Second Suspect in Bergen County Synagogue Attacks Plotted To Murder Local Officials

A second suspect in a string of anti Semitic attacks across Bergen County, Aakash Dalal, has been charged in relation to a plot to kill local officials, including the Bergen County prosecutor in the original case.A man accused of trying to firebomb New Jersey synagogues is expected to be in court Friday to face new charges that he allegedly plotted to kill an assistant Bergen County prosecutor

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Heavy Dose of Irony With Supreme Court's Decision on Health Care Act

Yesterday's historic decision upholding the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act (HCR/Obamacare) was not without a heavy dose of irony.

Where can one start? How about with the person who was the swing vote: Chief Justice John Roberts.

Roberts had been nominated by President George W. Bush and many on the left castigated his conservative views. Indeed, the confirmation vote split

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Further Observations of the Health Care Decision

The President will be speaking at 12:15PM. No doubt he'll be addressing the decision.

I've been scanning the dissent, and it seems that ruled the individual mandate exceeded the Commerce Clause/Necessary and Proper, and that since Congress didn't identify it as a tax, neither should they, even if the outcome is a functional tax.

It's not much of a surprise in either case. And there's plenty

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Health Care Reform Act Survives the Supreme Court

In a huge surprise to many on the right, the US Supreme Court upheld the individual mandate provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (HCR/Obamacare). The Court ruled that it was a constitutionally permissible tax imposed by Congress.

The bottom line of the Court's decision, where Chief Justice John Roberts broke with the conservative group (Scalia, Thomas and

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Doe! A Deer!

We happened to be walking through the Radburn/Radrock part of Fair Lawn when we came upon this lone doe about 100 yards away from Fair Lawn Avenue. It's the first time we've come across a deer in this part, but now we know that they're around, I'll be sure to have a camera handy.

This one seems to have been accustomed to being around people as I got within 25 yards to shoot this photo. It

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The Student Loan Debacle Just Got Even Messier

The fight over interest rates on Stafford loans is a sideshow. The rate was temporarily reduced to 3.4%, and Congress was looking to extend that rate and had to find alternative places to cut funding to offset the federal subsidy.

Never mind that banks themselves are making money hand over fist on student loans - both on origination fees and the interest they charge. The federal government set

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The Rebuilding of Ground Zero, Part 166

It's been a streak of bad luck at 4WTC since the tower was topped out earlier this week.

Yesterday, a construction worker was impaled on a steel rod he was carrying when he fell about six feet. That worker is expected to recover from his injuries.

Today, workers at street level had to dodge falling glass when a piece of steel being raised on the south side of the tower struck the facade more

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Attacks On Pro-Government TV Station Highlight Assad's Troubles

Bashar al Assad's regime is continuing to come under attack, both in the halls of diplomatic centers and in Damascus itself. Today, there are conflicting reports over what happened at a pro-government television station. An attack apparently damaged the station and resulted in several deaths, but who was behind the attack differs depending on the account. Syria said Wednesday that rebels stormed

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Recapping the New York Primaries

Once again, the incumbents in New York managed to hold the day. But before I tackle the Charles Rangel v. Adriano Espaillat race, there's a few other races of note to run through.

Statewide, there was but one race. It was for the GOP nomination to run against Kristen Gillibrand for the US Senate. Wendy Long, a New York City lawyer, handily defeated Rep. Bob Turner and Nassau County Controller

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Neturei Karta Behind Anti-Semitic Vandalism At Yad Vashem

Israeli authorities have arrested four people in connection with anti-Semitic graffiti scrawled at Yad Vashem and other locations around Israel. The four people arrested are members of Neturei Karta, which refuses to recognize the state of Israel and often sides with the likes of Ahmadinejad and other anti-Israel types worldwide.Four suspects from Jerusalem, Bnei Brak and Ashdod are under arrest

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Rebels Continue Attacks as Turkey Threatens Assad

It's been a bad few days for Bashar al-Assad. First, his forces shot down a Turkish plane over the Mediterranean Sea. Then, NATO issued a statement backing Turkey (one of the member states) and Turkey issued its own statement reminding Turkey that it can and will shoot back if threatened and Syria can't control itself.

