEIPEL

Valentine’s Day is a time to celebrate romance and love and kissy-face fealty. But the origins of this festival of candy and cupids are actually dark, bloody — and a bit muddled.

A drawing depicts the death of St. Valentine — one of them, anyway. The Romans executed two men by that name on Feb. 14 of different years in the 3rd century A.D.

Though no one has pinpointed the exact origin of the holiday, one good place to start is ancient Rome, where men hit on women by, well, hitting them.

Those Wild And Crazy Romans

From Feb. 13 to 15, the Romans celebrated the feast of Lupercalia. The men sacrificed a goat and a dog, then whipped women with the hides of the animals they had just slain.

The Roman romantics “were drunk. They were naked,” says Noel Lenski, a historian at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Young women would actually line up for the men to hit them, Lenski says. They believed this would make them fertile.

The brutal fete included a matchmaking lottery, in which young men drew the names of women from a jar. The couple would then be, um, coupled up for the duration of the festival — or longer, if the match was right.

https://www.npr.org/2011/02/14/133693152/the-dark-origins-of-valentines-day

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New Jersey Transit to Upgrade Mobile App

Apple_iPhone_3G
February 14,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ,  Capitalizing on its booming success, NJ TRANSIT showed off its updated, redesigned look for the mobile app during its monthly Board of Director’s meeting today. The new interface will bring additional features and functionality to the home page and all bus customers will be able to use the app to purchase one-way, round-trip and discounted 10-trip tickets.

“NJ TRANSIT continues to upgrade our technology in an effort to improve the features on the app, allowing for a more convenient process for our customers,’’ said

NJ TRANSIT Executive Director Steven H. Santoro. “A clean, functional interface is critical for our mobile app users and this redesigned look provides for one tap access to each of the most popular features. We are proud to be an industry leader in mobile ticketing and we will continue to look for ways to put the latest technology in the hands of our customers.’’

Visually, the crisp look features a new home screen with a tile layout, for easier viewing of the options, larger buttons, and clearer colors. Tiles provide access to tickets, train schedules, DepartureVision and MyBus right from the home screen. A Quick Buy tile provides for one-tap purchases of favorite tickets. DepartureVision and MyBus will display and auto refresh right on the home screen.

NJ TRANSIT bus customers can now purchase monthly passes, discounted 10-trips, roundtrip and one-way tickets for both interstate and intrastate travel.

The NJ TRANSIT mobile app’s popularity has grown steadily since its introduction in 2013 as the MyTix program, and now has more than 1.2 million customer accounts.

While the upgrades won’t be in operation just yet, the current version of the NJ TRANSIT MyTix mobile app is now available for free download on any web-enabled iOS or Android device and will soon also accept Apple Pay and Android Pay. To purchase tickets, customers simply install the app and create an account, which will securely save a customer’s profile information and purchase history.

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NEW JERSEY RESCUE accused from buying pups from Puppy Mill

NEW JERSEY RESCUE accused from buying pups from Puppy Mill

February 13,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Tenafly NJ, the group Reformers – Advocates for Animal Shelter Change in NJ exposes a NEW JERSEY RESCUE for buying PUPPIES from JUST PUPS OWNER VINCENT LOSACCO!!!!

from their facebook page Reformers – Advocates for Animal Shelter Change in NJ:

It seems that a certain person from a local PETRESQ, mainly the owner and one cronie, can not keep her nose out of business that isn’t hers, and is inserting herself into the Just Pups situation that occurred the other night in East Hanover even though she was no where in site.

For those of you that are unaware she has been dealing with Vinny LaSocco for years, buying puppies from him. YES!!!! That’s right, SHE BUYS PUPPIES FROM HIM, through his BROKERS BUSINESS called Canine Commerce that is incorporated in Delaware.

The other night when the NJSPCA called in Husky House to come help with the situation in East Hanover at Just Pups, the owner of a North Jersey PETRESQ was all over the internet having a hissy fit that she didn’t get to sneak puppies out, again, under cover of darkness like she did in East Brunswick when the State of New Jersey quarantined those puppies.

She also called the Daily Voice newspaper Thursday night when this happened and inserted herself again, telling the newspaper that Husky House paid $475.00 per dog, which was a complete and total lie. The reporter retracted the story and wrote a new piece. NO MONEY EXCHANGED HANDS AND NO MONEY WILL EVER EXCHANGE HANDS, as Lorraine Healy of Husky House will never support a puppy mill by purchasing a puppy.

