From the Record:
No permit required: That roofing and siding job just got cheaper in New Jersey
Rules that took effect on Monday should have contractors in New Jersey raising the roof, since it’s no longer necessary to purchase a construction permit for roofing or siding jobs on one- and two-family dwellings.
Just in time for spring, the state Department of Community Affairs has reclassified those big-ticket repairs as minor work and ordinary maintenance, and now includes them on its list of home improvement jobs that no longer are subject to inspection.
The change will save contractors the time it takes to go to Borough Hall and apply for the permit. It should save homeowners the cost, which, depending on the size of the siding or roof job, would could be between $200 and $500.
“I believe this is a good thing,” said Jane Eliya, who operates Xpress Construction in Ridgewood. “This way we can concentrate on doing our jobs, instead of having to go to town hall to buy a permit. It’s not so much the cost of the permits, because we bill the homeowner, but the time. And then you have to wait for an inspection.”
Other tasks that no longer require a permit are installing alarm systems, outdoor irrigation, chimney lining, indoor Sheetrock and drywall and the replacement of indoor plumbing fixtures.
…
While potential loss to municipalities does not appear to be huge, many towns opposed the move at a public hearing that the Community Affairs Department held last November. Opponents argued that eliminating inspections removes a layer of consumer protection.
…
The changes seemed to catch many towns by surprise. The DCA informed municipalities only last week that the new rules were about to take effect.
Good Morning New Jersey
Who in gods name ever took out a permit to change a faucet?
I wonder what creative be ways the towns will come up with to collect new sources of revenue to replace the income stream from those no longer needed permits.
I think for the most part, other than roofing and siding, the others were a wash anyway.
Alarm systems? Smart home style alarm systems are all the rage, they use cameras instead of sensors, no installation necessary.
Indoor plumbing and drywall? Nobody ever took permits for these anyway.
Chimney lining – this is a pretty rare stand-alone permit. You’d be doing this to install a high efficiency boiler, or to retrofit a gas fireplace inside a masonry fireplace. In either case you still need other permits. Maybe as a repair for an old fireplace liner? Hell, most people just don’t bother to use them anymore anyway.
Irrigation? Timing is good because I’m DIY’ing a sprinkler install this spring. This one is surprising because back flow prevention is a big deal.
I’ve been changing them since about age 10 without one.
Teflon tape or teflon paste? I changed out a delta faucet about 20 years ago and along with the faucet I sought to buy some Teflon tape. The guy at the NH Home Depot where I was shopping told me, don’t use Teflon tape, use Teflon paste. He took me to it and it worked just great, just spread the white paste on the threads instead of wrapping the threads with Teflon tape. Flash forward to about 10 years ago and I was changing a shower faucet stem. This time at a MA Home Depot I asked an orange apron where I could find Teflon paste. He told me he never heard of it. I explained to him what it was and he pointed me to a guy in the paint department. He said, “If it exists in this store, this guy will know about it.” The second guy also told me there was no such thing. I searched around and eventually found it on my own and showed both guys.
Who in gods name ever took out a permit to change a faucet?
Withstands up to 10,000 psi. I’d say that would work for most applications.
https://www.amazon.com/Harvey-023045-Pint-Paste-Teflon/dp/B00004SWKE
LOL. #Not Her
Barbra Streisand said she’s never suffered sexual harassment but has felt abused by the media.
During a tribute to Streisand’s decades of TV music specials and other programs, producer and long-time admirer Ryan Murphy queried her about her career, the #MeToo movement and her aversion to interviews.
‘Never,’ she replied when asked if she had been sexually mistreated. ‘I wasn’t like those pretty girls with those nice little noses. Maybe that’s why.’
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-5513625/Barbra-Streisand-75-says-never-sexually-harassed.html
Newsflash: Putin wins in landslide.
John Owen Brennan (born September 22, 1955)[2][3] was the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from March 2013 to January 2017.
Brennan began his CIA career as an analyst and spent 25 years with the agency.[2][6][18] He was a daily intelligence briefer for President Bill Clinton.[6] In 1996, he was CIA station chief in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia when the Khobar Towers bombing killed 19 U.S. servicemen.[6] In 1999, he was appointed chief of staff to George Tenet, then-Director of the CIA.[4][6] Brennan became deputy executive director of the CIA in March 2001.[4] He was director of the newly created Terrorist Threat Integration Center from 2003 to 2004, an office that sifted through and compiled information for President Bush’s daily top secret intelligence briefings and employed the services of analysts from a dozen U.S. agencies and entities.[19]
chifi – I have a nice position in MSCC, 22% profit in less than 60 days. Doesn’t the current price, ($68.78 buyout vs. $66 cash price) $2.5+ dollars below the buyout price seem like an out-sized arbitrage opp for a cash deal likely to close soon?