Syria knew that they were shooting down the Turkish F-4 jet. Under new rules

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Vincent Van Dominough - Recreating the Iconic Starry Night

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Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsi Declared President of Egypt

A new chapter in Egyptian politics has dawned. Mohamed Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood's candidate, was announced as the next President of Egypt in a disputed election over former Mubarak Prime Minister Ahmed Shafik. A gathering of secular-leaning politicians criticized on Saturday what they said was U.S. meddling on behalf of the Muslim Brotherhood. Other secularists stood behind the Islamist

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Junior High School Students Tossed From 9/11 Memorial For Tossing Trash

The NY Daily News is reporting that students from JHS 292 in Brooklyn were kicked out of the National 9/11 Memorial at the World Trade Center for throwing trash into the reflecting pools that are intended to symbolize the destruction of the Twin Towers.

A group of Brooklyn students on a school trip to the National September 11 Memorial & Museum were booted from the hallowed site after they

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What Ceasefire? Hamas Continues Terrorizing Southern Israel With Rocket Barrages

Dozens of rockets have been fired in the past several hours alone by Hamas from Gaza. Israel responds with airstrikes against those responsible and the BBC turns the situation around by putting the Israeli reprisal before the initiating act - the rocket fire.

But for the Hamas terror attacks, Israel would have no need to respond with force.

As it is, the Hamas terrorists responsible think

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Jerry Sandusky Found Guilty on 45 of 48 Counts of Abuse

It's a fitting end to Jerry Sandusky's trial. After weeks of hearing from a number of his victims, a jury took just about three days to find him guilty on 45 of 48 charges. He will now spend the rest of his life in prison. The minimum sentence based on Pennsylvania law and the charges is 60 years, which means that the 68 year old Sandusky will never be released from prison. Sentencing, which

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Syria Shoots Down Turkish Fighter Jet Over Syrian Waters

Syria apparently shot down a Turkish F-4 fighter jet over the Mediterranean Sea earlier today. Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan told reporters at a news conference covered by NBC News he could not say whether the plane had crashed or been shot down.

He said he had no word on the fate of the plane's two airmen.

"The chief of general staff has made the necessary statement about the missing

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Truce Isn't Holding As Rockets Continue Slamming Into Israel

Egypt has been trying to broker a ceasefire deal between Israel and the Palestinian terrorists in Gaza, but with little effect. The terrorists continue firing their rockets, including two fired towards Ashkelon. One was intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system. That brings the total fired on Israel during Wednesday to more than 70:At approximately 1:30 pm a Qassam rocket fired from the

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15 Terrorists Released In Shalit Swap Rearrested On Terror Charges

Israel secured the release of Gilad Shalit in October of last year by handing over more than 1,000 Palestinians who it had detained, arrested, and or convicted of various crimes, including terrorism and murder charges.

Now, it turns out that Israel has rearrested at 15 of those released on terror-related charges. Eight of the Palestinians were from the first batch of prisoners released, many of

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Palestinian Terrorists Continue Missile Attacks On Israel

Israel continues to take fire from Gaza for a third consecutive day. More than 55 rockets slammed into Israel after Israel carried out airstrikes following a terror attack where an Israeli Arab was killed while working on the security fence between Israel and Egypt (the Sinai fence). The Israeli airstrikes have targeted Hamas and other terror groups, including Islamic Jihad and their offshoots:In

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A Not So Sweet Price Increase

If you're a baker, this is going to leave a sour taste in your mouth. Some producers are no longer packaging sugar in five pound packages, but rather shipping out four pound packages.

By itself, that wouldn't be so bad, but the prices aren't cheaper. They're simply selling the four pound packages at the former five pound price.It was only a matter of time before 4-pound bags of sugar became the

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Post-Panamax Upgrades Require Baltimore-Area Bridge Closures Today

Drivers in the Baltimore area will face traffic jams due to several temporary bridge closures this afternoon that come just as the region faces the first heat wave of the season.

