This Sunday <a href="https://youtu.be/SNrRxj8cIME">night</a>, Dirshu’s World Siyum took place at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The evening celebrated Dirshu participants’ completion of the learning of the seven and half-year cycle of Talmud. A monumental achievement, this is one that requires structure, discipline, and the sort of motivation that Dirshu’s programming affords its participants. Although I myself did not attend the ceremony in person, I was still enthralled by what I saw on the event&#8217;s livestream.
I don’t believe that the Prudential Center has ever hosted an environment as electrifying as the one that the largest Torah organization in the world managed to create. The arena that normally hosts the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League was filled with fathers embracing their children, jointly celebrating this amazing accomplishment of having completed such a substantial amount of learning. I was struck by the sort of joy exhibited on the faces of the fathers holding their sons. The joy in the room was palatable. It was a raw form of happiness — with each man grabbing the arm of his fellow man, dancing and celebrating in unison.
During this time of division, where the seeds of hatred are too commonly sown and the pursuit of materialism too commonly elevated, watching the Dirshu World Siyum was such a refreshing respite. It was a sea of faces of close to 20,000 people dedicated to intellectual growth and to embracing Jewish identity. All in all, there were 11 worldwide events that were a part of the Dirshu World Siyum. With 150,000 participants in total, the events were held in some of the world’s largest venues in cities, from London to Paris to Jerusalem.
There was one obvious question that crossed my mind: Who is it who makes this all possible? The event was a production of epic proportions; and year-round, the costs involved with running an operation that has a presence on every continent are surely astronomical. Yet there were no solicitations throughout the evening. Not a single word about it.
That’s because an unassuming but modest man who founded and leads the organization takes care of the entire operation quietly. Rabbi Dovid Hofstedter, the son of Holocaust survivors, created Dirshu as a means to revive Jewish learning to the level where it often was prior to the Holocaust. As Governor Mike Huckabee recently wrote in a <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/mike-huckabee-sin-of-anti-semitism-must-be-condemned-and-fought-by-people-of-all-faiths">column</a> he penned for Fox News, &#8220;thanks to Rabbi Hofstedter and Dirshu, Jewish scholarship is seeing a great resurgence and is beginning to reach the same levels as seen before the Holocaust.”
In an era where Jews are increasingly under siege, there’s a natural inclination among some to cower under fear. Some inevitably feel intimidated. But the message that Dirshu and Rabbi Hofstedter transmitted through Sunday night’s enormous event is clear: We will continue celebrating our Jewish pride. We will continue promoting our Jewish identity and our Jewish texts. For that reason, a common expression raised during some of the rabbis’ speeches throughout the night was that the greatest form of revenge against Hitler is learning our Jewish texts and celebrating our collective pride in our Judaism. Thanks to Rabbi Hofstedter and the Dirshu World Siyum, the display of Jewish solidarity and consecration of God’s name will surely last for many years to come.
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Follow Jeremy Frankel on <a href="https://twitter.com/FrankelJeremy?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor">Twitter</a>.

Jewish Museum of Switzerland. Basel. Old Talmud (1578-1560).

FRANKEL: A Powerful Display Of Jewish Values In New Jersey

Anti-Semitism

Judaism

New Jersey

There’s a reason New Jersey is colloquially known as The Soprano State.
A bipartisan group of public officials in the state were arrested Thursday for taking thousands of dollars in bribes in exchange for political favors. Three Democrats and Two republicans were charged after an investigation by New Jersey’s Office of Public Integrity and Accountability (OPIA). State Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal announced the arrest in <a href="https://www.nj.gov/oag/newsreleases19/pr20191219a.html">a press release</a>.
“We allege that these political candidates were all too willing to sell the authority of their public office or the office they sought in exchange for an envelope filled with cash or illegal checks from straw donors,” said Attorney General Grewal. “This is old-school political corruption at its worst— the kind that undermines the political process and erodes public faith in government. We are working through the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability to create a culture of accountability in New Jersey, where public officials know they must act with integrity or else face the consequences.”
Here’s what led each one to be arrested:
Sudhan Thomas
Thomas, a registered Democrat and the Jersey City School Board president, was charged with accepting $35,000 in cash bribes in exchange for allegedly agreeing to hire the payer as a special counsel for the school board. The person who paid the bribes is referred to in the press release as “the cooperating witness (CW).” At one point the CW and Thomas exchanged messages relating to the bribes:
<blockquote>CW: Make me special counsel for …
Thomas: Real estate.
CW: Yeah, real estate… that’s perfect.
Thomas: Yeah, nobody questions anything… nobody questions all of that stuff.</blockquote>
Jason O’Donnell
O’Donnell, a former Democrat State Assemblyman, has been charged with accepting a $10,000 cash bribe – delivered in a paper bag – that he solicited from the CW. In exchange for the money, O’Donnell allegedly agreed to hire the CW for city tax work if he won his mayoral race in Bayonne. After accepting the money, the two exchanged the following messages:
<blockquote>CW: “I just wanna be your tax guy.”
O’Donnell: “Done.”</blockquote>
John Cesaro
Cesaro, a now-former Republican Morris County Freeholder, was charged with soliciting contributions from the CW for his expected 2021 campaign for mayor of Parsippany-Troy Hills. Cesaro is a accused of accepting bribes from the CW in exchange for tax work for Morris County and Parsippany-Troy Hills if Cesaro were elected.
Cesaro allegedly accepted an envelope filled with $10,000 cash and $2,350 in checks. He later returned the cash and asked for it to be replaced with checks. The two discussed using “straw donors” to hide the money, which is illegal in New Jersey. Cesaro accepted two checks from the CW for $2,600 each, described by the CW as “my straws.” Before the checks were delivered, the two exchanged the following messages:
<blockquote>CW: Johnny, listen, all I want to do is the tax work. That’s all I’m looking to do.
Cesaro: I become mayor, I got your back.</blockquote>
John Windish
Windish, a former Republican councilman for Mount Arlington, allegedly accepted an envelope containing $7,000 in bribes from the CW during his unsuccessful re-election bid. Windish allegedly agreed to reappoint the CW as borough attorney. After the money was delivered, Windish allegedly had the following conversation with the CW:
<blockquote>CW: “I need you to, I need your commit that I’m your borough attorney and I need more work, John.”
Windish: “You got it.”</blockquote>
Mary Dougherty
Dougherty, a real estate agent in Morristown who was running for Morris County Freeholder in 2018, allegedly accepted a $10,000 bribe from the CW in exchange for reappointing the CW as counsel for Morris County. After the money was received, the two had the following exchange:
<blockquote>CW: “These are my straws… so I just need your support for my reappointment. Don’t forget me.”
Dougherty: “I won’t. I promise. A friend is a friend, my friend.”</blockquote>