@JohnBrennan
When the full extent of your venality, moral turpitude, and political corruption becomes known, you will take your rightful place as a disgraced demagogue in the dustbin of history.
You may scapegoat Andy McCabe, but you will not destroy America…America will triumph over you.
Teflon paste in combination with tape is a great way to fix a very badly galled/damaged thread. Paste first, cover with tape, perfect combination. You only get one shot to thread it in, or you need to take it off, clean, try again. Also, never, ever, ever back out a threaded fitting with tape or paste. See people do it all the time. Second guess themselves, maybe too tight? Let me back it out just a little bit. Disaster waiting to happen.
8:26 John Brennan has his own, uh, shall we say, lack of candor problems.
https://www.realclearinvestigations.com/articles/2018/02/11/former_cia_director_john_brennan_investigated_for_perjury.html
From Wikipedia: ….”In 1976, he [John Brennan] voted for Communist Party USAcandidate Gus Hall in the presidential election; he later said that he viewed it as a way “of signaling my unhappiness with the system, and the need for change.”[17]”
It’s no wonder really that the intelligence agencies keep getting caught with their pants down.
Good ol’ communist scare tactic. 40 years ago, this guy voted for change, he’s the devil!
dentssdunnigan says:
March 19, 2018 at 9:53 am
From Wikipedia: ….”In 1976, he [John Brennan] voted for Communist Party USAcandidate Gus Hall in the presidential election; he later said that he viewed it as a way “of signaling my unhappiness with the system, and the need for change.”[17]”
No one sees anything wrong with the President trying to smear the name of the FBI? The question you should be asking, why is he doing this? Why is Trump resorting to a public smear campaign of the FBI? Why not keep the fight behind closed doors?
“@JohnBrennan….You may scapegoat Andy McCabe, but you will not destroy America…America will triumph over you.”
Classic blue wall of silence. People like that are POS. Ask Joyce.
Twice McCabe was referred for lack of candor by internal committees, superiors. For all those making moral equivalence to tweets, lack of candor in an LEO is a major offense.
Their representations alone are used by the judiciary to arrest and incarcerate. It is a major breach by an LEO, which is why the CIA’s own recommended he be terminated.
Wow. Trump really pushed some buttons. He is starting trouble with the wrong people. His downfall is coming ever closer. Just hope it doesn’t take the economy down with it.
Very Stable Genius says:
March 19, 2018 at 8:27 am
@JohnBrennan
When the full extent of your venality, moral turpitude, and political corruption becomes known, you will take your rightful place as a disgraced demagogue in the dustbin of history.
You may scapegoat Andy McCabe, but you will not destroy America…America will triumph over you.
Get informed idiot. Indictments are forthcoming for bamas political hacks who buried hillary’s Crimes and tried framing up trump.
Clearly over a period of time political hacks were promoted over effective leadership and it got us to where we are now. No accountability and misplaced priorities.
Surprised on the roofing reclassification. It’s a big ticket item that can be easily fcuked up with the poor results not showing up immediately. Would have thought they would want to keep some type of inspection there.
No one sees anything wrong with the President trying to smear the name of the FBI? The question you should be asking, why is he doing this? Why is Trump resorting to a public smear campaign of the FBI? Why not keep the fight behind closed doors?
Are you arguing for less transparency?
“Get informed idiot. Indictments are forthcoming for bamas political hacks who buried hillary’s Crimes and tried framing up trump.”
Wait…You mean handing an LEO’s wife $700k and then having him lie, twice, to cover the nature of your crimes isn’t allowed? Whudda thunk?
Clintons were seriously the most powerful and richest crime family this country has ever seen. Cosa Nostra look like pikers in comparison.
This is clearly becoming a partisan fight. Defend your team!
nwnj says:
March 19, 2018 at 10:23 am
Get informed idiot. Indictments are forthcoming for bamas political hacks who buried hillary’s Crimes and tried framing up trump.
Clearly over a period of time political hacks were promoted over effective leadership and it got us to where we are now. No accountability and misplaced priorities.
Transparency? Let’s start with trump’s tax records.
Blue Ribbon Teacher says:
March 19, 2018 at 10:29 am
No one sees anything wrong with the President trying to smear the name of the FBI? The question you should be asking, why is he doing this? Why is Trump resorting to a public smear campaign of the FBI? Why not keep the fight behind closed doors?
Are you arguing for less transparency?
BTW, Hillary had another drunken/Parkinson’s fall, breaking her wrist.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2018/03/16/hillary-clinton-india-injury/431613002/
It’s not partisan so much as insiders vs outsiders. Beltway garbage wants to anoint presidents. If you don’t win the deep state favor they will try to destroy you.
The very late (desperate?) FISA court abuse makes me wonder what was really going on. I can think of a few distinct possibilities. The three renewals of the FISA warrant are what makes me think something really foul was afoot.