The bridges, including the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and the Key Bridge, and are being temporarily closed because the Port of Baltimore is set to receive a ship carrying four cranes necessary to upgrade port facilities to

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The Curious Un-Death of Hosni Mubarak

Yesterday afternoon, the wire news services began reporting that former Egyptian strongman Hosni Mubarak was clinically dead. Those initial reports were based on unnamed individuals quoted in the Middle East News Agency (MENA), citing medical sources, said he was declared clinically dead shortly after arriving late Tuesday at a military hospital in Cairo, where he had been taken after suffering a

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Turmoil In Pakistan: Supreme Court Ousts Prime Minister Gilani

Pakistan's political situation has been anything but serene since Pervez Musharaf lost power. Yousuf Raza Gilani was elected Prime Minister but he's run afoul of the Supreme Court once again for failing to investigate and prosecute claims of corruption against Asif Ali Zardari, the country's president.

Today, the court essentially booted him from office. Local television news stations said

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Tappan Zee Bridge Replacement Project Gets Labor Agreement

The Tappan Zee Bridge, which is operated by the New York State Thruway Authority, is scheduled to be replaced. Part of the costs associated with the project are labor costs, and the state just signed a Project Labor Agreement with a number of unions that are supposed to save nearly $500 million in costs over the life of the project.
Replacing the Tappan Zee Bridge represents one of the largest

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Israel Under Fire From Hamas Day After Sinai-Based Terror Attack

Within hours of the terror attack that left one Israeli Arab dead and several other Israelis injured, the Israeli military carried out airstrikes against targets inside Gaza.

Hamas responded with a barrage of rockets against Israel. At least 11 were fired into Israel, including kassams and Grad rockets along with mortar rounds.Seven rockets exploded in open areas in Eshkol Regional Council on

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Egypt's Military Moves To Block Impact of Islamist Elected President

Egyptians faced a choice between bad and worse when they had to choose from an Islamist aligned with the Muslim Brotherhood and the former foreign minister from Hosni Mubarak's old regime. Turnout was anything but strong, but the Islamist, Mohamed Morsi, won the election.

The military, however, has a different plan. They're now acting to minimize the impact of the election, and are once again

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The Rebuilding of Ground Zero, Part 165

There's been little movement on the resumption of construction of the National 9/11 Museum, despite a visit from President Obama last week and the principal politicians and bureaucrats involved in the museum and memorial process all present at the same time.

New York and New Jersey Governors Andrew Cuomo and Chris Christie have called on the National Park Service to get involved in the memorial

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A New Phase in the Syrian Civil War

I'm going to utilize the term civil war in regards to the situation in Syria. Rebel forces are holding territory in the country despite an onslaught from Bashar al Assad's loyal militias and military forces. The rebels are not only fighting, but gaining territory despite the horrible atrocities inflicted by the regime against those that dare oppose them.

The new from the besieged city of Haffa

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Skyscrapers Are Back In The NYC Skyline

Following the devastating 9/11 attacks and the destruction of the Twin Towers at the World Trade Center, there was a sentiment expressed that the attacks meant the end of the skyscraper, particularly here in the United States and New York City in particular.

While supertall buildings have gone up in the Middle East and South Asia, there's no lack of skyscraper construction in New York City.

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Get Thee To A Screening

Recent news reports have called for changes in how frequently people should go for cancer screenings and that's raised all kinds of debate over what's truly appropriate and how the screenings affect health care costs, effectiveness, and life-expectancy.

Having a healthy debate over the issues is all well and good, but early detection is a major factor in getting good outcomes in any number of

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Assad Continues Crackdown While World Watches

Bashar al Assad continues to put his own spin on his father's Hama rules guide to dealing with insurrection. Assad continues murdering those opposed to his regime at a frightening pace, but it's a slow bleed. A dozen here, a dozen there every few days, with larger massacres interspersed. That compares with his father, who killed tens of thousands in a brutal burst when eliminating the Muslim

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The Rebuilding of Ground Zero, Part 164

President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama will be visiting the World Trade Center site this afternoon to view progress at the site as part of a trip to New York City that includes two fundraisers for the 2012 campaign.