Bribery

Five Current, Former New Jersey Public Officials Arrested For Bribery

Crime

On Thursday morning, far-left &#8220;Squad&#8221; member and freshman congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) blamed the murders of three Orthodox Jews and a police officer on &#8220;white supremacy.&#8221;
The Democrat&#8217;s tweet was posted after reports circulated connecting one of the attackers belonged to the black supremacist group Black Hebrew Israelites.
&#8220;This is heartbreaking,&#8221; Rep. Tlaib captioned a photo of one of the Jewish victims. &#8220;White supremacy kills.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Now deleted. <a href="https://t.co/l1T3JclYkR">pic.twitter.com/l1T3JclYkR</a>
&mdash; The Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDailyWire/status/1205147765770080261?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 12, 2019</a></blockquote>
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Tlaib later deleted the tweet, but there is no correction or update posted on her account, despite the Democrat being active on her account Thursday morning.
&#8220;Six people, including one police officer, were killed in Jersey City, N.J., on Tuesday in a series of gunfights that brought destruction to a kosher market and made a residential area feel like a war zone,&#8221; <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/10/nyregion/jersey-city-shooter.html">The New York Times</a> reported on the attack earlier this week. &#8220;The dead included three people in the market as well as two suspected shooters, officials said. The slain police officer, Detective Joseph Seals, 40, was a longtime veteran with the Jersey City Police Department, according to Chief Mike Kelly.&#8221;
As noted by the outlet, it was initially reported that the attack was &#8220;random,&#8221; but now officers believe the area was &#8220;targeted.&#8221;
&#8220;Based on our initial investigation (which is ongoing) we now believe the active shooters targeted the location they attacked,&#8221; Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop tweeted Tuesday night. &#8220;Due to an excess of caution the community may see additional police resources in the days/weeks ahead. We have no indication there are any further threats.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Based on our initial investigation (which is ongoing) we now believe the active shooters targeted the location they attacked. Due to an excess of caution the community may see additional police resources in the days/weeks ahead. We have no indication there are any further threats
&mdash; Steven Fulop (@StevenFulop) <a href="https://twitter.com/StevenFulop/status/1204586860783325184?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 11, 2019</a></blockquote>
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It appears that at least one of the attackers was connected to the Black Hebrew Israelite movement.
&#8220;An assailant involved in the prolonged firefight in Jersey City, N.J., that left six people dead, including one police officer, was linked on Wednesday to the Black Hebrew Israelite movement, and had published anti-Semitic posts online, a law enforcement official said,&#8221; the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/11/nyregion/black-hebrew-israelites-jersey-city-suspects.html">Times</a> reported Wednesday.
As noted by the Times, Black Hebrew Israelites &#8220;are known for their inflammatory sidewalk ministers who employ provocation as a form of gospel, preaching a theology that says the chosen ones are black, Native American and Hispanic people.&#8221;
The male suspect, who will not be named per Daily Wire policy, &#8220;had posted anti-Semitic and anti-police screeds on internet forums in the past,&#8221; the Times said. &#8220;A manifesto-style document was found in the van that the assailants abandoned in the parking lot of the supermarket.&#8221;
Tlaib was roundly ridiculed over the now-deleted tweet.
&#8220;Tlaib deleted this but the fact that she even tweeted it in the first place despite the fact that the identity of the perps was widely circulated yesterday shows how little of a s*** she gives about dead Jews,&#8221; posted popular political Twitter account Neontaster. &#8220;It&#8217;s like that tweet was the first she&#8217;d heard of the story.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Tlaib deleted this but the fact that she even tweeted it in the first place despite the fact that the identity of the perps was widely circulated yesterday shows how little of a shit she gives about dead Jews. It&#39;s like that tweet was the first she&#39;d heard of the story. <a href="https://t.co/LngUjpMTQw">pic.twitter.com/LngUjpMTQw</a>
&mdash; neontaster (@neontaster) <a href="https://twitter.com/neontaster/status/1205153609912061953?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 12, 2019</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;Now that Tlaib deleted this, I’m waiting to see if Tlaib thinks Jews being murdered is heartbreaking even when the killers don’t fit into her convenient political boxes,&#8221; said The Jerusalem Post&#8217;s Lahav Harkov.
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Now that Tlaib deleted this, I’m waiting to see if Tlaib thinks Jews being murdered is heartbreaking even when the killers don’t fit into her convenient political boxes. <a href="https://t.co/Fn7ZkllzMT">pic.twitter.com/Fn7ZkllzMT</a>
&mdash; Lahav Harkov (@LahavHarkov) <a href="https://twitter.com/LahavHarkov/status/1205160712475205632?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 12, 2019</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;It&#8217;s telling, and frankly sick, that Tlaib tweeted out sympathies for the Jews that were murdered blaming it on white supremacists,&#8221; wrote Shoshanna Keats Jaskoll.  &#8220;Didn&#8217;t care enough to find out what happened. Just enough to use dead Jews for her political agenda.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
It&#39;s telling, and frankly sick, that Tlaib tweeted out sympathies for the Jews that were murdered blaming it on white supremacists. Didn&#39;t care enough to find out what happened. Just enough to use dead Jews for her political agenda.
&mdash; Shoshanna Keats Jaskoll (@skjask) <a href="https://twitter.com/skjask/status/1205147952966189057?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 12, 2019</a></blockquote>
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Rep. Rashida Tlaib

SEE IT: Rep. Tlaib Blames ‘White Supremacy’ For Murder Of Jews, Cop By Suspected Black Supremacist In Now-Deleted Tweet, Gets Blasted Online

Black Nationalism

Rashida Tlaib

A local New Jersey education board has voted in favor of a high school elective course that would teach students about white privilege in America.
Member of the Westfield, New Jersey, education board voted on December 3 to introduce to the local high school a new, half-year elective called “Power, Privilege and Imbalance in American Society.” The course syllabus makes it clear that the “course is based on the theoretical framework of Critical Race Theory which is a legal approach that emerged out of the Civil Rights movement in order to identify and attack the inequalities faced by racial and ethnic minorities.”
The purpose of the course, according to a copy of the proposed syllabus provided to The Daily Wire by someone who attended the board meeting, is to “understand the barriers encountered by people of ethnic minorities and how those barriers were created and have changed America.”
The course focuses on American history from the perspective of racial minorities, including African-Americans, Native Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Asian Americans. The course provides questions to be asked of students, including: “In what ways has American society been structured to oppress African Americans/Native Americans/Hispanic Americans/Asian Americans?,” “Does society suffer from that oppression?” and “How was white supremacy established in American society and in what ways does it continue today?”
Several members of the all-white education board objected to the course. Two objected, not to the course per se, but merely wanted more time to address issues raised by the community and perhaps expand the reading list for the course to include books that offer a different perspective on race in America.
One board member repeatedly objected to the course on the grounds that critical race theory has been accused of being anti-Semitic and anti-Asian-American. “I feel extremely passionate about revising this course to represent all of the members of the community and I’m really upset that it’s not obvious that that is what’s needed here,” she said. She also said the course appeared to differ from school policy that courses “must not indoctrinate pupils or seek to persuade them to a particular point of view.”
Multiple members of the Westfield community also objected to the course’s basis in critical race theory. A couple quoted a definition of the theory from the Encyclopedia Britannica, which reads: “Critical race theory (CRT), the view that race, instead of being biologically grounded and natural, is socially constructed and that race, as a socially constructed concept, functions as a means to maintain the interests of the white population that constructed it.”
These members of the community pointed out that the definition of CRT used in the course syllabus was misleading, with one woman saying it was not a “legal theory” but a way of criticizing the American legal system. She said CRT opposes the Constitution and was created apart from the Civil Rights movement, not from it. Another man pointed out that it came about in the late 80s, and another called the theory, &#8220;Marxist.&#8221;
Brad Schaeffer, who provided video of the event to The Daily Wire, spoke up to ask whether books by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas or conservative author Thomas Sowell would be included in the curriculum. Schaeffer, a history buff who has written for The Daily Wire, suggested the course not only needed to get history right, it needed to get it complete.
It wasn’t until an hour into the discussion that a person of color spoke. Another person of color – a student at Westfield High School – welcomed the course and criticized the school for holding an event where a speaker suggested the school was “not a place of hate.” A Hispanic-Italian woman said the reading material for the course would divide students, while another white man suggested the course ignored the teachings of Martin Luther King Jr. and put people into “groups” based on the color of their skin.
Still others suggested the course needed to be expanded to include other populations who were also oppressed upon arrival in America, such as Jews or the Irish. Others responded by suggesting a future class based on religious persecution and keeping this course about race.
Over the objections of board members, one of whom sought to have a social studies teacher come to speak to the board about the course (no experts spoke to the board during a meeting) before a vote was held, the board voted to pass the course curriculum. Three of the nine board members objected, two because they wanted to address the issues brought up by the community and one because of her statement regarding the racism of critical race theory.
Westfield prides itself on diversity, but the town is 88% white, about 3% black, and the remaining 9% made up of other racial minorities. The median household income is $127,000.

White guilt

‘Power, Privilege And Imbalance In American Society’ Course That Teaches ‘Critical Race Theory’ Is Coming To A New Jersey High School

