Friday, September 12, 2014

Round and Round in New Jersey

Sorry I'm no longer into riding the Bo$ton Globe carou$el:

"Deal averts sale of N.J. shore town’s carousel" Associated Press   September 05, 2014

SEASIDE HEIGHTS, N.J. — The Seaside Heights Carousel that survived Hurricane Sandy and a boardwalk fire will not be going up for sale.

A deal has been reached to keep the merry-go-round in the New Jersey shore town.

The Asbury Park Press reported that under the terms of an agreement introduced by the town’s council on Wednesday, the town and Casino Pier would swap oceanfront property in exchange for the town taking control of the carousel.

The company that owns the carousel announced in July it was selling the ride at auction to make room for new attractions.

The carousel was hand-built in 1910 and has operated in Seaside since 1932.

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"N.J. overhauls, limits system of alimony" by Stacie Sherman and Terrence Dopp | Bloomberg News   September 12, 2014

TRENTON, N.J. — Governor Chris Christie signed a bill Wednesday ending lifetime alimony in New Jersey, a compromise measure widely supported by lawmakers.

The Democratic-controlled legislature sent the Republican governor a bill that would, in most future cases, limit the number of years of payments to the length of any marriage that lasts fewer than 20 years, and end most support once a payer retires. The measure, which passed the assembly unanimously and drew only three dissenting Senate votes, also sets guidelines for judges to evaluate payers’ changed circumstances.

States from Massachusetts to Colorado have revised divorce laws that originated when most women didn’t have workplace jobs. While New Jersey’s bill doesn’t let already divorced people change alimony agreements, it allows for reductions when payers lose their jobs or retire, said Tom Leustek, founder of New Jersey Alimony Reform, a group that has pushed for changes for 2½ years.

‘‘It’s a fantastic first step,’’ said Leustek, a professor of plant biology at Rutgers University who is paying alimony for life. ‘‘This law encourages independence and self-sufficiency, and provides payers with a light at the end of the tunnel.’’

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For this last story I want you to remind you of all the times I've noted how government (on all levels) is engaged in huge ca$h grab on all sorts of things? 

"Some Sandy victims must repay FEMA cash; US says 4,500 were improperly aided" by Michael Kunzelman and David B. Caruso | Associated Press   September 12, 2014

NEW YORK — After Hurricane Sandy hit the East Coast nearly two years ago, the federal government quickly sent out $1.4 billion in emergency disaster aid to the hurricane’s victims.

Now, thousands of people might have to pay back their share.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is scrutinizing about 4,500 households that it suspects got improper payments after the storm, according to program officials and data obtained by Associated Press in a public records request. As of early September, FEMA had asked about 850 of those households to return a collective $5.8 million. The other cases still faced review.

What a puny amount considering the billions and trillions lavished on the war machine and Wall Street, along with the billions more needed to fight this new Middle East Crusade the Dear Leader Obummer has decreed.

FEMA’s campaign to recover overpayments, called ‘‘recoupment’’ in agency lingo, typically involves instances where the agency thinks a household got more money than allowed under program rules, but not necessarily because of an intentional attempt to cheat the system. Fraud cases are handled separately.

I just wanted to remind one here that the thieving CEO's of Wall Street, the great fraudsters of our times, had no recoupment foisted upon them and the in$titutions got lip-lock fines four their massive frauds for which they were bailed out by a collaborative and criminal government.

Many people asked to return money were deemed ineligible because their damaged properties were vacation houses or rental properties, not their primary residences. Others had double dipped into the aid pool, with more than one household member getting payments. Some got FEMA money for things later covered by insurance.

Okay, I'm not defending fraud at that level, either; however, it is interesting to note that this article involves upper elites only. I'm not complaining or anything. I recognize that is for whom the propaganda pre$$ is written of and for. I would, too, since it is the readership. The perfunctory cash loss of plopping a newspaper on the stand to maintain the illusion and imagery of a free pre$$ getting to the truth and digging out the facts.... ha-ha-ha-ha-ha.... sorry, I thought I could get through that without losing it.

As of July 30, the average demanded refund was $6,987, a sum that could be difficult for many, given the modest annual incomes of most aid applicants. About half of the households under scrutiny reported an annual gross income of $30,000 or less.

Look at them going after pittances from people who can't really pay?

The larger pool of cases still under review as of that date involved $53 million in aid payments — or about 3.7 percent of the total given out by FEMA through its individuals and households program — though any potential refunds would likely involve only a portion of that money.

‘‘For most people, the money is long gone and long ago spent on storm recovery,’’ said Ann Dibble, director of the New York Legal Assistance Group’s storm response unit, which has been aided about a dozen families fight a FEMA clawback.

They failed to clawback banker bonuses and such.

The list of people asked to return cash includes Gary Silberman of Lindenhurst, N.Y., who got a letter last November demanding just under $17,000. The agency said he was ineligible partly because he and his elderly father had both applied for disaster funds even though they were living together.

This was the point where I just wanted to stop reading because I'm so, so sick of the Jewish supremacism rampant in my paper. Like I said, it is written for very $elect and chosen intere$ts.

The Silbermans were barred from getting some types of aid because they failed to buy flood insurance after getting $25,000 in FEMA aid for flood damage in Hurricane Irene a year earlier.

Silberman says he should still qualify for the money because he was a rent-paying tenant in his father’s house, not a dependent, but FEMA has so far rejected his appeals.

‘‘I lost my home. I lost everything. I don’t have $17,000 to give back,’’ Silberman said.

Sandy was among the costliest hurricanes in US history. More than 280 people died in the US and the Caribbean. When the storm struck the New York and New Jersey coastlines, the surging ocean poured into densely populated seaside areas and turned communities into soggy, moldy wrecks.

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Notice not one hurricane this year? Must be the cool weather.

Also see: First death reported from California earthquake