The trip will disrupt the commutes of tens of thousands of people who use the PATH station at the WTC (myself included), but the President needs to do more than just

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North Dakota Voters Kill Property Tax Repeal; Religious Measures

North Dakota voters decided against repealing the state's property tax, much to the relief of the state's politicians, unions, chambers of commerce, and school districts upon which the property tax is the primary or significant source of funding. The measure lost badly, with most taxpayers realizing that the funding is critical to education.

If approved, it would have been the first time a state

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Charles Barron Has No Business Being In Congress

Firebrand New York City Councilmember Charles Barron is running for Congress in the newly created NY8 district that includes parts of Southern Brooklyn. He's running against Hakeem Jeffries, and it's turning into a nailbiter of a primary race.

That's despite the fact that Barron has no business being in office. He's a racist and anti-Jewish at that. His new district has a significant Jewish

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Nonvoting "Obama Girl" Declines To Support Obama

Media outlets have decided to catch up with Amber Lee Ettinger, who seems more about self-promotion than anything else. They've reported that Ettinger (aka Obama Girl for the video she put out back in 2008) has declined to support Obama in 2012.In an interview with the Daily Caller, Ettinger said she was “not as excited as I was the last time, that’s for sure.” That's not incredibly surprising

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The Rebuilding of Ground Zero, Part 163

The problems with completing the WTC Museum continue. The earliest that the museum will be open is mid 2013, and that's growing increasingly unlikely considering that the money issues between the Memorial Foundation and the Port Authority remain unresolved. Hundreds of millions of dollars are at issue, and each side blames the other for delays and costs that should inure to the other.

Meanwhile,

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Photo of the Day

 

Montour Falls, located in Montour Falls, New York.

Taken with a Canon 60D with Tamron 28-300 XR Di VR lens.

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How The Avengers Should Have Ended

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What To Do With $70 Billion in Unspent Earmarks

Senator Tom Coburn has announced that the federal government has more than $70 billion in unspent earmarks on its books that must account for. This includes monies that were designated for state and local projects that those localities later chose not to do.The $70 billion figure is money that's been unspent for years, including $13 billion in road-building money that was earmarked to the wrong

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Yet Another Federal Judge Rules DOMA Unconstitutional

The constitutionality of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) will come before the Supreme Court before long. There are too many lower courts finding that its provisions are unconstitutional to contend with. The latest ruling is from the Second Circuit, where District Court Judge Barbara Jones found that the DOMA provision to define marriage intrudes on the states' right of regulating

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New Massacre Reported In Syria; Assad's Goons Thwarting UN Observers; UPDATE: Observers Take Fire

Multiple reports are coming in from Syria that Bashar al Assad's goons have committed yet another massacre near the city of Hama. More than 70 were killed, with at least half that number being women and children. Despite the presence of UN observers in the country, the bloodletting continues and Assad's forces are blocking the observers from seeing the scene of the war crimes for themselves.The

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Stop and Frisk Hasn't Reduced NYC Shootings

Despite the soaring number of stop and frisk encounters by the New York Police Department, the number of shooting has continued at the same level as before stop and frisk became official NYPD policy. While the NYPD was stopping and frisking a record 685,724 people last year, 1,821 people were victims of gunfire, according to NYPD and city statistics. That's virtually the same number as in 2002,

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Venus Crosses the Sun

Like millions of others in the New York City metro area, we were thwarted from seeing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to watch Venus cross in front of the sun in an eclipse.

However, NASA was all over the event, and they recorded the transit from multiple locations, including the Solar Dynamics Observatory in space.



The transit is helpful to scientists who are looking for planets outside

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Wisconsin Gov. Walker Holds On To Job In Recall Election

Governor Scott Walker, a Republican, held on to his job in yesterday's recall election. His win has more to do with how people view a proper use of recall elections than any of the policy choices he made or getting out the vote.

The results had nothing to do with the GOP or President Obama (which exit polls found to still be favored over Romney in November, even as both aren't seen as getting

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And Then There Was One

Since the 9/11 attacks, the US has gone after al Qaeda all around the globe, and those efforts have paid off. The group is now down to essentially one recognizable face - Ayman al Zawahiri, who was Osama bin Laden's right hand man since the group came into existence.