Education

Racism

A New Jersey councilwoman, defending a colleague who reportedly used the term &#8220;Jew down&#8221; to describe a Jewish attorney’s negotiating tactics, initially said the term wasn’t anti-Semitic before outrage erupted and she apologized.
Trenton City Councilwoman Robin Vaughn, protesting that she didn’t remember Council President Kathy McBride reportedly using the term to describe Assistant City Attorney Peter Cohen’s successful negotiation with a local resident, saying he was &#8220;able to wait her out and Jew her down,&#8221; still defended McBride, asserting, &#8220;We really need to get a more acute meaning and understanding of &#8216;anti-Semitic.&#8217; I believe her comment &#8216;Jew down&#8217; was more in reference to negotiating, not &#8216;I hate Jews.&#8217; Inappropriate in today’s PC culture absolutely, but to Jew someone down is a verb and is not anti-anything or indicative of hating Jewish people.&#8221;
<a href="https://newjerseyglobe.com/local/trenton-councilwoman-calls-jew-down-a-verb-says-it-referred-to-negotiating-and-not-hate/?fbclid=IwAR044Ab7m5agT_o5jSBg8xrWaWCoinv4Az-JbSML7Y1gzeIT7Y8g9BeXbGU">The New Jersey Globe</a> reported, “But Vaughn appears to contradict her own statement, saying that McBride was not talking about a specific person but rather discussing the &#8216;settlement of a low-dollar amount.&#8221; After the New Jersey Globe <a href="https://newjerseyglobe.com/local/trenton-council-president-uses-jew-her-down-slur-in-meeting/">reported McBride’s alleged statements,</a> McBride stated, &#8220;I am not at privilege to speak about anything at executive session per the law that governs executive sessions. It was an executive session and by the law I am not privy to speak on that per the law.&#8221;
<a href="https://www.trentonian.com/news/trenton-mayor-demands-apology-over-council-president-kathy-mcbride-s/article_32e03d72-d662-11e9-a820-43207c79f7a4.html">The Trentonian</a> reported, &#8220;The Sept. 5 agenda showed the council met in executive session to discuss settling Vivian Soto’s lawsuit. Soto filed suit against the city in 2017, alleging she was seriously injured when she tripped over a downed tree on a city sidewalk in October 2016. The law department recommended settling the complaint for $22,500, according to a resolution.&#8221;
Councilman Jerrell Blakeley called for McBride’s resignation. He stated, &#8220;Anti-Semitism has no place in City Hall or anywhere in the world. If she is found to have said this anti-Semitic phrase, I think she should do the responsible thing and resign as city council president. This is not the first time she has used this phrase. I heard her say this same phrase months ago and privately admonished her about the hurt that this term causes to members of the Jewish community.&#8221;
Mayor Reed Gusciora stated: &#8220;As the Mayor of this City that encompasses diverse communities of racial, ethnic and religious backgrounds, I find this to be offensive. This anti-Semitic remark, particularly about an attorney in our law department who happens to be Jewish, should have no place in our public discourse. I hope that after some reflection you would apologize for these remarks.&#8221;
The New Jersey Globe noted that McBride was the third public official to use an anti-Semitic slur in the last month, adding, &#8220;One Tuesday, Paterson City Councilman Michael Jackson accused a developer of trying to &#8216;Jew us down&#8217; on a major redevelopment project. Jeffrey Dye was fired from his job at the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development last month – and forced out of his post as Passaic NAACP president – after a history of anti-Semitic and anti-Latino comments became public.&#8221;
Vaughn, McBride, and Councilman George Muschal, who reportedly used &#8220;Jew down&#8221; while defending McBride, later apologized. <a href="https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/NJ-Politician-Apologizes-for-Using-Anti-Semitic-Trope-560739741.html">NBC Philadelphia</a> reported, &#8220;Councilwoman Robin Vaughn apologized in a statement on Wednesday, saying her comments defending Council President Kathy McBride were wrong and that she was &#8216;sincerely sorry.&#8217; McBride apologized at Tuesday&#8217;s council hearing. Councilman George Muschal, who also used the trope while defending McBride, apologized in a statement early Wednesday.&#8221;

Trenton, NJ

NJ Councilwoman Says ‘Jew Down’ Isn’t Anti-Semitic, Later Apologizes

For his latest man-on-the-street video, conservative filmmaker Austen Fletcher, or Fleccas, headed to Newark, New Jersey, where Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) was once mayor, to document a clean-up effort by some of the residents who said they were inspired by a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/50329/trump-supporters-clean-west-baltimore-and-liberal-amanda-prestigiacomo">similar project</a> in crime-ridden and &#8220;rat and rodent-infested&#8221; Baltimore. What Fletcher found were some folks who were not big fans of Booker or the politicians tasked with helping maintain the violence-plagued and trash-strewn area.
In the video, posted on Monday, Fletcher talks with some residents, some of whom are involved in a much-needed clean-up effort in a particularly neglected part of Newark. Several of them have some rather direct comments for political leaders, including Booker, who has moved on from being the mayor of the city to being the U.S. senator who is supposed to be representing it on a federal level.
&#8220;They call this the end of the world down here,&#8221; one minority resident tells Fletcher regarding an apartment complex that&#8217;s become a ghost town filled with drug abuse and other criminal activity. Asked why Newark has declined, one young African American man who&#8217;s helping out with the clean-up tells Fleccas that &#8220;honestly, a lot of it has to do with the representation.&#8221; An older gentleman explains: &#8220;When they get into office, they don&#8217;t do much. They talk a good talk, but they forget all about what they said they were going to do.&#8221;
&#8220;We are the people who vote the mayors in, and we be telling them we need help to get the crime rate down,&#8221; says one elderly African American woman. Asked if she&#8217;s a fan of Sen. Booker, the woman says emphatically, &#8220;No, no! That&#8217;s a definite no! Cory Booker&#8217;s not for the people. Cory Booker is nothing — I wouldn&#8217;t even vote for him to become president or anything else.&#8221;
&#8220;To be honest with you,&#8221; says the young man helping with the community effort, &#8220;if you go into any suburban neighborhood in this country, and you had even a fourth of what you see here, there would be an uproar and people would be fired from their positions immediately, and they&#8217;d make sure the city got fixed.&#8221;
One woman in an American flag shirt, who&#8217;s also volunteering on the project, notes that the mayor of the city wants to make it a &#8220;sanctuary city&#8221; and says flat-out that they simply &#8220;can&#8217;t afford that,&#8221; adding, &#8220;They are not putting their citizens first.&#8221; Asked if she has a message for political leaders, she says tell them to &#8220;stop focusing on hating Trump and look at the people who put you into office.&#8221;
Fleccas — who makes no bones about believing &#8220;Trump&#8217;s not that bad&#8221; — makes sure to draw the residents&#8217; message to the Democratic senator&#8217;s attention. &#8220;The people of Newark have spoken, @CoryBooker,&#8221; Fletcher posted online along with his new video. &#8220;They want you to: Prioritize the American citizens in your district instead of those in the city illegally. Stop focusing all of your energy on hating Trump! Your district needs help!&#8221;
Fletcher&#8217;s tweet and full video below:
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">The people of Newark have spoken, <a href="https://twitter.com/CoryBooker?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CoryBooker</a>.
They want you to: 
-Prioritize the American citizens in your district instead of those in the city illegally. 
-Stop focusing all of your energy on hating Trump!
Your district needs help!
FULL VIDEO: <a href="https://t.co/x5GhXZpNuq">https://t.co/x5GhXZpNuq</a> <a href="https://t.co/cLMiMA8Unv">pic.twitter.com/cLMiMA8Unv</a>
— Austen Fletcher (@fleccas) <a href="https://twitter.com/fleccas/status/1166002075651792896?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 26, 2019</a></blockquote>
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Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/50397/watch-trump-critics-presented-racist-comments-james-barrett">WATCH: Trump Critics Presented With ‘Racist’ Comments About Baltimore, Then Learn Who Actually Said Them</a>

Cory Booker

WATCH: Newark Residents Have Some Brutal Comments For Cory Booker, Dem Politicians

Democratic Party

Donald Trump

New Jersey Democrat are sounding the alarm about his state’s current water crisis in Newark.
Fox 5 NY <a href="http://www.fox5ny.com/news/concern-grows-that-lead-crisis-could-spread">reported</a> that Assemblyman Jamel Holley wrote a letter to NJ Gov. Phil Murphy regarding the situation in Newark.
“Newark, it’s suburbs, or the entire State of New Jersey cannot afford the public image that has befallen Flint, Michigan,” the letter said. “I am pleading and suggesting to you as the Governor of this great State that a State of Emergency be called.”
The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/50761/next-water-scandal-residents-newark-nj-have-lead-ashe-schow">previously reported</a> that water contaminated with lead has been found in Newark due to corrosion seeping in from water pipes, some of which are more than 100 years old. Tests conducted two years ago found that more than 10% of home in Newark had double the amount of lead allowed by federal law to be considered safe.
NJ.com <a href="https://www.nj.com/politics/2019/08/newark-water-crisis-prompts-new-calls-for-feds-to-test-residents-for-lead.html">reported</a> that New Jersey’s U.S. Sens. Cory Booker and Robert Menendez, along with U.S. Reps. Albio Sires and Donald Payne Jr., asked for assistance from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to help Newark residents by expanding its screenings for lead in residents’ blood.
“Those most susceptible to lead poisoning — pregnant women and children under 5 — may have been exposed to dangerous levels of lead through their drinking water,” the lawmakers wrote.
From NJ.com:
<blockquote>Some 14,000 homes in Newark began getting bottled water after two filters designed to eliminate lead in the water did not work.
The lawmakers asked USDA to use federal Women, Infants, and Children nutrition program funds to conduct tests at existing clinics and open another WIC clinic for testing.
They also asked the agency to distribute extra foods rich in calcium, iron, and Vitamin C, to households already receiving assistance. Such foods may reduce the absorption of lead.</blockquote>
Gov. Murphy was interviewed on MSNBC’s “The 11th Hour with Brian Williams” Thursday night about the situation in Newark. Murphy tried to present the problem of one not exclusive to Newark.
“[T]he bigger picture of lead service lines is not just a Newark problem, it’s not just a New Jersey problem, it’s an American problem. Newark for many, many years was on a testing regime with the federal government and there was no evidence of lead exceedance,” Murphy told Williams.
When Williams pressed Murphy on whether the situation was a “crisis,” Murphy would only call it a “challenge.”
“We have a big water infrastructure crisis and we need the federal government to step up in a big way. Our congressional delegation has been leading on this, but we need a national water infrastructure renaissance, and I hope that’s one good result that comes from this,” Murphy said.
Other than national assistance, Murphy provided no suggestions for how New Jersey might solve its own issue.
So far, the city has provided tens of thousands of water bottles to affected homes – about 15,000 per day.

