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- Written by: Jay Edgar
- Category: Latest News
Recently I've been receiving phone messages from Congressman Chris Smith and his Democrat opponent in the fourth district, Howard Kleinhendler, accusing the other of not being Islamaphobic enough. First Kleinhendler left a message accusing Smith of supporting the Islamic Center in Manhattan, now a message from Smith stating that that is not true and that he is on record of "strongly opposing" Mosques.
Congressman Ron Paul is correct in his recent statement calling this grandiose demagoguery.
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- Written by: Guest Author
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Originally published on Cop Block, republished under Creative Commons agreement.
I know we need to protect our children – there is no greater loss than losing a child. Though the state of New Jersey is taking it to far. They have just fined a novelty company $70,000 for selling a toy that is less dangerous than a Yo-Yo, it’s a Yo-yo waterball.
New Jersey has just won a settlement against the Yo-yo waterball distributor Kipp Brothers for selling the banned toy, although it’s nothing more than a rubber ball filled with liquid attached to a rubber cord.
Could you imagine watching the police come and arrest your child for playing with this.
Think back to when you were a child and some of the toys you used to play with. When I was growing up I remember playing with a chemistry set that was filled with harmful chemicals and I was never injured. I might have singed my eyebrows off once or twice, but that’s part of growing up.
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- Written by: Jay Edgar
- Category: Chair's Report
Our state consistently fares poorly when evaluated on tax ratings, government waste, government corruption, and value returned from the government. The Tax Foundation ranks New Jersey along with the rest of the Union:
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- Written by: Webmaster
- Category: Latest News
The first line of our statement at Copblock.org reads “Cop Block is a decentralized project supported by a diverse group of individuals united by their shared goals of police accountability.” I believe this officer did a great job accomplishing that goal by holding himself accountable.
This officer gets a thumbs up from myself and I hope he can set an example for other officers in this country. I wish I could say the same for the troopers that let him go and apologized for pulling the Chief over.
From the Competitve Enterprise Institute. What will happen to today's open Internet if government imposes new rules on broadband providers? This video explores the history of government regulation of the telecommunications market and the lessons we can learn from it.
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- Written by: Jay Edgar
- Category: Police Accountability Project
Former Passaic County Sheriff, Jerry Speziale, is being investigated for giving sheriff badges out in exchange for campaign donations and for using the county motor pool to have automobile repairs performed for campaign donors.
On August 10th Jerry Speziale resigned his position as sheriff to take a $198,510 job with the Port Authority Police as Deputy Superintendent. He was appointed to this position by Governor Christie.
Like Assemblyman David Rible, Mr. Speziale, collects a government salary while collecting disability payments. He receives $58,000 a year in disability payments from the NYPD. He retired on a disability in 1997.
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- Written by: Webmaster
- Category: Latest News
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Ginny, while a candidate for Monmouth County Freeholder in 2004, speaks with Assemblyman Chivukala about eminent domain |
With extreme sadness I announce the passing of longtime NJ Libertarian activist Ginny Flynn. Ginny has been with the party since its founding in 1972. She has run for public office multiple times under the Libertarian banner. More recently she has been serving as the Treasurer for the Monmouth Libertarians.
Her family is planning a memorial service on Saturday starting at 11:00 AM at the Morganville Volunteer Department. The following message was sent out by her family.
In accordance with her own philosophy, instead of a traditional memorial service we will be holding a “Celebration of Life” to honor her at a local venue.
After an opening service given by the family, friends are invited to come up and share a memory or thought about Ginny. Children are welcome and we will try to have a space in the back for them in case they need a break.
Celebration of Life for Ginny Flynn
When: Saturday, August 21st , gathering will begin at 11 am, service will begin at 12 pm
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- Written by: John Paff
- Category: Open Government Advocacy Project
An editorial was written in support of our efforts in Bloomfield. It is regrettable that this situation ended up costing the taxpayers. More information is on my blog.
Editorial: 'Bottomless well' of money to suppress documents
Bloomfield LifeWell, that wasn't so hard was it? Actually it was.
The township has finally relented and settled out of court with an open public records advocate who sued to have letters and e-mails released between a detective from the Essex County Prosecutor's Office, Councilwoman Patricia Spychala, and Spychala's attorney, Ed Kologi, and Township Attorney Brian Aloia.
That only took months of badgering, critical newspaper articles and a lawsuit. Close to $5,000 later, John Paff, chairman of the Libertarian Party's Open Government Advocacy Project, who sued the town, got his answer. And that was? Nothing we already didn't know.
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- Written by: Pat Dixon
- Category: Selected Blogs
I remember when the Iraq war protests began. Protesters would march up Congress Avenue and surround the Capitol announcing their opposition to this war.