Zawahiri is believed to be in the frontier provinces of Pakistan, and he's probably spending most of his time trying not to get

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New Delays Pushing Revenue Service on 7 Line Extension To 2014

Once again, the MTA has fallen behind on another one of its major capital projects. This time, the MTA wont meet its December 2013 deadline to initiate revenue service on the 7 Line extension into Hudson Yards on the West Side. Instead, it will be hoping for a July 2014 open, though parts wont be done until 2015 (more than 12 months late):The No. 7 subway line extension to 11th Avenue and West

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1,000 Acre Fire Hits Sequoia National Monument

The headline is somewhat misleading. Fire Threatens Grove of Giant Sequoia
The blaze in the Sequoia National Forest covered more than 1,000 acres by Monday morning.Yes, there's a fire, but fire is integral to propagating sequois and clearing out deadwood and underbrush. It's not exactly a bad thing. This particular fire is away from the roads and is in the backcountry of the park. It's a part of

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The Rebuilding of Ground Zero, Part 162

Despite the fact that there's been no work done on the WTC 9/11 Museum for months, that doesn't mean that the fight over what the museum will contain and display hasn't continued.

I find it mind-boggling that there's a fight over whether to include photos of the 19 Islamic terrorists who carried out the attacks. We need to see the faces of those who are responsible. It's like having a museum

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Bloomberg Supports Cuomo's Call To Revise New York Marijuana Possession Laws

Arrests for marijuana possession are among the top crimes caught under the NYPD's Stop and Frisk policy. That policy has been under attack for its disproportionate focus on minorities throughout the city.

Governor Andrew Cuomo has now floated a proposal to reduce the penalty for possession of a joint to a violation, essentially decriminalizing the possession of amounts under 25 grams. Mr.

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California Considers Tobacco Tax Hike With Legislature On Sidelines

California currently imposes a cigarette tax of 87¢ per pack of 20 cigarettes. That's well below the rates imposed in a number of other states, including neighboring Arizona ($2 per pack) or Oregon ($1.18 per pack). It's slightly higher than Nevada's 80¢ per pack. By comparison, New York imposes a $4.35 per pack (NYC is $5.85), New Jersey is $2.70 per pack, and Connecticut is $3.40. Out on the

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Inside the Second Avenue Subway Construction Site

A video of the construction process, including the tunnel boring machines that are critical to the effort.



It's interesting that they are using one machine, tunneling one bore, and then pulling the machine back to run the second tunnel. That seems to be extremely time consuming and much more costly than had they run two machines simultaneously and allowed the machines to continue running

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Look Out Below!

 

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The Rebuilding of Ground Zero, Part 161

Construction remains at a near standstill on the WTC Museum. The anticipated September 2012 deadline will be missed and it's looking like mid 2013 is the earliest that anyone should expect the museum to be opened. That's perhaps being optimistic considering the money involved and that the Port Authority and the Museum Board, which includes Mayor Mike Bloomberg are fighting over the development

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Mubarak Sentenced To Life in Prison For Failing To Stop Brutal Crackdown

Former Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak will be spending the rest of his life behind bars. He was found guilty of doing nothing to stop the murder of unarmed protesters during the first six days of the protests against his regime.

Despite the verdict against Mubarak, several others, including his sons, were found not guilty of similar charges. And there are reports that Mubarak's health condition

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The Big Hole In Bloomberg's Health Kick

Just days after calling for an outright ban on super-sized soda portions in most New York City establishments, Mayor Mike Bloomberg saw fit to issue a proclamation honoring National Donut Day.

I'd say that's a huge hole in Bloomberg's health policy.

As it is, I doubt that Mayor Bloomberg would be willing to ban any serving of Waygu beef larger than 4 ounces (or any steak for that matter),

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The Turbo Trains To Nowhere

Back when I was going to college in Albany, I had occasion to take Amtrak and from New York City. More than a few times, I was on a Turbo Train, which was faster than the standard service by about 10-15 minutes.

When Governor George Pataki was in office, he touted a proposal to upgrade the New York to Albany line for high speed rail and even had a deal in place with Amtrak to upgrade service,

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