City Of Newark Distributes Bottled Water After High Levels Of Lead Found In Tap Water

New Jersey Legislators Worry Newark Water Crisis Could Spread

Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-NJ) explained to his constituents earlier in the week that illegal immigrants are necessary members of New Jersey&#8217;s 7th Congressional District because they are willing to take on the jobs that the community&#8217;s teenagers will no longer do.
&#8220;We have to think about the jobs because the reason this happens is because there are a lot of jobs in our community that, like it or not, for better or worse, Americans are not willing to take,&#8221; Malinowski told the crowd while appearing at a town hall meeting.
&#8220;I mean, who do you think is taking care of our seniors? Fifty percent of the eldercare workers in the state of New Jersey are immigrants, most of them legal — most of them documented — but certainly some of them are not,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;Who do you think is mowing our beautiful lawns in Somerset County? We don&#8217;t usually ask but a lot of those workers are undocumented.&#8221;
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Malinowski contended that the illegal immigrants residing in the area are able to fill the gap as teenagers who historically have been working menial jobs are now focused more on a white collar education in the technology sector.
&#8220;There just aren&#8217;t a lot of kids who — sorry — are from Montgomery High [School], who are going to be doing that full time,&#8221; the Democratic lawmaker said. &#8220;You guys are going into robotics, for goodness sake.&#8221;
A younger member in the crowd announced to the freshman congressman that he currently works at Code Ninjas, an organization that teaches children to code by building their own video games.
&#8220;You work at Code Ninjas, exactly,&#8221; Malinowski replied.
&#8220;You&#8217;re a bunch of elitists,&#8221; he joked. &#8220;You&#8217;re not going to mow lawns.&#8221;
Malinowski&#8217;s controversial comments come as he prepares to seek a second term in the congressional swing district. The freshman congressman, who previously served as the Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor under former President Barack Obama, successfully flipped his red district blue during the 2018 midterm elections after he edged out longtime incumbent Rep. Leonard Lance (R-NJ).
Four of New Jersey&#8217;s twelve House districts were won by Democrats after decades of being reliably red, including Malinowski&#8217;s newly acquired seat.
New Jersey&#8217;s 7th Congressional District is the <a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/news/midterms-one-party-controls-wealthiest-184200649.html">f</a><a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/midterms-one-party-controls-wealthiest-184200649.html">ifth highest median household income</a> in the country, and while it has approximately 5,000 more registered Republicans than Democrats, President Donald Trump lost the district by 1 percent in the 2016 presidential election, according to <a href="https://www.politico.com/states/new-jersey/story/2019/08/10/malinowski-testing-what-it-means-to-be-a-swing-district-democrat-1134774">Politico</a>. Interestingly, The Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, where the president often vacations, is located in Malinowski&#8217;s central district.
Despite maintaining a relatively moderate voting record, the first-term congressman made waves after he joined the more progressive-wing of his party in calling for the House to proceed with impeachment hearings against the president. Not only was he the first New Jersey congressional member to do so, but he was also the first Democrat representing a swing district to support an impeachment inquiry.

Governor Phil Murphy Signs NJ Transit Reform Bill

WATCH: Dem Lawmaker Says Illegal Immigrants Are Needed To Mow ‘Our Beautiful Lawns’

Illegal Immigration

Newark, New Jersey, is facing a lead contamination problem similar to what Flint, Michigan, has faced since 2014.
For Newark, national media has not brought out the cavalry like it did in Flint, when Michigan had a Republican governor. Newark is a Democrat-controlled city in a Democrat-controlled state, and so the only attention the city will receive will likely be a single article from multiple media outlets.
CNN reported Saturday that Newark resident Shakima Thomas is worried about her 5-year-old son’s health. He must bathe in the contaminated water, and Thomas worried he might ingest some. Their kitchen faucet has a filter that reduces the amount of lead in their water, but they don’t have such a filter for showers and baths. Beyond that, Thomas said she was disappointed in local politicians who she believes aren’t doing enough to protect the community.
“They’re not advocating for the residents at all,” Thomas said. “Forget the adults. What about the children? Who’s looking out for them? He can’t go to the City Council and speak on his own behalf. He doesn’t even know he’s being poisoned.”
Time Magazine <a href="https://time.com/5653115/newark-water-crisis/">reported</a> Newark Officials have begun providing bottled water to more than 15,000 homes each day. They started handing out the water bottles on August 11. The outlet reported that a “federal judge is now determining whether or not the city has to expand the distribution of bottled water to more parts of the city.”
Time reported that the contamination problem is likely due to corrosion in water pipes. The Associated Press reported that some neighborhoods in Newark have pipes that are more than 100 years old. Tests conducted in June 2017 found that more than 10% of homes in Newark “had twice the amount of lead that is considered safe according to federal law,” according to Time.
In late June 2017, the Natural Resources Defense Council sent <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/media/2017/170921">a letter</a> to Newark officials about the problem, which read in part:
<blockquote>Newark’s lead levels are now among the highest recorded by a large water system in America in recent years. In its most recently reported monitoring period, Newark’s lead levels tripled as compared to previous measurements – rising to 27 parts per billion at the 90th percentile, meaning at least 10 percent of the addresses tested had 27 parts per billion or more of lead in their water. Those levels are approximately the same as the 90th percentile contamination measured by independent testing in Flint, Michigan in August and September, 2015, when Flint was not using any chemical treatment to reduce lead contamination in its water.</blockquote>
If the Newark water crisis becomes a larger story and cause for politicians — just as Flint did — it will likely be tied to former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s administration. The problem has been known about since at least 2017, and current Democrat Gov. Phil Murphy entered office in January 2018. There were likely failures at the local and state level, just as there were in Flint.
On Wednesday, Murphy toured a water distribution plant and said that it’s “a right, not a privilege, to have clean, safe water,” and that his administration was “committed to that.”

The Next Water Scandal: Residents In Newark, NJ, Have Lead In Their Water Supply

A judge in New Jersey would not permit a teenage boy who allegedly filmed himself raping a girl at a party to be tried in adult court because the judge said the boy came from a “good family” and would likely attend a top college.
<a href="v">The New York Times</a> reported of Judge James Troiano, “He also said the young man came from a good family, attended an excellent school, had terrific grades and was an Eagle scout. Prosecutors, the judge said, should have explained to the girl and her family that pressing charges would destroy the boy’s life.” Troiano added, “He is clearly a candidate for not just college but probably for a good college.”
But an appeals court overturned the ruling, slamming the judge for his bias. The appeals court’s decision <a href="https://law.justia.com/cases/new-jersey/appellate-division-unpublished/2019/a0223-18.html">recounted the incident</a>:
<blockquote>The charges arose from an encounter at a social event between G.M.C. and the victim, whom for the sake of anonymity, we will refer to as Mary. She too was sixteen. Along with approximately thirty adolescents, they attended a pajama-themed party where alcohol was consumed. Parts of the basement where the party took place were blocked off. After engaging in &#8220;heavy petting,&#8221; as described by the judge, G.M.C. and Mary walked into a closed off darkened area. G.M.C., who had no prior delinquency history, was drunk. Mary was also visibly drunk, her speech was slurred, and she stumbled as she walked.
While on the sofa, a group of boys sprayed Febreze on Mary&#8217;s bottom and slapped it with such force that the following day she had hand marks on her buttocks. Mary and G.M.C. had intercourse in the darkened room. G.M.C. filmed himself penetrating Mary from behind on his cell phone, displaying her bare torso, and her head hanging down. He forwarded the clip to several friends; only one said it showed Mary&#8217;s head hitting repeatedly against the wall. In the days following the incident, G.M.C. sent the following text to his friends: &#8220;[w]hen your first time having sex was rape.&#8221;</blockquote>
The appeals court wrote, “[G.M.C.&#8217;s] conduct as it relates to the charged offenses was both sophisticated and predatory.” They added, “Filming a cell phone video while committing the assault was a deliberate act of debasement. And, in the months that followed, he lied to [Mary] while simultaneously disseminating the video and unabashedly sharing the nature of his conduct therein. This was neither a childish misinterpretation of the situation, nor was it a misunderstanding. [G.M.C.&#8217;s] behavior was calculated and cruel.”
The appeals court criticized Troiano, writing, “Rather than focusing on whether the prosecutor&#8217;s consideration of the statutory factors supported the application, the judge decided the case for himself.” The court added,”That the juvenile came from a good family and had good test scores we assume would not condemn the juveniles who do not come from good families and do not have good test scores from withstanding waiver applications.”