I tend to believe that Comey & company had anticipated having a long running era of corrupt power by having something on Clinton. Quid pro quo, FBI and and the WH share power…and all gains in power. I think the Steele Dossier was almost a non-issue originally. I think Clinton shopped it around and couldn’t even get legitimate news outlets to run with it. I think the dossier was desperately re-purposed, I’m just not sure to what end.
1. FBI/DOJ realized a possibility of Trump winning late in the came, made ever more possible by the Weiner emails they had sat on since September. The FISA court move was maybe a knee-jerk reaction to try to get something on Trump so the FBI/DOJ could get something on Trump to have an equally cozy relationship with Trump while Hillary got pushed to the curb.
2. FBI and Hillary were complicit in laying the groundwork for a “Lock Him Up!” encore to take place when she assumed office. She is just that crazy and vindictive.
Either way, I think everything from the election on was all Keystone Cops farce to cover tracks, take Trump down, or get him under FBI/DOJ’s thumb. Comey seemed to be doing a lot of glad-handing with Trump while hiding true motives. I think he was just completely blind-sided by his own firing and then everything got even more reactionary.
It’s also unclear whether the Obama White House was in this early or late, but there’s no way they were unaware.
I wonder who Clinton would have as Attorney General? Maybe Comey gets to become the AG after Loretta Lynch is appointed to the Supreme Court?
leftwing – I think I’m with you on the roofing thing…one advantage of the permitting process is that you are not legally obligated to make final payment them unless they do the job right and pass inspection.
Siding….who cares. When I resided my house they just used it to increase my assessment and jack my taxes.
^^^^^This.
Baffles me why any Repub is not running on the platform of “you may not like him, but here’s what will happen on the Hill if you elect Dems”.
Start with SCOTUS and keep on rolling.
Kind of like those ads featuring the Bronx congressman a few years back. Opposition screamed they were rascist to try to suppress. They were hilarious. Full face cameo and voting record, with the voice over saying “this will be the Head of Ways and Means if you elect a Dem here”. Run in the hinterland battlegrounds.
oops, above re: ExPat, 11:15a….
On the air and oil filter front (from yesterday). If you don’t change your cabin air and carb filter yourself, you are absolutely being robbed. Both take a combined three minutes and you don’t get dirty. It will also save you an easy $50 to $100 bucks depending on where you go (gas station vs. dealer). I stopped messing with the oil filter when oil got more expensive and rebates much less frequent. Plus, it’s just messy. I usually pay between $15 and $25 with a coupon for it anyway unless car requires synthetic. In that case I shop around to get the best synthetic deal since those are terribly marked up. As for the lifetime alignment. I think it’s a bit of a sucker’s deal. Every time you hit a pothole, your alignment will be off. The poor alignment really only effects your tire wear adversely. I rotate about every 7,500 since I do the winter to summer wheel changes so the wear will all balance out anyway. Plus, the pothole situation has reached the point where your alignments will never hold long anyhow.
I’m 47 and know about those stupid K&N filters by the way. Bought one once for Old Reliable (my old Civic). Didn’t make a difference. Now I buy whatever is free. Not sure how or why they do it but Frahm/Purolator, etc., are always doing amazing rebates and AutoZone always runs crazy discounts. I can’t remember the last time I paid for wipers either.
“New York and New Jersey officials must put up local and state money to match federal funding”
-NJ doesn’t have the money…so that’s like saying no.
https://www.newsday.com/news/nation/peter-king-trump-gateway-tunnel-1.17406874
WASHINGTON — It’s still up to President Donald Trump whether funding for the Gateway Hudson tunnel and bridge will remain in the omnibus spending bill that must be passed next week, Rep. Peter King said after making his case to the president Thursday.
King said he argued for leaving the $900 million Gateway appropriation in the spending bill during a five-minute conversation with Trump at the St. Patrick’s Day lunch.
But King declined to offer details of their talk or to say whether Trump will reconsider his adamant opposition and threats to veto the must-pass spending bill if lawmakers don’t remove the Gateway funding.
“All I can say is that it was a long conversation. He understands where I’m coming from,” King said. “The president heard everything I had to say.”
-snip-
Administration officials said that New York and New Jersey officials must put up local and state money to match federal funding. They rejected the previous plan for the states to use federal grants and loans to pay for the $30 billion Gateway program.
Anybody preorder “Secret empires”? It is getting released this week. It’s all about how unsavory the political elites on both sides are. It’s written by the same guy who did Clinton cash.
Trump’s filling the “drain the swamp” campaign promise. If he is to make good on his promise…he should be firing them at a faster pace.
On the lightbulb front since we switched to all LED we are using about 3 kilowatts a day less compared to the previous year’s use based on 2 full months of info. It will take 10-12 months to recoup the cost of switching at that rate.