However, with that being said, the owner of this North Jersey PETRESQ does in fact pay Vinny LoSacco for puppies, and has been doing so for nearly 3 years now. AND WE HAVE THE PROOF!!! Look at the “memo” section of the check where she clearly writes “puppies”!

The owner of PetResq is telling people (as you will see in the screenshot below) that Lorraine Healy has been taking puppies from Vincent LoSacco for years. Husky House has taken a few puppies that the ONWER OF PETRESQ asked her to take because the puppies were too big. In total Husky House took approx. 6 dogs, and again NO MONEY EXCHANGED HANDS.

Vinny LoSacco has admitted that the owner of this North Jersey PETREQ has in fact, and I quote, “made tens of thousands of dollars off me”, and he believes it may even be into the hundreds of thousands. She has paid him $200 per dog and then sells them for 7 or 8 hundred dollars. THIS MY FRIENDS IS NOT RESCUE!! This is supporting the proliferation of PUPPY MILLS!!! This is puppy flipping….this is NOT rescue….

Don’t believe me?? That’s fine!!! The proof is below!!! Enjoy!!

This is just another liar and “looser”!!! (Yes, I know I spelt it wrong it’s an inside joke to the REFORMERS).

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Aronsohn Cronies Continue to Undermine New Village Council

Ridgewood 3 amigos

February 13,2017

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood Nj, seems the attempts by the council to reconfigure parking have been met with new calls for “Garagezilla” .

In a recent NJ.com article on struggling downtowns Englewood was mentioned for having over 2000 parking spaces available, including a 345 space garage, many new, upscale downtown housing developments, and still stores are closing. The fact is the retail landscape has changed and it has nothing to do with the lack of parking or limited foot traffic/customer availability.

While in Ridgewood many allies of the former mayor Paul Aronsohn are using any attempt at incrementally adjusting parking allocations to promote a massive parking garage. Aronsohns supporters in the Ridgewood Financial Advisory Committee or FAC continue to use the eerily familiar tactics they used on Mayor Killion and Village Manager Ken Gabbert , blaming all cost increases on the new Village Council.

Remember the Financial Advisory Committee was created by the mayor Aronsohn solely as a breeding ground for future council members willing to live in his shadow. The fact remains that in order for the Financial Advisory Committee to be an effective part of the Village governance the following criteria must be met:

Publish clear and realistic by-laws
Post agenda’s of all meetings
Post minutes of all meetings promptly
All members must sign Financial disclosure forms  
All members must sign NDA’s or non-disclosure forms

These are professional standards that are used and commonly accepted everywhere in the world. If they are not met in Ridgewood the committee must be closed done otherwise the Village will continue to leave itself open to lawsuits.

There has been a noticeable increase repeat critical comments on the Ridgewood blog mirroring the same lines over and over. The same lines once used against Mayor Killion and Kenn Gabbert are now used against the current mayor and Village council.

“My friend went to park at one of the lots that require an app and was unable to download so couldn’t use the lot. She said the lot was mostly empty and also that there was a fee to use the app. I think the VC made these parking rules so complicated now people are just staying away. I’m not aware that merchants supported this plan. I think the new VC came in with ideas of how to “fix” parking and this is the result. I’m sure merchants would rather have seen a parking garage. Good luck. I stay out of downtown altogether now.”

To bad this poster forgot to mention the “parking app ” was the brainchild of the Aronsohn administration and  Former village Manager Roberta Sonenfeld.

“The poster does have a decent point about commuters getting screwed by the vocal, anti-development, municipal-election voting majority in Ridgewood who control the Council agenda. Commuters are too busy to care much despite the fact the Council screws them at every turn, i.e. $250 annual increase to $1000 for a commuter parking space which was moved further away from Ridgewood station after the pass was paid for last Dec. Thanks VoR!”

While complaints about the overpriced commuter parking seem valid blaming the current council for the insane property taxes is a recurrent theme,“So go on blaming Aronsohn for the continued inability of this Council to come up with a viable solution for the commuters who pay the bulk of property taxes in Ridgewood. As 12:43 noted, if Ridgewood is no longer attractive to commuters as a place to raise their families (due to high property taxes versus declining schools despite a $100mn annual BOE budget, etc) then property values fall. As potential revenue sources like Valley leave, those who remain will have to just pay more to cover for the excessively expensive contracts the Village and BOE have agreed to with the public sector unions we contract with. Commuters and taxpayers getting screwed, a declining CBD, and a school system that no longer ranks highly in the nation are all facts”

Again,not sure what the Village Council has to do with the Ridgewood Board of Education, and all the residents voting for constant tax increases ie full day kindergarten and turf fields?