Judge Rules Teen Accused of Rape Merits Leniency: He’s From A ‘Good Family’

Judge

Rape

It&#8217;s truly amazing how often we are forced to write and speak out against leftist anti-Semitism these days. This time, the underlying offense transpired at a public library in Highland Park, New Jersey &#8212; a town with a large Orthodox Jewish presence.
According to <a href="https://www.mycentraljersey.com/story/news/local/2019/05/20/p-palestine-storytime-highland-park-nj-shelved-now/3744018002/">MyCentralJersey.com</a>, Iranian-American author and former Rutgers professor Golbarg Bashi was scheduled to read her book &#8212; which attempts to teach the alphabet to youngsters by employing Palestinian-Arab concepts and culture &#8212; on May 19 at the Highland Park Public Library. The event was eventually postponed, pending a town board of trustees meeting in June.
Members of Highland Park&#8217;s Jewish community are campaigning to keep the book out of the library, <a href="https://worldisraelnews.com/p-is-for-palestine-childrens-book-has-new-jersey-town-up-in-arms/">according</a> to a local ABC station. &#8220;It&#8217;s a symbol, it says that it&#8217;s OK to have books that teach little children to hate,&#8221; said Rabbi Bernhard Rosenberg, rabbi emeritus of Congregation Beth-El in Edison, an adjacent town. &#8220;It&#8217;s being used to teach little children about how great the Palestinians are and we should murder the Jews, that&#8217;s the bottom line.&#8221;
Bashi claims that the book is just meant to teach about Palestinian-Arab culture, but the author has an unusual way of proving that her book does not dabble in casual anti-Semitism. In the alphabet learning book, Bashi&#8217;s choice for the letter I was &#8220;intifada,&#8221; the word used to reference multiple waves of Palestinian-Arab terror over the last three decades &#8212; most recently the Second Intifada, which resulted in the murder of over 1,000 Israeli Jews and the maiming of countless others.
Interestingly, Bashi simultaneously admits that, for her, the enemy is not Jewry but the fig leaf of &#8220;anti-Zionism.&#8221;
&#8220;American librarians have allowed a group to break the First Amendment &#8212; a violent group. Zionists based in that neighborhood,&#8221; Bashi brashly claims. &#8220;People who adhere to the ideology of Zionism. It is very important between Judaism and Zionism. These are two different things.&#8221;
But in reality, they are not two separate things. The &#8220;anti-Zionism&#8221; fig leaf of an excuse is just today&#8217;s thinly veiled version of Jew-hatred, updated in modern times so as to be conveniently blamed on the fact that Israel exists.
But Bashi espouses the wild, vile belief that Zionists are violent and intifadas are justified. Murdering thousands of Jews is somehow not about anti-Semitism. And anti-Semitism apparently didn&#8217;t exist before Israel came into being 71 years ago.
Predictably, much of the Left is defending Bashi &#8212; most notably Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), a leftist activist organization that also supports the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Movement (BDS) against Israel. Calling JVP an &#8220;anti-Zionist&#8221; group, Bashi said she was invited to read the book by the event&#8217;s organizers, the JVP chapter for central New Jersey.
However, this is hardly the first time a Jewish leftist group has played defense for an anti-Semite. As Jordan Schachtel <a href="https://www.conservativereview.com/news/soros-backed-jewish-group-plays-defense-tlaib-omar/">writes</a> at Conservative Review, &#8220;Bend the Arc,&#8221; a similar leftist organization that also supports BDS, defended anti-Semitic congresswoman Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) for her grossly distorted and misleading comments last week on how her Palestinian-Arab ancestors helped provide a &#8220;safe haven&#8221; for Jews after the Holocaust. In reality, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Mohammed Amin al-Husseini, collaborated with Hitler and backed the idea of also bringing his &#8220;Final Solution&#8221; to the Middle East.
It is astonishing how so many American Jews will continue to line up to defend the very people who despise them.
We, as Jews, must wake up. Leftist anti-Semitism and overt pro-Palestinian sympathizing have never been more blatant. The sooner Jews leave the Left, the better.

FRANKEL: New Jersey Public Library’s Reading Of ‘P Is For Palestine’ Is Further Proof Of Leftist Anti-Semitism

Israel

Leftism

Two South Jersey men were arrested Sunday after one filmed the other urinating on the memorial of a 9-year-old boy.
Police were alerted after someone sent them the video, which had been circulated on Snapchat. The Philadelphia Inquirer <a href="https://www.philly.com/news/new-jersey/christian-clopp-memorial-arrest-urinating-men-charged-20190520.html">reported</a> that Bryan Bellace, 23, was charged with &#8220;lewdness, disorderly conduct, criminal mischief, and having an open alcoholic beverage in a park.&#8221; Daniel Flippen, 23, was also charged with &#8220;having an open alcoholic beverage in the park.&#8221; Flippen is believed to be the person who shot the video.
The video shows the man believed to be Bellace urinating on the memorial while smiling at the camera.
The memorial was for 9-year-old Christian Clopp, who died in 2012 from brain cancer. His father, Mark, a former Hamilton Township police officer, posted on Facebook about the incident.
&#8220;So, my day started out horribly, after learning what happened to Christian&#8217;s memorial. After controlling my own emotions and assisting my family with same, I finally found a moment to put all of this into perspective,&#8221; his father wrote.
&#8220;Aside from the two morons facing criminal charges, I saw a community once again come together for a cause. I&#8217;ve heard from hundreds of people offering assistance. Friends and strangers went to wash the memorial off,&#8221; he added.
On Sunday, he gathered with friends and family to clean and disinfect the memorial.
&#8220;At the end of the day, the good outweighed and overwhelmed the bad,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;This is what Christian did during his life. He brought people together and he has accomplished that again. Perhaps the playground will be beautified, maybe expanded as a result. It doesn&#8217;t matter, as long as it is enjoyed by thousands of children in the future.&#8221;
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Following the incident, Clopp has now started a fundraiser to expand and beautify the public playground (which is not the one pictured above) where his son&#8217;s memorial was erected. The fundraiser is set to kick off at the playground on Thursday at 5:30 p.m.
In a follow-up Facebook post, Clopp said he had &#8220;been contacted by all of our major news agencies for an on-camera interview,&#8221; but that he had declined them all.
&#8220;I don&#8217;t think a 10 second clip of my feelings are going to change what happened in any way,&#8221; he wrote. &#8220;As a father and retired police officer, I think this incident can be turned into a positive by becoming a learning experience for all.&#8221;
Clopp also had a message for the men who defaced the memorial:
<blockquote>
I don&#8217;t know either one of you. I have no idea what exists in your life to make you so indifferent to how others feel but I hope this serves as a wake up call and you get the help you need. I admit, my initial reaction was to find you and beat you senseless in defense of my son&#8217;s honor and the distress you caused my family. I am better than that. I hope it doesn&#8217;t take the heartache my family has lived through to open your eyes. Something is wrong in your life and you need to fix it. You have done serious damage to your reputation; only you can fix it. How you respond to this dictates the direction your life will take.
</blockquote>
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The memorial for Clopps son reads: &#8220;A child who made the world a better place through his courage, faith, smile, laughter and love of others. May your memory and inspiration live on forever.&#8221;