Lib – I took the lifetime alignment differently. My impression was that anytime you hit a pothole, take it back in and get it aligned again for free. In practice, most potholes, unless they are hella deep, won’t do much to your alignment, do an icy slide sideways into a curb, that’s the real alignment breaker (I haven’t done that in decades, btw). Alignments, like tires, are a bit of a trade-off. The best handling alignment will start with a little extra negative camber at the front wheels, but will make your tires wear a little quicker on the inside. It’s also a little bit of an art. You know you have a great alignment guy when he asks if you frequently drive alone and then adds your weight in ballast to the driver’s seat before he does the alignment. I have such a guy.
As for the lifetime alignment. I think it’s a bit of a sucker’s deal. Every time you hit a pothole, your alignment will be off.
When I drove race cars in the SCCA I had a great alignment guy in Rockaway, NJ. His name was on the side and back of the car and he did my alignments for free before every race. He told me that one icy day during the Winter was all he needed to make money right through the Spring. Alignment rigs, expensive as they are, only correct alignment as far as you can turn the camber, caster, and toe-in adjustment. Your best body shops either have a dedicated alignment guy, or better yet, send the work out to premier alignment guys. Lots of charts, chains, tensions, angles, calculations, and art are involved to pull a suspension back into range after even a minor collision.
Judge tells two wealthy towns to build affordable housing
http://www.nj.com/mercer/index.ssf/2018/03/princeton_west_windsor_affordable_housing_quotas.html?ath=e48193b1505a73e67f7874531301093d#cmpid=nsltr_strybutton
Sweeney wants the money from the federal tax cuts to go to the state of NJ instead…
http://www.njbiz.com/article/20180306/NJBIZ01/180309879/sweeney-tax-surcharge-on-ccorps-facing-pushback
State Senate President Steve Sweeney unveiled a proposal Tuesday that would raise the corporate business tax rate to 12 percent for businesses registered as C-corporations and earning more than $1 million.
The “surcharge” proposed by Sweeney, D-3rd District, would raise the tax rate by three percentage points.
Sweeney said the plan is in response to the recently enacted federal tax reform plan in which corporations benefitted from a tax cut. Sweeney said he believes his proposal could yield about $657 million in new revenue.
“The Republican plan provided a huge tax cut for corporations, slashing the federal corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent, while sharply limiting the federal income tax deduction for state and local taxes on which millions of New Jerseyans depended,” Sweeney said. “My bill would recapture a portion of that corporate windfall to fund programs that will make New Jersey a better place to live and work.”
ExPat: Yeah, I know the difference between the pros and the local Firestone when it comes to alignment. I found that out when I had a one time alignment done and then had to do a recall at the dealer and saw that the alignment I paid for did little when they did their stupid comprehensive (let’s see what we can bang him on 100 point check). I agree, it takes a pretty large shot to majorly move the needle, but the minor ones add up. Especially around here in Essex County. Even the balancing sucks at Firestone. That’s I why I only trust the Tire Rack to do it. They are the real deal. Only place to buy tires. Anyone can put them on your car, but get them balanced right or you are throwing your money away. I swear Firestone intentionally unbalances them so they wear quicker and you need to buy new ones sooner. I noticed that my Tire Rack tires have all outlasted the prorate. Yet when I used to get them at Firestone (and once I got Potenza’s at the Tire Rack) they would die about 10,000 short.
Vix is up 25% today.
This is an interesting battle between the Feds wanting to put a few bullets in their interest rate chamber (not a bad thing) versus Trump trying to juice the market through borrowing from federal debt. I’m much more impressed by this FED than the last.
Can someone confirm what this means please
“In-network & Out-of-network out-of-pocket maximum cross apply”
My guess would be that your out of pocket spent on in-network contributes to your out-of-network maximums, but I have no sure clue as I never knowingly went out of network. I was only TRICKED into it and fought hard and successfully to reverse those charges. Of course, in corrupt NJ, the law to stop this trickery has still not passed. We really like rich surgeons campaign contributions here in the Garden State.
On the lightbulb front since we switched to all LED we are using about 3 kilowatts a day less compared to the previous year’s use based on 2 full months of info. It will take 10-12 months to recoup the cost of switching at that rate.
Had a friend stack his house with CFLs 10 years ago. It was awful. This guy’s take on it was hilarious.
https://twitter.com/sebastiancomedy/status/809095654681231361?lang=en&scrlybrkr=d788aa1e
Judge tells two wealthy towns to build affordable housing
I lived in an apartment complex in West Windsor. The tenants from one particular building were always a problem and caused trouble on a weekly basis.
Libturd,
So, it cross applies from In Network to Out of Network… but wouldn’t cross apply the other way, right? I know you’re not sure just thinking out loud.
Yes. Both ways (I think). Though, it’s easy enough (would take probably two hours) to call them to confirm.