Other comments ecco the same shots taken against Killion ,“What proposals does the new Counxil have James? Rebuild Schedler (no conflicts of interest there, right?). Raise taxes to pay the police even more (again no conflicts, wink, wink)? Are we still studying traffic flow? Where’s the Valley PILOT? What’s the plan to renew the CBD? Commuter parking? How do we replace the potential tax revenues from Valley? Do we need such big, expensive police & fire depts if Valley is leaving in 3 years? Even you know the Village is in decline James, while Summit, Tenafly, Scarsdale and Greenwich all see the increase in their property values outpace ours. Why is that?”

This comment is so full of misinformation it ended up in our spam folder.

It all gets summed over and over by the following comments , The poster does have a decent point about commuters getting screwed by the vocal, anti-development, municipal-election voting majority in Ridgewood who control the Council agenda. Commuters are too busy to care much despite the fact the Council screws them at every turn, i.e. $250 annual increase to $1000 for a commuter parking space which was moved further away from Ridgewood station after the pass was paid for last Dec. Thanks VoR!

Anotherwords if we built the garagezilla and massive high-density housing all problems would be solved …. right that’s the ticket oy vey.

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An Alleged Muslim Spy Ring – Is This Why Rex Tillerson Cleaned House?

CEO of ExxonMobil Rex Tillerson

by Tyler Durden
Feb 12, 2017 11:50 AM

Submitted by Duan via Free Market Shooter blog,

Shortly after Trump took office, and before Rex Tillerson was even confirmed as Secretary of State, a slew of State Department officials were removed from their positions (or were forced to resign) as part of an effort to “clean house” at the State Department.  The whole affair was haphazardly covered by the media, especially by Jeff Bezos’s blog, which insinuated that the departures were “an ongoing mass exodus of senior Foreign Service officers who don’t want to stick around for the Trump era.”

Further analysis revealed that the officials were actually removed from their positions shortly after Tillerson visited the State Department office in Foggy Bottom prior to his confirmation:

“Any implication that that these four people quit is wrong,” one senior State Department official said. “These people are loyal to the secretary, the President and to the State Department. There is just not any attempt here to dis the President. People are not quitting and running away in disgust. This is the White House cleaning house.”

And, just a few weeks after the fact, it appears we know why Tillerson was so quick to purge existing staffers: he just didn’t trust them.  It also appears his mistrust was more than justified.

On January 29th, United States Special Forces executed an operation inside Yemen, against al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), with the aim of gathering intelligence and killing leaders of the group.  The raid was planned under the Obama administration, but the decision to execute the raid was “punted” to Trump, using the pretext of waiting for a “low loom” (moonless) night to execute the raid with maximum secrecy:

While the operation had been proposed, it was never green-lighted. Kahl said Obama felt going the mission would mark a “significant escalation” in Yemen and should be left to the next administration to decide.

“Obama … believed this represented a significant escalation of U.S. involvement in Yemen, and therefore … thought the next administration should take a careful look and run a careful process,” he told the WSJ.

In addition, defense officials expected the Trump administration to be more willing to approve dangerous missions, something that was almost certainly known by any remaining personnel who stayed on after Obama left office:

While seemingly indicative of a more aggressive stance by Trump, one official described the raid and new proposal as an outgrowth of earlier Obama-era operations that have pushed al-Qaida militants from their sanctuaries into areas and provided more opportunities for U.S. strikes.

“We expect an easier approval cycle [for operations] under this administration,” another defense official said.

Though the Trump administration attempted to push the raid as a success, at very best, the mission was anything but, resulting in the death of Navy SEAL William “Ryan” Owens, as well as injuries to three other servicemen. While the commandos did everything necessary to maintain the element of surprise, it appears as though AQAP adversaries on the ground had advance warning of the attack:

“Initial reports are always wrong, but it doesn’t appear to be a failure of planning or intelligence,” said the former special forces officer.

Almost immediately, the raiding force on the ground took intense fire, according to the briefing paper and a senior military official. Occupants of the targeted house and its compound, along with their guard force, moved to a separate cluster of houses nearby where families, including women and children, were staying. Armed women fired on the U.S. and Emirati forces.