New Jersey Men Arrested After One Urinates On Memorial Of 9-Year-Old Boy

Children

Republican infighting in the Elmwood Park, New Jersey, mayoral race has led to one candidate suggesting his opponent wouldn&#8217;t be as available for the town due to her status as a single mother of two who has a full-time job.
Bob Colletti sent a flyer to Elmwood residents that included a section highlighting his availability for council duties as a &#8220;semi-retired businessman available day and evenings to handle Boro business.&#8221; This was contrasted with a point about fellow primary candidate Magdalena Giadomenico, which described her as a &#8220;single-working mother of children ages 2 &amp; 5. Her full-time job restricts her from dealing with Boro business during the day.&#8221;
Giadomenico responded to the flyer by <a href="https://www.insidernj.com/elmwood-park-gop-mayoral-candidate-fires-back-outdated-thinking-flyer-suggesting-working-mother-cant-perform-mayoral-duties/">telling Insider NJ</a> through her campaign page on Facebook, calling the flyer&#8217;s inference &#8220;outdated thinking.&#8221;
&#8220;The inference that Maggie can&#8217;t effectively serve as Mayor because she is a mother of two daughters is offensive and shows the outdated thinking of Bob Colletti and the people who write his campaign material,&#8221; Giadomenico and her husband, Marco, wrote on Facebook.
&#8220;Bob had no right bringing our children into this campaign. Being the first woman to seek the office of Mayor in Elmwood Park was always going to be a challenge, but never did we expect that our children would be used as a campaign issue,&#8221; they added. &#8220;We are confident that Mr. Colletti would not want his children brought into any type of political dialogue.&#8221;
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Colletti responded with his own statement, issued through the Elmwood Park NJ GOP Facebook page:
<blockquote>
&#8220;On behalf of myself, my running mates, and the entire Elmwood Park Republican Campaign Committee, I want to clarify a misinterpretation of a point made in our recent campaign piece. The literature is written objectively and is a fair overview of six candidates.&#8221;
</blockquote>
He went on to explain that the comparison &#8220;was MEANT STRICTLY to compare the time each of the candidates has to devote to Borough business during day/work hours if they are elected to serve as mayor.&#8221; (Emphasis original.)
&#8220;IN NO WAY was it intended to imply that Maggie&#8212;or any working mother&#8212;is unable to fulfill the duties of whatever job she decides to do. Mention of her children and their ages was information she included in her own campaign literature,&#8221; he added (emphasis original). &#8220;We extend a sincere apology to those who were offended by the statements quoted and assure you again that that was not our intention.&#8221;
Colletti went on to say that, if elected, he would be serving &#8220;alongside four women officials &#8211; a majority &#8211; and the most women ever to serve on our council in borough history.&#8221;
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There is, of course, an argument to be made about who will best serve their community, but mayors have had full-time jobs for generations and still managed to do their duties.

New Jersey Mayoral Candidate Suggests Opponent Doesn’t Have Time For Town As A Single Mother Working Full-Time

It must be nice to take a vacation in Aruba, see how the people there live, and then return to the U.S. and force Americans to live the same way.
Well, that is exactly what a New Jersey State senator is trying to do. State Sen. Bob Smith (D-Middlesex) sponsored a bill that would ban plastic and paper bags from grocery stores.
&#8220;No bags whatsoever,&#8221; Smith said, <a href="https://www.nj.com/news/2019/05/new-jersey-may-ban-all-bags-at-supermarkets-no-paper-or-plastic.html">according to NJ.com</a>. &#8220;No single-use plastic, no paper.&#8221;
He told the outlet he was inspired to push the bill during a vacation with his wife in Aruba. 
&#8220;Nobody&#8217;s grumbling,&#8221; he said of the people in Aruba who brought their own bags to the grocery store. &#8220;Everybody in the line, they all do it.&#8221;
Aruba has had a plastic bag ban since 2008, so they&#8217;re definitely used to it. The island also charges for paper bags, but hasn&#8217;t outright banned them.
Americans could also get used to it, but something missing from all the talk about reusable bags is the health concerns they create.
Reusable bags could be great, but people don&#8217;t treat them properly. USA Today <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/01/06/reusable-grocery-bag-germs/4341739/">reported</a> that a 2011 study from the University of Arizona and Loma Linda University &#8220;found only 3% of shoppers with multi-use bags said they regularly washed them.&#8221; The study also &#8220;found bacteria in 99% of bags tested; half carried coliform bacteria while 8% carried E. coli, an indicator of fecal contamination.&#8221;
Gross.
Do you regularly wash your reusable bags? They don&#8217;t magically stay clean. If you don&#8217;t, you&#8217;re bringing this bacteria into the grocery stores, possibly contaminating food for the rest of us. Thanks, environmental good-doers.
Smith&#8217;s bill in New Jersey passed out of the Senate Environment and Energy Committee, which the Middlesex senator leads, and now sits before the Senate Budget Committee. This is the committee that would have to amend the bill to include the paper-bag ban, NJ.com reported.
Democrats control the New Jersey legislature, so the bill is likely to pass.
One of the authors of the 2011 study also finished another study in 2013, which tracked bacteria that was harmless to humans from reusable bags. That study found the bacteria in &#8220;high concentrations on shopping carts, at the checkout counter and on food items shoppers had touched but kept on the shelf.&#8221;
Though the bacteria was harmless, its growth was due to the similar way in which it and the norovirus spread.
The author of the study told USA Today that people should treat reusable bags &#8220;like the dirtiest laundry and washed in hot water with a detergent and disinfectant.&#8221;
Linda Doherty, the president of the New Jersey Food Council, told NJ.com that the ban makes sense because people are already choosing to use reusable bags.
&#8220;As more customers shift their shopping habits and bring reusable bags, we think it&#8217;s a sensible solution to phase out and ban both plastic and paper single use bags,&#8221; she said. &#8220;As customers choose to reuse, we support this uniform progressive policy at the checkout. We are prepared to work with the Legislature and the Murphy administration on a statewide standard.&#8221;
If more and more customers are already choosing this option, why institute a ban at all? Isn&#8217;t the issue solving itself? Why does government have to get involved?

New Jersey State Senator Wants To Ban Plastic AND Paper Bags After Vacation In Aruba

Environmentalism

We&#8217;re still grappling with whether or not we should remove confederate monuments, but New Jersey is taking the battle over an ugly part of American history to the next level.
Gov. Phil Murphy (D-NJ) ordered the Mississippi flag to be removed at Liberty State Park and replaced with the American flag, citing the Magnolia State flag&#8217;s confederate emblem.
&#8220;New Jersey&#8217;s strength is rooted in our diverse communities,&#8221; Murphy said in <a href="https://www.nj.gov/governor/news/news/562019/approved/20190426c.shtml">a press release</a> regarding the order. &#8220;The Confederate symbol displayed on the Mississippi state flag is reprehensible and does not reflect our values of inclusivity and equality. I applaud Senator Cunningham for bringing this issue in her district to my attention.&#8221;
Murphy referred to state Sen. Sandra Cunningham, who had asked him to remove the flag due to the emblem.
&#8220;The Confederate flag symbolizes an era of hate, violence, and division,&#8221; Cunningham said. &#8220;I thank Governor Murphy for his commitment to tolerance and equality and for the decision to remove this hateful symbol from Liberty State Park. Hate has no home in New Jersey.&#8221;
Liberty State Park in Jersey City features Freedom Way, which includes poles adorned with every state&#8217;s flag.
As Buzzfeed reported, the governor of Mississippi was not happy with New Jersey&#8217;s action.
&#8220;As I have repeatedly said, the voters of Mississippi should decide what the state flag is or is not,&#8221; said Gov. Phil Bryant (R-MS).
Buzzfeed also reported that the Mississippi flag is the only one in the country that still contains the Confederate battle emblem, as Georgia replaced its flag in 2004 to remove the emblem. Mississippi voted in 2001 &#8212; long before the outrage over centuries-old statutes &#8212; to keep its flag the way it was.
This is not to say that everyone in Mississippi currently feels that way or still feels that way. Legislators in the state have tried and are trying to change the flag. State Sen. Kenneth Wayne Jones, a Democrat, told Buzzfeed that &#8220;the time is now to change our flag.&#8221;
&#8220;The [Confederate] flag has always had such an ugly past and an ugly history. None of this is new. It&#8217;s just the mindset of the people in the South that&#8217;s changing,&#8221; Jones said.
While Buzzfeed noted that the flag has defenders, it failed to quote any of them or provide their actual arguments for keeping part of the state&#8217;s (ugly) history on its flag.
No matter, as what Mississippi wants doesn&#8217;t matter in New Jersey. Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver disputed arguments about keeping history in a tweet praising Murphy&#8217;s decision to remove the flag from the state park.
&#8220;We know what the Confederate symbol represents and it has no place in New Jersey. There is a difference between acknowledging history versus glorifying it,&#8221; Oliver tweeted.
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
We know what the Confederate symbol represents and it has no place in New Jersey. There is a difference between acknowledging history versus glorifying it. Thank you <a href="https://twitter.com/GovMurphy?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@GovMurphy</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/SandraBCunningh?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SandraBCunningh</a> for taking a stand on this today. <a href="https://t.co/ad5YhG5zWh">https://t.co/ad5YhG5zWh</a>
&#8212; Lt. Governor Sheila Oliver (@LtGovOliver) <a href="https://twitter.com/LtGovOliver/status/1121867331569897472?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 26, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
In 2015, South Carolina removed the Confederate flag that was flying at its state house after a white supremacist murdered nine African-Americans at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina. Since then, it has been replaced and removed several times.