As time went on, I noticed how the protests evolved. I would start to see people joining these protests carrying signs opposing capitalism, environmental policy, global trade and all manner of policies that had little to do with the war. I also noticed how angry these people were, and the display of signs that showed President George W. Bush depicted as a Nazi.
When the Libertarian Party of Illinois lit the match that became the tea party bonfire, the idea was to promote the principles of the Libertarian Party in protest of continued growth of government, bailouts, a nightmarish taxation system and other policies promoted by Republicans and Democrats.
It now has evolved to include protesters on immigration policy, gay marriage, foreign policy, abortion and all manner of policies that do not match those of the Libertarian Party. We also see angry signs depicting President Barack Obama as a Nazi.
Movements like these are not easily controlled. They can evolve and splinter such that they no longer reflect their origins. This is also true of the tea party.
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- Written by: Webmaster
- Category: Open Government Advocacy Project
READINGTON TWP. — Although a search of a vehicle that yielded a backpack full of cash that smelled like marijuana was ruled invalid, the money was never returned to the vehicle’s occupants.
In June the appellate division of the state Superior Court ruled the search was invalid but many readers — including John Paff, who is chairman of the New Jersey Libertarian Party’s Open Government Advocacy Project — were curious as to what happened to the smelly money.
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- Written by: John Paff
- Category: Open Government Advocacy Project
I attended a meeting of the Bridgeton Board of Education (Cumberland County) on August 10, 2010 to address two concerns: a) executive session minutes that are not "reasonably comprehensible" and b) meeting agendas not being given to the public until the beginning of the meeting.
I arrived for the 6 p.m. meeting at 5:45 p.m. and found the building to be locked. I rang the bell and knocked on the door and in a few minutes a man came and pushed a latch to let me in, but he didn't unlock the doors for any other members of the public who might later arrive. This gave me an initial indication that openness and transparency were not among the Board's strong suits.
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- Written by: Jay Edgar
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Liberty On Tour recently passed through NJ. While in Edgewater, Officer William J. Wallach aggressively approached Adam Mueller demanding identification and paperwork. Officer Wallach is paid a salary of just over $111,000 by the township.
by Pete Eyre on 09. Aug, 2010
EDGEWATER, NJ – Since it’s close to impossible to park MARV in Manhattan we’ve spent some time just across the Hudson in Edgewater, NJ working from a shopping center that includes a 24hr Starbucks – the first we’ve seen. Unlike other ‘bucks we’ve worked from, the rush isn’t in the morning from commuters on their way to work but late at night when there are literally hundreds hanging out and riding around on their motorcycles and suped-up cars. Unsurprisingly, such a crowd tends to attract the police.
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- Written by: Jay Edgar
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NJLP member and activist Julian Heicklen was harassed and detained again for handing out Fully Informed Jury Association (FIJA) flyers. The event was attended by the Liberty On Tour project. For more articles on Julian's outreach events see this link.
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- Category: Open Government Advocacy Project
An open letter to Brigantine from open public records advocate John Paff — in which Paff criticizes the city for denying almost all of a recent Open Public Records Act request — was discussed by the Brigantine City Council on Wednesday in executive session, city attorney Tim Maguire said.
Paff — a state Libertarian Party official from Somerset County who sued 17 municipalities in 2008 over public records — in July sought information about a city investigation into former Police Chief Jim Frugoli conducted in March by the law firm of Archer and Greiner.
Read the full article on the Press of Atlantic City website, more is on John Paff's blog.
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- Written by: Webmaster
- Category: Open Government Advocacy Project
In response to an appellate court ruling, a number of towns in New Jersey have lowered fees for copying open public records. Others are waiting for Gov. Chris Christie to weigh in on the matter.
The Appellate Division of Superior Court ruled in February that beginning July 1 public entities could only charge the actual costs of making copies, including paper and toner.
John Paff, chairman of the Libertarian Party’s Open Government Advocacy Project, called the change a “major victory.” The public records activist has filed countless requests that have brought about investigations of schools and municipalities and stirred up controversy on behalf of open government.
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- Written by: Guest Author
- Category: Selected Blogs
Last week New Jersey Governor Chris Christie endorsed providing $875 million in state financial aid for the Xanadu entertainment and retail complex in the Meadowlands.
For those unfamiliar with Xanadu, Wikipedia has a representative picture of its ugly gigantism. The complex rises from the horizon appearing to be the result of a giant child who threw something together using mismatched Lego blocks. The gigantism is reminiscent of Marxist regimes trying to show off their grandeur in ways they don’t realize are ironic. If the project is ever completed, it will be one of the largest malls in the world.