Market is getting clobbered today. Thanks Obama! :P
The pause that refreshes……
https://nypost.com/2018/03/19/dc-lawmaker-blames-jews-for-bad-weather/
Just about to post that Lib! Never mind!!
Chgo you can’t make this crap up!! Stunning!!
While I’m sure my story is nothing compared to what you’re going through, the amount of hoops I’ve had to jump through (and I’m not even scheduled yet) for such a routine test is insane.
I think it’s intentional Joyce. And I’m not just saying that. A friend of mine just prepaid for surgery and he’s covered. There are a lot of people who are too dumb to research how things work out there. I recently found out my brother-in-law was paying $325 a year to have Jackson-Hewitt essentially fill out out his 1040 EZ form. I sat down and did it with him online in 15 minutes and he felt like an idiot. Worst of all, J-H wouldn’t even give him copies of his prior return on disk after they fleeced him for two decades.
Surprised on the roofing reclassification. It’s a big ticket item that can be easily fcuked up with the poor results not showing up immediately. Would have thought they would want to keep some type of inspection there.
Building inspector go up on a roof? Aahahahhahahahaha.
Passing inspection has nothing to do with the quality of the work, nor does an approved permit provide any kind of warrantee.
Either way, Vito will not put down his coffee and cruller to go up that ladder and inspect the roof. He probably won’t even get out of his municipal-paid car.
They are more concerned about trash being cleaned up.
Those code guys are the biggest jokes in the world. Let’s just say, when we did all the work on my house, my contractor took the magnet off his truck and become my cousin during the inspection. It’s a complete joke. They offer nothing in value. Chances are, they don’t even collect enough in permits to cover their compensation package. Just another crony position paid to a contractor who was so pathetic that he couldn’t make it in his profession. And they are all @ssholes. The distance from the hot water heater in my house to my kitchen sink which has a low pressure faucet to save water makes it take a while for the hot water to reach the sink when it hasn’t been used for a while. The local inspector was going to require us to put in an on-demand heater (probably requiring another permit and visit). I said, I’ll tell you what I’ll do. I’ll remove the faucet and it will halve the time it takes for the hot water to get here. He says well don’t worry about it. He went to check a GFI I had in the kitchen and it wasn’t working. I had to show him how to reset it. In Montclair, it’s worse. They wouldn’t even issue me permits which were necessary when I begged them to let me since my fence guy was refusing to do the work without it.
Question anyone: What’s the average price to gut and redo a kitchen? I also have a five foot section of wall on each side that needs to be removed to open it up more into the family room and that wall is (was) an outside wall so I guess it was a support wall. Does a steel beam go across if the both sides of wall are removed? It’s an open walk through, I want to make it wider. Price for all this?
Just another crony position paid to a contractor who was so pathetic that he couldn’t make it in his profession. And they are all @ssholes.
Ding ding ding ding.
“Ding ding ding ding”
And what really gets my goat is that progressives feel every single government worker should be paid like they are giving up the potential to be a CEO by working where they chose to. The truth is, many of them (and I am leaving teachers out of this) were failures yet we are paying them all like they are mid managers or better. And they all have retirement benefits that don’t exist except for the chose few executives at private firms.
Worst of all, if you point this out, they will ostracize you.
I support the police and the firemen and respect what they do. And the local PBA in Glen Ridge has been fantastic to the “D.” But I almost got my head torn off by a friend I had on the force when I said that Christie’s binding arbitration cap was the first time I can ever remember a governor make any attempt at controlling our out-of control property taxes. And this cop friend of mine had the gall to say he’s sorry his brethren supported us. Just another example of the idiocy of the public worker. Want to see more? I’m going to copy you the thread of the local police officers cursing the student walk out last week as if it was something the parents put their kids up to. And guys like Pumps thinks they all deserve to retire after 20 years making 150K a year for 40 years with full cadillac health benefits for them and their partner. Otherwise we won’t get the best and the brightest. I would like to ONCE, see one who can think.
—————————————————————————————————-
One of the worse things a society can do is pawn a child on a battlefield or in a political arena… That is all, carry on!
99.9%
Makes u question what the teachers are preaching to our children, no? Politics have no place in the classroom.
I’ll go ‘glass half full’ and say that one of the best things we can tech children is than they have a voice and they are allowed to use it.
And what would have happened if a kid today decided not to participate and stayed in the library or cafeteria? Be viewed as an outcast? Perhaps become a victim of bullying? The exact reason why politics should stay out of our K-12 schools.
Another great lesson is that not everyone has the same opinion and they need to learn to be respectful of each other. Also, protesting, walking out, etc. isn’t the only way to make a change. So no one should be persecuted for choosing not to participate. It’s a great lesson all the way around if it’s being taught corectly.
The younger the kid the less I think this is relevant, but high school kids should really have an understanding of the world around them and be able to speak up about issues that effect them directly. Their solutions may not be the best but we should give them a voice.