The Next Battle: New Jersey Removes Mississippi State Flag From Park Due To Confederate Emblem

Mississippi

On Friday, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency criticized New Jersey for only offering &#8220;limited cooperation&#8221; after a twice-deported illegal immigrant was charged with kidnapping, raping, and murdering a woman.
On March 24, the body of a 45-year-old nanny was discovered in a lake in Lincoln Park in Jersey City. Carolina Cano is believed to have been jogging in the park when she went missing. The cause of death was cited by the Regional Medical Examiner&#8217;s Office as strangulation and water submersion, according to the<a href="http://www.apple.com"> Washington Examiner</a>.
The suspect, 33-year-old Jorge Alberto Rios-Doblado, entered the U.S. illegally and was deported in 2003 and 2004 to his home country of Honduras, <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/04/05/ice-blast-new-jersey-after-deported-man-charged-murder-rape/3376840002/">USA Today</a> reported. It is unknown when he returned to the U.S.
Rios-Doblado was charged with murdering, kidnapping, and raping Cano. He was seen on a surveillance video around the time Cano was murdered and near where her body was discovered, according to <a href="https://www.nj.com/hudson/2019/04/illegal-immigrant-charged-with-raping-strangling-woman-in-jersey-city-already-deported-twice.html">NJ.com</a>. Cano and Rios-Doblado were reportedly strangers.
Cano was an immigrant from Peru who has worked in the U.S. for two years. 
According to Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez, Rios-Doblado has no previous criminal record.
NJ.com reports that if Rios-Doblado is convicted, he will serve his prison term in the United States before possibly being deported for the third time. He could face 30 years to life for murder if convicted. 
ICE is now criticizing New Jersey for a directive issued by Attorney General Gurbir Grewal in November which prevents the state and local police departments from &#8220;assisting federal immigration on authorities with &#8216;civil immigration law,&#8217; with some exceptions,&#8221; reported USA Today.
&#8220;ICE maintains that cooperation by local law enforcement is an indispensable component of promoting public safety,&#8221; the Newark ICE office said in a statement. &#8220;ICE will seek taking custody of Rios-Doblado at the conclusion of his criminal proceedings, despite limited cooperation in the state.&#8221; 
On Wednesday, Grewal claimed the policy was inspired by &#8220;overly zealous enforcement of immigration laws&#8221; which may discourage people from reporting crimes to the police.
&#8220;Our job as state law enforcement officers is to enforce the criminal laws of this state and that&#8217;s all we told our law enforcement officers through that directive,&#8221; Grewal said to state lawmakers about the policy. &#8220;We don&#8217;t enforce civil immigration deportation orders.&#8221;
In an opinion piece on <a href="https://nj1015.com/twice-deported-accused-killer-drawn-to-nj/">NJ1015</a>, radio host Dennis Malloy said that New Jersey&#8217;s policies are why Rios-Doblado was drawn to the state.
&#8220;Perhaps he was drawn to New Jersey due to the rhetoric of the governor and top state officials pledging not to cooperate with ICE in handing over illegal aliens in state custody,&#8221; Malloy wrote. &#8220;Maybe he just thought it was a nice place to live. There are possibly hundreds, maybe thousands like Rios, who&#8217;ve been deported and have criminal records, that feel New Jersey is a safe place to hide in plain sight.&#8221;
&#8220;What happened to Ms. Cano was horrific, despicable and totally preventable,&#8221; Malloy added. &#8220;One of the few and more important responsibilities of our elected officials both state and federal is to maintain the safety of its citizens.&#8221;

ICE Slams NJ For ‘Limited Cooperation’ After Twice Deported Illegal Immigrant Charged With Raping And Murdering Stranger

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

The white-washed churches of New England have captured the imagination of painters and photographers everywhere. Contrasted against the reds and yellows of fall foliage and the azure ocean often beckoning within eyesight of their steeples and bells, it is easy to understand why.
Many of these same historic houses of worship are now ineligible for public funding. Despite being listed as historic places, worthy of preservation for future generations, local agitators would often rather prefer that they be left to decay than to allow public funding to replace the shingles or protect them with a new coat of paint.
Earlier this week, the Supreme Court of the United States <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/orders/courtorders/030419zor_d1pf.pdf">declined</a> an opportunity to review one of these legal cases.
In one of the cases appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States, the Morris County freeholders board in New Jersey funded something called the &#8220;Historic Preservation Trust Fund.&#8221; The program allowed local organizations to apply for a grant to repair things like shingles, paint, or mechanical work, but not hymn books, altar pieces, or Sunday school lessons. Importantly, Morris County, New Jersey funds only 80% of the work for historic churches, synagogues, mosques, and temples &#8212; therefore requiring the private organizations to raise the additional 20%.
But the <a href="https://www.njcourts.gov/attorneys/assets/opinions/supreme/a_71_16.pdf?cacheID=ogryRMT">New Jersey Supreme Court</a> determined that houses of worship are ineligible for funding because they are religious in nature. Such religious discrimination, to quote Justice Brett Kavanaugh, writing for Justices Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch, in a special statement respecting the denial of Supreme Court review, &#8220;is in serious tension with [the U.S. Supreme Court&#8217;s] religious equality precedents.&#8221;
A perplexed, and unequivocal, Justice Kavanaugh continued, &#8220;Barring religious organizations because they are religious from a general historic preservation grants program is pure discrimination against religion.&#8221; Indeed, it is difficult to conceive of more unvarnished religious discrimination.
Despite this, four justices of the Supreme Court were unwilling to grant review of the case, waiting instead for further factual development in the case and, more generally, further development of the relevant law in the lower federal courts.
That is regrettable. The government deciding that religious organizations are ineligible to participate equally in the public square merely because they are religious is precisely the type of religious discrimination the Founders sought to prevent. Justice Kavanaugh is absolutely right in declaring this to be &#8220;pure discrimination against religion.&#8221; No state official should discriminate against people of faith, or the religious organizations they operate, based merely on their religious status.
One wonders why the 2017 decision by the Supreme Court in <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/2016/15-577">Trinity Lutheran v. Comer</a> did not settle the issue. There, Missouri state officials declared churches to be ineligible for the funding of playground mulch. Chief Justice John Roberts declared at the time that excluding churches &#8220;from a public benefit for which it is otherwise qualified, solely because it is a church, is odious to our Constitution.&#8221;
The distinction between Missouri&#8217;s program in Trinity Lutheran and New Jersey&#8217;s is a matter of degree, not kind. Whereas Missouri denied a church&#8217;s participation in a public benefit over playground surface material, New Jersey funded historic preservation of aging houses of worship. But, the point remains: No state program should discriminate against people of faith, or the religious organizations they operate, based merely on their religious status.
Justice Kavanaugh noted in his statement that the Court needs more information about the other buildings Morris County&#8217;s program funds. Assuming it funds secular buildings in the same way it funds religious buildings, this case could return to the Supreme Court soon.
More than that, Justice Kavanaugh noted that the Court may be inclined to hear such a case in the future, once the lower courts have had a chance to develop a &#8220;robust&#8221; body of law on the topic.
In other words, religious organizations need to present more of these challenges &#8212; a challenge in which we at <a href="http://firstliberty.org/">First Liberty Institute</a> are only too ready to assist.

Jeremy Dys is Deputy General Counsel for First Liberty Institute, a non-profit law firm dedicated to defending religious freedom for all Americans. Read more at <a href="https://firstliberty.org">FirstLiberty.org</a>.