“There were a lot of female combatants who were part of this,” said Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, the Pentagon’s chief spokesman, on Monday. “We saw during this operation, as it was taking place, that female fighters ran to pre-established positions — as though they had trained to be ready, and trained to be combatants — and engaged with us.”

While most know about the Yemen raid, most do not know about the dismissal of the three Aman brothers, Abid, Imran, and Jamal Awan.  On February 2nd, they were abruptly removed from their positions of managing information technology for the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.  Though they were initially suspected merely of stealing equipment, a connection with the previously-hacked computers of Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) revealed something far more sinister:

Three members of the intelligence panel and five members of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs were among the dozens of members who employed the suspects on a shared basis. The two committees deal with many of the nation’s most sensitive issues and documents, including those related to the war on terrorism.

As Mad World News reported, the Aman brothers were hired by the Obama administration, and access to top secret information regarding military operations.  The committees they allegedly worked for had access to “the most sensitive and secretive government intelligence, including covert anti-terrorism activity… including the Yemen operation”:

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-02-11/alleged-muslim-spy-ring-why-rex-tillerson-cleaned-house

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Study Reveals 72 Terrorists Came From Countries Covered by Trump Vetting Order

‎islamic jihad

By Jessica Vaughan, February 11, 2017

A review of information compiled by a Senate committee in 2016 reveals that 72 individuals from the seven countries covered in President Trump’s vetting executive order have been convicted in terror cases since the 9/11 attacks. These facts stand in stark contrast to the assertions by the Ninth Circuit judges who have blocked the president’s order on the basis that there is no evidence showing a risk to the United States in allowing aliens from these seven terror-associated countries to come in.

In June 2016 the Senate Subcommittee on Immigration and the National Interest, then chaired by new Attorney General Jeff Sessions, released a report on individuals convicted in terror cases since 9/11. Using open sources (because the Obama administration refused to provide government records), the report found that 380 out of 580 people convicted in terror cases since 9/11 were foreign-born. The report is no longer available on the Senate website, but a summary published by Fox News is available here.

The Center has obtained a copy of the information compiled by the subcommittee. The information compiled includes names of offenders, dates of conviction, terror group affiliation, federal criminal charges, sentence imposed, state of residence, and immigration history.

The Center has extracted information on 72 individuals named in the Senate report whose country of origin is one of the seven terror-associated countries included in the vetting executive order: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen. The Senate researchers were not able to obtain complete information on each convicted terrorist, so it is possible that more of the convicted terrorists are from these countries.

The United States has admitted terrorists from all of the seven dangerous countries:

Somalia: 20
Yemen: 19
Iraq: 19
Syria: 7
Iran: 4
Libya: 2
Sudan: 1
Total: 72

According to the report, at least 17 individuals entered as refugees from these terror-prone countries. Three came in on student visas and one arrived on a diplomatic visa.

At least 25 of these immigrants eventually became citizens. Ten were lawful permanent residents, and four were illegal aliens.

These immigrant terrorists lived in at least 16 different states, with the largest number from the terror-associated countries living in New York (10), Minnesota (8), California (8), and Michigan (6). Ironically, Minnesota was one of the states suing to block Trump’s order to pause entries from the terror-associated countries, claiming it harmed the state. At least two of the terrorists were living in Washington, which joined with Minnesota in the lawsuit to block the order.

Thirty-three of the 72 individuals from the seven terror-associated countries were convicted of very serious terror-related crimes, and were sentenced to at least three years imprisonment. The crimes included use of a weapon of mass destruction, conspiracy to commit a terror act, material support of a terrorist or terror group, international money laundering conspiracy, possession of explosives or missiles, and unlawful possession of a machine gun.

Some opponents of the travel suspension have tried to claim that the Senate report was flawed because it included individuals who were not necessarily terrorists because they were convicted of crimes such as identity fraud and false statements. About a dozen individuals in the group from the seven terror-associated countries are in this category. Some are individuals who were arrested and convicted in the months following 9/11 for involvement in a fraudulent hazardous materials and commercial driver’s license scheme that was extremely worrisome to law enforcement and counter-terrorism agencies, although a direct link to the 9/11 plot was never claimed.

The information in this report was compiled by Senate staff from open sources, and certainly could have been found by the judges if they or their clerks had looked for it. Another example that should have come to mind is that of Abdul Razak Ali Artan, who attacked and wounded 11 people on the campus of Ohio State University in November 2016. Artan was a Somalian who arrived in 2007 as a refugee.