So I asked my daughter if she walked out of school today. Her response was that they had a moment of silence for the children lost, they wore the school colors for Parkland High and created a Kindness wall for ideas on being more kind to one another. THAT is how you honor them.
Exactly Dan!
you’re spot on. This wasn’t organized by children who have enough trouble submitting homework on time. This was an organized political event. The majority of kids were told it was to honor the slain children in FL. Kids are good by nature and o
I made this point in a discussion earlier. Give it 6 mos and that kid in Florida, David Hogg, will be forgotten. CNN and everyone else will use him up as a poster boy for gun control until the next big thing happens and then cast him aside like a piece a trash. Where is the lesson there? You really need to ask if your support for a walk out was for gun control or school safety.
i went to the walk out in bloomfield, while the victims names were mentioned so was the evil AR-15 and banning guns,, it was a regurgitation of CNN. People were posting there were 1,000 kids there of course those people wernt there they just heard, i was there and now way 1,000 kids
you just spotted the engine behind this machine. If homework is often late and can’t get up for school on time, how could they possibly organize an event this large and widespread. Women’s March organizers are in the back ground.
You are right…People are either ignorant or are eluding the fact that many of these kids were recruited to participate, by those with a political agenda. How is it that only a few made these observations? How is it that only a few have a problem with using children as political pawns?
Uber Halts Autonomous-Car Testing After Fatal Arizona Crash
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-19/uber-autonomous-car-involved-in-fatal-crash-in-arizona
It’s why we will never have self driving cars.
Who is liable for an accident? Who is liable for a death?
When the owner purchases insurance, who or what is being insured against?
These are not easy questions. The automaker can not absorb liability.
I would like to know what the “human safety driver” was doing at the time of the accident. Maybe texting?
Does this mean Google knows even more about where your cell phone is than your cell phone provider?
https://www.fastcompany.com/40546112/police-are-asking-google-to-provide-user-data-for-all-people-near-crime-scenes
Lib,
Since you are on a roll w/car maintenance, any suggestions for a battery and timing belt? Also, if you already own the rims, how do you get tire rack to mount / balance tires or do you go to one of the local installers who are on the tire rack website?
Healthcare: sometimes the Rx product you get w insurance is not the least expensive way to acquire. Ask pharmacist if there is a cheaper alternative (product, payment method or otherwise). In many instances, the pharmacist by law is not allowed to offer this info voluntarily so the customer / patient has to ask.
Radiology – shop around, I know people that have saved over $1K just by making 3-4 phone calls.
The real way to drive down healthcare costs is to allow customers to do some shopping and decide for themselves if the more expensive or less expensive provider is right for them. Castlight health tried to do this – you want the more expensive doc or clinic, the incremental cost is on your dime and if you go with the less expensive one, you get a cut of the savings.
From what I read, it looks like it does cross apply both ways. It appears that every dollar spent in AND out of network applies to both in AND out of network out of pocket maximums… but only applies to the in OR out of network deductible.
Libturd says:
March 19, 2018 at 1:08 pm
Yes. Both ways (I think). Though, it’s easy enough (would take probably two hours) to call them to confirm.
Timing belt, stay away from the dealer. That’s the ideal repair at a gas station. I think my main guy did it for less than half the dealer wanted. There is a huge variance in prices on this repair. I have two guys (same owner) who I trust, but not sure if you live in my neck of the woods. Let me know if you want their names and I’ll give them to you.
On batteries, no one beats Walmart on price and quality. Bigger Walmarts will install it, but it’s a five minute thing for you to do yourself. Just make sure they will take the old one afterwards. Otherwise you have to wait until your county hazardous waste collection day.
Wait, my policy also says that “In-network & Out-of-network deductible cross apply”
WTF is the distinction between In and Out of network then??
Grim…I always said it would be case law that would delay the self-driving vehicle. Everyone said it would be here in the next 5 years and I said add ten to work out the legalities. Could you imagine if the car has to make the call between hitting a pedestrian or driving off a bridge. What’s it gonna be?
Ha ha Joyce.
If you hit your OON before your IN max, your IN is free. What you pay for your IN applies to your OON deductible.
Still cheaper to stay IN.
F$ck Facebook.
Libturd / Nomad,
Thanks. I agree that once I hit my IN deductible (and IN max of course), it’s much cheaper (and then fully covered).
However to Nomad’s point, I’m calling around and getting wild discrepancies in price. It doesn’t appear to necessarily be cheaper to stay in network (at least given my specific policy and until/if I start getting near the deductible/maximum limits)
Lib,
I can get to your area for a timing belt so yes, names would be appreciated. I hate my dealer, the service writers are AH’s but the car itself is very good. Thanks,
Doesn’t google know a lot about the phones because they are so embedded in the android software?