DYS: Paint, Primer, And Religious Discrimination

First Amendment

Religion

Supreme Court

Earlier this week, an 81-year-old man was assaulted at a grocery store in New Jersey for wearing a &#8220;Make America Great Again&#8221; hat.
Even though the story was yet another example of President Donald Trump supporters getting attacked for supporting the president, it didn&#8217;t get national attention. To be fair, it had to compete with <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/43974/woman-arrested-assaulting-man-wearing-maga-hat-hank-berrien">three other</a> stories of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/43903/update-police-id-suspect-who-punched-conservative-james-barrett">people being attacked</a> for <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/44016/watch-oklahoma-high-school-student-encounters-boy-hank-berrien">supporting Trump</a> just this week alone.
The elderly victim in this case was leaving a ShopRite grocery store in Franklin Township when a 19-year-old, identified as Ryan M. Salvagno, lashed out over the MAGA hat, prosecutors told NJ.com. The two went back and forth over the hat, briefly, before the victim turned to leave.
&#8220;As the victim turned to walk away, defendant Salvagno was able to grab the victim&#8217;s hat and the two struggled for sole possession of the hat,&#8221; Prosecutor Michael H. Robertson said in a statement to NJ.com. &#8220;Salvagno then took the victim by the arm and threw him to the ground, tipping over the victim&#8217;s cart of groceries and ultimately throwing the hat to the side.&#8221;
Salvagno was charged with disorderly persons offenses of assault and harassment, NJ.com reported.
The elderly victim received minor injuries but declined medical treatment.
NJ.com&#8217;s reporting of the assault has been factual and accurate, but their headlines have oddly downplayed the assault. They likely were not written by the author, since they differ from the reporting in the article.
The original article reporting the assault did include the phrase &#8220;physically assaulted,&#8221; but referred to the incident as a &#8220;<a href="https://www.nj.com/somerset/2019/02/81-year-old-trump-supporter-was-physically-assaulted-in-dust-up-over-his-maga-hat-cops-say.html">dust-up over his MAGA hat</a>.&#8221; Hard to say a physical assault resulted from a &#8220;dust-up,&#8221; but here we are.
In the follow-up article announcing Salvagno&#8217;s arrest, NJ.com went a step further. The words &#8220;physical assault&#8221; no longer appear in the headline, and the incident is now referred to as a &#8220;tug-of-war over MAGA hat that left 81-year-old injured, grocery cart toppled.&#8221;
Really? &#8220;<a href="https://www.nj.com/somerset/2019/02/teen-charged-in-tug-of-war-over-maga-hat-left-81-year-old-injured-grocery-cart-toppled.html">Tug-of-war</a>,&#8221; is what we&#8217;re calling it now? There&#8217;s no way this language would be used if a right-leaning person attacked a left-leaning person.
This NJ.com article was written the same day The Washington Post <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/44025/washington-post-makes-sure-note-only-conservatives-ashe-schow">wrote about an assault</a> on a right-leaning campus activist from the angle that conservatives were &#8220;enraged&#8221; about the response, making sure we all know only the Right cares that Leftists are physically assaulting right-leaning people. The Jussie Smollett hate crime hoax was the story of the month until it was shown to be a hoax, but actual crimes against conservatives are completely acceptable to the Left.

Here’s How A New Jersey Media Outlet Described The Assault Of An 81-Year-Old Man Over A MAGA Hat

Media Bias

Lawmakers in New Jersey have revived legislation intended to keep President Donald Trump&#8217;s name off the ballot in 2020. Democrats have targeted Trump with a <a href="https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/bills/BillView.asp?BillNumber=S119">proposal</a> that &#8220;requires candidates for President and Vice-President of United States to disclose federal income tax returns to appear on ballot&#8221; and &#8220;prohibits Electoral College electors from voting for candidates who fail to file income tax returns.&#8221;
As he has yet to disclose his tax returns, President Trump&#8217;s name, if all things were to stay the same, would not appear on the ballot in the Garden State come 2020 if the bill were to pass.
As a candidate and serving as president, Trump has refused to disclose his tax returns. In modern tradition, disclosing one&#8217;s tax returns is the normal course of procedure, albeit not required. Responding to requests for the disclosure from Democrats and critics on the Right, Trump has said that he was advised by lawyers not to disclose his returns because he is under audit by the IRS.
&#8220;I think there&#8217;s something there,&#8221; <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyphillipserb/2016/02/26/trump-wont-release-tax-returns-citing-irs-audit-is-it-a-legitimate-excuse/#68ebd6b6736c">criticized</a> former Republican governor Mitt Romney during the 2016 presidential election. &#8220;Either he&#8217;s not anywhere near as wealthy as he says he is or he hasn&#8217;t been paying the kind of taxes we would expect him to pay, or perhaps he hasn&#8217;t been giving money to the vets or to the disabled like he&#8217;s been telling us he&#8217;s doing.&#8221;
As evidenced by the 2016 presidential election results, the American people feel Trump&#8217;s reasoning is sufficient, or, frankly, are entirely uninterested with his tax returns.
Such legislation was proposed in 2017 when Trump ally and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie was in office, though it was vetoed by the then-governor. According to <a href="https://www.nj.com/politics/2019/01/nj-democrats-threaten-to-toss-trump-from-the-2020-ballot-if-he-doesnt-release-his-tax-returns.html">Christie</a>, the bill was a &#8220;transparent political stunt masquerading as a bill.&#8221; <a href="https://www.nj.com/politics/2019/01/nj-democrats-threaten-to-toss-trump-from-the-2020-ballot-if-he-doesnt-release-his-tax-returns.html">According</a> to NJ.com, Christie recommended the state&#8217;s Open Public Record Act be expanded instead. Democrats rejected the idea.
With Democrats&#8217; control of the Legislature and Democrat Phil Murphy serving as governor of the state, the legislation has a better chance of passing.
The calls for the returns have only escalated with Democrats&#8217; control of the House. As recently as November, Trump told reporters that he would block Democrats&#8217; requests if he were still under audit, though he would consider a disclosure once the audit is complete.
&#8220;They&#8217;re under audit. They have been for a long time,&#8221; the president <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/415526-trump-says-he-will-refuse-to-release-tax-returns-as-long-as-they-are">told</a> the media, adding, &#8220;If I were finished with the audit, I would have an open mind to it. When that happens, if that happens, I would certainly have an open mind to it.&#8221;
As <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/415526-trump-says-he-will-refuse-to-release-tax-returns-as-long-as-they-are">noted</a> by The Hill, &#8220;the chairmen of congressional tax committees can request tax returns from the Treasury Department and review them in a closed session before voting to make all or parts of the returns public.&#8221; If Trump were to ignore the request, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin would have to answer.
&#8220;Mnuchin told The New York Times earlier this month that he would work with the department&#8217;s general counsel and the general counsel for the IRS to address any requests should Democrats win the House,&#8221; noted the outlet. &#8220;If the Trump administration refuses to provide Democrats with the tax returns, or stalls in providing them, the matter could end up in court.&#8221;
The New Jersey bill is sponsored by Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-Bergen), Sen. Shirley Turner (D-Hunterdon and Mercer), Sen. Linda R. Greenstein, (D-Mercer and Middlesex), and Sen. Troy Singleton (D-Burlington).

NJ Dems Propose Legislation To Potentially REMOVE Trump’s Name From 2020 Ballot

Taxes

A five-day operation conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in New Jersey has taken into custody 105 foreign nationals who were in the U.S. illegally. Approximately 80% of those arrested &#8220;had prior criminal convictions and/or pending criminal charges,&#8221; <a href="https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/ice-arrests-105-new-jersey-operation-targeting-criminal-aliens-and-public-safety">according to a statement from ICE</a>. ICE did not make clear how the other 20% were included in this operation.
None of the suspects were named, but descriptions of some of them and their crimes were included in the statement. Individuals arrested came from 24 countries around the world, including Canada, Egypt, Guatemala, Korea, Mexico, Poland, and Russia. They were found across the state of New Jersey, and two were arrested in New York. Their ages ranged from 18 to 65 and their crimes varied from fraud to drugs to child abuse to theft.
Four of the individuals arrested had Interpol warrants out for their arrest for crimes they had committed in their home countries. A 59-year-old Korean national was wanted &#8220;for the crime of indecent acts by compulsion causing bodily injury,&#8221; according to the ICE statement. A 44-year-old Korean national was wanted for distributing psychotropic drugs, a 34-year-old Ecuadorian national was wanted for fraud, and a 54-year-old Russian national was wanted for large-scale fraud.
The operation was overseen by ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations and supported by the department&#8217;s Homeland Security Investigations, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection&#8217;s New Jersey Field Office.
&#8220;These outstanding results, which were made possible by our officers and law enforcement partners, highlight the tremendous commitment that ICE ERO has to public safety throughout the state,&#8221; John Tsoukaris, Field Office Director of ERO Newark, said in the press release. &#8220;Our focus has been and will continue to be on arrests of illegal aliens who have been convicted of serious crimes or those who pose a threat to public safety.&#8221;
Several others were arrested for crimes against children, including a 35-year-old Ecuadorian national convicted of forcibly touching a child, a 52-year-old Mexican national had been convicted of &#8220;promoting prostitution with a child,&#8221; a 34-year-old Honduran national convicted of endangering the welfare of a child, and a 43-year-old Canadian national convicted of selling drugs on school grounds.
Several members of violent gangs were arrested during the operation as well, including at least one member of MS-13. At least one member of the 18th street gang, a rival to MS-13 known as &#8220;Barrio 18&#8221; in Central America, and a member of the Surenos-13th street gang were arrested.
The week before this bust, New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/38883/new-jersey-issues-directive-limiting-police-hank-berrien">issued a directive</a> to all state law enforcement agencies limiting what they could provide to ICE. The federal agency, however, said the bust had nothing to do with that directive.
&#8220;This operation was pre-planned and not as a result of the New Jersey Attorney General&#8217;s Directive last week limiting local and state law enforcement cooperation with ICE. ICE will of necessity have to conduct additional enforcement operations, if local police departments and county jails do not refer criminals and gang members they encounter to ICE for review and possible arrest on immigration violations,&#8221; the statement said.

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