President Trump’s vetting order is clearly legal under the provisions of section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which says that the president can suspend the entry of any alien or group of aliens if he finds it to be detrimental to the national interest. He should not have to provide any more justification than was already presented in the order, but if judges demand more reasons, here are 72.

https://cis.org/vaughan/study-reveals-72-terrorists-came-countries-covered-trump-vetting-order

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PSE&G residential electric bills to drop 2.6 percent on June 1

PSEG_work_ridgewood@theridgewood_theridgewoodblog
file photo by Boyd Loving
Customers to benefit from lower energy and capacity prices
February 10,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, Public Service Electric and Gas Co. (PSE&G) today said that residential electric bills will drop 2.6 percent on June 1 as a result of the recent Basic Generation Service supply auction, approved today by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities.

The monthly bill for a PSE&G residential customer who uses the statewide average of 650 kilowatt-hours per month will be $112.62, or $3 less per month on June 1 than today. Last year, this same customer paid $116.08 per month.

“We commend the Board of Public Utilities for once again approving this efficient and competitive way to secure electricity on behalf of our customers,” said Jorge Cardenas, PSE&G vice president of asset management and centralized services. “Our customers are benefitting from the lower costs of energy and capacity, even as PSE&G is upgrading its transmission and distribution systems to maintain reliability.”

In addition to lower electric bills, most PSE&G customers also receive gas service and are benefitting from lower gas bills this winter. PSE&G lowered the price of residential gas supply on October 1, 2016 to 34 cents per therm — its lowest rate in 16 years.

The utility is also providing bill credits to residential gas customers for usage from January to February 2017 – saving the typical residential gas customer $25 during the two-month period.

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Why Delaying Obamacare Repeal Is Hurting the American People

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Sondra Clark / @SondraClark / February 09, 2017

When President Donald Trump took office, repeal of Obamacare seemed like a guarantee—and then the timeline started slipping.

All the elements are in place: A Republican-controlled Congress and a Republican president, all elected after promising to repeal Obamacare. But once the celebration and ceremonies died away, Congress started to do what it does best. Nothing.

“Nothing” may be a bit strong given the historic levels of obstruction from Democrats in the Senate, but House Republicans have no such excuse. In fact, they even have a blueprint.

Last year, the House and Senate passed an Obamacare repeal using the budget reconciliation process. That measure was ultimately vetoed by then-President Barack Obama, but that same legislation can be reintroduced and sent to Trump’s desk to be signed into law.

There is no reason to delay. The slipping of the Obamacare repeal timeline is creating cascading problems for the American people.

Delaying Repeal Prolongs the Current Health Care Crisis

No one needs reminding that Obamacare takes away choice, erodes the value of health care, and puts additional burden on the pockets of the American taxpayer. The unsustainable nature of Obamacare is creating massive uncertainty and causing insurers to leave the marketplace, causing individual premiums to increase.

Additionally, once repeal is signed into law and real health care reforms begin moving forward, private insurers will need time to adjust to the new market. Continuing to delay repeal shortens the time insurers will be able to adjust and provide the best solution for the insured.

Most importantly, we don’t want Americans living under the current failing health care system any longer.

Obamacare is bad, and only getting worse. Average premiums are going up by 25 percent this year, deductibles are blowing past $10,000 for a family, and 70 percent of U.S. counties have no insurer choice, or a choice between only two insurers.

What good is a health care plan that you can’t choose and can’t afford to use? Congress must repeal it as soon as possible to put better health care choices back in the hands of the American people.

Delaying Repeal Hurts Public Support for Congress

Nearly every single congressional Republican campaigned on the promise to repeal Obamacare. The unfortunate consequence of the delay is that the American people are losing faith in the people whose job it is to represent them.

Recent Heritage Foundation research shows 72 percent of Americans will take the promises of Congress less seriously if they wait to fulfill their promise to repeal Obamacare. And 70 percent of Americans believe the longer Congress waits to fulfill their promises to repeal Obamacare, the less likely they will be successful.

There is no doubt that lawmakers will be held accountable to their promises.

Delaying Repeal Keeps the Focus Off Other Priorities

The surest way to repeal Obamacare is through the reconciliation process. However, that option has an expiration date. The reconciliation package is part of the budget process for fiscal year 2017 and it has to be completed before the fiscal year 2018 budget process begins.

In addition to creating a time crunch, the fight over when and how to repeal Obamacare is delaying action on other critical fights.