I like how the author immediately brought up the 4th amendment. And guess what, unless google says no… no one can sue to stop this because they can’t prove ‘standing’. ‘Standing’ is one of several concepts the judicial system brings up only when convenient.
The Original NJ ExPat says:
March 19, 2018 at 3:22 pm
Does this mean Google knows even more about where your cell phone is than your cell phone provider?
https://www.fastcompany.com/40546112/police-are-asking-google-to-provide-user-data-for-all-people-near-crime-scenes
I don’t know how you exactly leverage this to your advantage, but here’s a little secret about medical billing: At the beginning of the calendar year all of your health service providers play a game of chicken to see who can bill you last. The reason is because none of them want to collect from you directly as you pay against your out-of-pocket deductibles and maximums. They would rather collect from your, presumably, faster paying insurer after your maximums are met. This is especially true if anyone in your family has predictable and ongoing needs. I guess your best bet is to use up services as fast as you can in the beginning of the year and take advantage of their slowness in billing. By staying in touch and making consistent payments you can probably stretch out the payments pretty good. I actually didn’t learn this from my own family bills. I learned this by leading a large portion of an even larger project to jump through all of the hoops to get our company accredited to do direct medicare billing. Medicare pays wicked, wicked fast so we were advised by consultants to delay as long as possible first quarter billing for any of our services so that hopefully the out of pocket maximums are billed directly to the customer by other providers and by playing the waiting game we get to skip over that part and skip to the part where medicare pays us directly with no dollars billed to the ultimate client.
Could you imagine if the car has to make the call between hitting a pedestrian or driving off a bridge. What’s it gonna be?
And at what point is the software developer liable for writing the line of code to make that decision? When it comes down to it, the machine didn’t make a decision, it acted on code.
Dig deep…. nothing is outsized…
Check out NXPI-QCOM……what about TWX-AT&T?
I think one of my favorite all time was TYC and BCR
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/tyco-buying-cr-bard-for-32-billion
The Original NJ ExPat says:
March 19, 2018 at 8:26 am
chifi – I have a nice position in MSCC, 22% profit in less than 60 days. Doesn’t the current price, ($68.78 buyout vs. $66 cash price) $2.5+ dollars below the buyout price seem like an out-sized arbitrage opp for a cash deal likely to close soon?
if you android and don’t pay attention to your controls…..
google/history
Remarkable how accurate they were for me. Going back 4yrs and to the minute.
. Just make sure they will take the old one afterwards. Otherwise you have to wait until your county hazardous waste collection day.
Stu man, say it ain’t so. You feeling OK?
Give away a lead battery for free? You must be smoking. That’s $15 in scrap. I love when idiots dump batteries in parking lots. I always stop to grab them.
You’re probably right Joyce. Probably more criminals and people in high crime areas use Android than do iPhone. Also, the iPhone witnesses would probably say, “I don’t know, they all look alike to me.” ;-)
Doesn’t google know a lot about the phones because they are so embedded in the android software?
You driving to the scrap yard?
Not only is the lead recycled, but also the acid. Recently I was surprised that was able to pick up a battery at the local Sears without paying a core charge. They told me to just bring the core back when I had a chance. I actually returned the new battery for a full refund the next day when I figured out that the battery in our mini-van wasn’t bad, we had a hidden lift-gate light (that you wouldn’t see unless the hatch is up set to always on, and that was what was drawing down the battery at night). Also, depending on your car and the number of dome lights, switches, etc. It’s important to lock your car at night, even if you live in a good area or have a garage. Locking the car from the outside with the remote turns off all of the zillion interior lights whereas leaving the car unlocked does not.
Give away a lead battery for free? You must be smoking. That’s $15 in scrap. I love when idiots dump batteries in parking lots. I always stop to grab them.
Insanity at its best.
“”Judge Jacobson’s decision will give opportunities for thousands of lower-income and minority families to move into safe neighborhoods, send their children to good schools, and work at jobs where they live instead of traveling hours commuting each day. The exclusionary policies that will fall as a result of this ruling harm our whole state, especially African American and Latino communities,” Walsh added.”
http://www.nj.com/mercer/index.ssf/2018/03/princeton_west_windsor_affordable_housing_quotas.html
Ask yourself, why are the neighborhoods they currently reside in not safe? The people living in those unsafe neighborhoods have nothing to do with it, right?
So the answer is to bring them to wealthy safe neighborhoods…..yes, that will solve everything. Why didn’t anyone think of this earlier? Genius!
BTW, ever wonder why with all of the modern battery technologies available in the world today we still use old school lead acid batteries in cars? The answer is temperature. Lead acid batteries maintain more cold cranking amps at super low temps than any other battery. Lithium ion are crap in that respect. NiCd is not too bad, but still no match for Lead Acid.
I’m going to setup a neighborhood battery collection event in my driveway.