There is no doubt that Obamacare repeal is and should be the first priority, but Trump and congressional Republicans have made major promises to Americans that must also be considered.

Tax reform. Border security. Regulatory reform. Those priorities cannot move forward until Obamacare repeal is finalized.

What’s Next?

Republicans campaigned on repealing Obamacare in 2010, 2014, and 2016. Now it is time to step up to the plate and use the budget reconciliation process to deliver on those promises.

Congress needs to send a full repeal of Obamacare to the president for his signature. Americans cannot afford any further delays.

https://dailysignal.com/2017/02/09/why-delaying-obamacare-repeal-is-hurting-the-american-people/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=thf-fb

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New Jersey bucks national trend in Obamacare enrollment

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 By Kathleen O’Brien | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on February 09, 2017 at 10:48 AM
New Jersey bucked a national trend of declining enrollment in Obamacare health insurance, but just barely, according to the tally released by the Trump administration.

January provided a roller-coaster timetable for consumers: They could sign up for subsidized health insurance through the 31st, if they were eligible.

Yet a new president took office Jan. 20, and one of his first actions was to sign an executive order aimed at withdrawing support of the Affordable Care Act.

Television and radio commercials that had always aired during the last week of enrollment to warn procrastinators of the upcoming deadline were cancelled – then reinstated after protest.

There is usually a surge of about 700,000 people signing up on the federal Obamacare website, healthcare.gov, at the last minute. This year, however, that number was cut nearly in half, to 375,000.That meant an overall drop in the number of Americans who now purchase their policies through the federal marketplace.

Nationally, roughly 12.2 million signed up for Obamacare in 2017, versus 12.7 million in 2016 through the federal marketplace and state-run exchanges.

In New Jersey, though, the situation was markedly different.

The pace of new enrollments dropped once Trump took office, but by the close of the open enrollment window, 295,067 New Jersey residents had acquired insurance through the federal marketplace.

That’s a about a two percent increase over last year’s enrollment of 288,573.

https://www.nj.com/healthfit/index.ssf/2017/02/obamacare_sign-ups_tank_-_but_not_in_new_jersey.html

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NJ TRANSIT KEEPS SYSTEM MOVING DURING WINTER STORM

ridgewood train station

Cross Honoring Remains in Effect between NJ TRANSIT’s services

February 9, 2017

Ridgewood NJ, NJ TRANSIT anticipates the continuation of regular weekday service on its rail, bus and light rail systems for the remainder of the service day on Thursday and into Friday’s morning commute.  Access Link in north and central New Jersey remains suspended for Thursday.  Cross honoring remains in effect for rail, bus and light rail until further notice.

Customers are strongly advised to monitor the status of the system by checking njtransit.com frequently.  Customers are also encouraged to sign up for My Transit Alerts, which provide customized notifications via email or text message based on a customer’s preferred mode of travel.  My Transit alerts can be accessed by creating a free account on njtransit.com.  In addition, customers are advised to monitor NJ TRANSIT’s social media feeds on Twitter and Facebook, as well as tune in to broadcast traffic reports for the latest information.

Through a combination of preparation and hard work,

NJ TRANSIT operated the majority of its regular weekday service through the height of the winter storm.  Some delays were experienced on rail and bus lines due to the weather and localized road conditions.  Some bus lines were truncated due to road conditions.  Ridership across the system was diminished as many customers chose to stay at home or work remotely.

NJ TRANSIT continues to have personnel and assets in position in order to address any issues that may arise during the aftermath of the winter weather.

NJ TRANSIT’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) remains open and continues to monitor any impacts the storm has on the system.  The EOC will remain active overnight and into Friday.

NJ TRANSIT utilized roaming crews to conduct snow removal operations at rail and light rail stations as well as at bus terminals and facilities.  Rail operations activated its jet powered snow blowers to clear switches at major rail yards.

Travel Advice:

Before starting your trip, visit the Travel Alerts page at njtransit.com for up-to-the-minute service information.  This information is also available by calling (973) 275-5555 or from broadcast traffic reports.
Customers are encouraged to sign up for the My Transit alert system on njtransit.com, which delivers travel advisories for your specific trip to your cell phone.
Allow extra time getting to and from your destination.  Use extreme caution when walking on exposed sidewalks or station platforms and when boarding trains and buses.
Report slippery or unsafe conditions to bus operators, train crews or
NJ TRANSIT staff.
Listen closely to public address announcements at stations for late-breaking service information.