I bet the guys that run the “county hazardous waste collection” racket will come and break my legs if they hear I am muscling in on their turf though.
I saw one county hazardous day once with a dump truck full of batteries, I’d wager a guess that they drove off with $10,000 worth of scrap lead. Completely for free, they didn’t even need to pick up. Idiot people came to them and hand delivered them money.
Never seen this, securitizing fix & flip loans. Seems ominous like the stuff going on before the crash.
https://www.housingwire.com/articles/42777-first-of-its-kind-angel-oak-securitizes-90-million-in-fix-and-flip-loans
PS – guy on CNBC this am talking about startup – pay $20/mo for insurance instead of apartment security deposit + last month. Any claims, apartment owner goes to the underwriter that the startup uses. Premium drops apparently by 90% in year two. Landlord the founder claims love it with less economic barrier to rent while still keeping financial security.
The more reliable, but busier guy is at the Shell on Watchung Avenue in Bloomfield just off GSP exit 151. The more disorganized but less busy guy is Vinnie (I think that’s his name. He’s a kid with bad teeth and their main mechanic) at the Exxon on the corner of Bay and Broad in Bloomfield. Both are priced the same since it’s the same owner (Dominic). Dominic is the heavyset bearded guy at the Watchung Shell.
Our Governor is bought and paid for by the unions ,and he’s proud of it ….https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGpMHeY9Bw8
True JJ update: According to his Linkedin profile he took a job in Bethesda, Maryland.
These were probably real posts, because the timeline fits (embellished, of course):
JJ says:
December 23, 2016 at 1:02 pm
So have been off-line for one year but have to come back to wish folks a Merry X-mas.
what is Chi-fi and Grim up to.
Anyhow I have a big announcement. After 30 years on Wall Street 12-30-2016 is my last day. I am saying goodbye to my corner water view office!!
So what next well what else does a loud mouth opinionated middle aged white male from NY do?
Well the Monday after the inauguration I start in my new role down in DC. Bout time I straightened that mess out. Trump is I cant believe I am saying this is my new boss. I watched a few episodes of West Wing and Apprentice so good to go.
I join a cast of characters. Look for me I guess on the next season of Real Househusbands of Potomac.
JJ says:
December 23, 2016 at 1:03 pm
JUICEBOX DUDE WHAT UP!
JJ says:
December 23, 2016 at 1:05 pm
or a starter wife
D-FENS says:
December 23, 2016 at 8:30 am
Never buy a “starter” home. Moving is an expensive proposition.
And these:
JJ says:
December 23, 2016 at 2:27 pm
Wait do I need a Hamptons story, Sandy story, getting laid story or just a crush valor story.
I found a great Cougar bar in Bethesda if you guys want a meet up. or a meat market meet up.
I also need some ryan mcfaddens and old 80s wall street stories.
I will be living in a furnished apt up there Monday through Friday doing commute back to NY so semi single next few months. Cant wait till hit up those young PAC girls looking for donors,
JJ says:
December 23, 2016 at 5:08 pm
I am riding their butt not the other way around. I usually like 20 somethings to me 40 year olds are still cougars. Ok, maybe I will hit G-town bars instead find some girl with a daddy complex who needs a sugar daddy.
I am like Santa I need some Ho, Ho, Ho, three Hos about right for me.
3b says:
December 23, 2016 at 4:56 pm
jj if it really is you. What are you doing in cougar bar? They don’t want your raggedy old butt.
“It’s written by the same guy who did Clinton cash.”
You mean the Right wing nut from Breitbart? I’ll be sure to preorder.
ExPat
Comey and the rest of the FBI narrative. Have you been listening to Alex Jones again.
Have a read of this. This to me is more indicative of what happened. Rudy and the NYPD angle fits like a glove.
https://twitter.com/SethAbramson/status/968775069018329088
I’m happy to lose $15 in a battery in order to not have to waste time driving. I am worth more than $15 for 30 min.
^^^^ You know that McCabe knew about the Weiner laptop emails since the beginning of September 2016, right? The were at the SDNY offices, so it’s no surprise that Giuliani knew about them too. If Comey didn’t move on them, knowing the FBI knew about them for over a month, somebody else (a Trump proxy) would have. Everything I wrote is purely my own conjecture. I think the existence of the Weiner emails and Giuliani and the NYPD knowing about them started lots of knee-jerk reactions.
I’ll tell you what I didn’t know, and thanks for it: I had know idea that Victoria Toensing is the wife of DiGenova. Toensing represents Campbell who, supposedly, has all the goods on the Uranium One Deal.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/01/31/mccabe-learned-about-clinton-emails-on-weiner-laptop-month-before-fbi-alerted-congress-report-says.html
http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2018/03/its_called_the_hub_and_murphy_swears_it_will_help_make_us_a_tech_magnet.html
Fabs, all that article proves to me is how deep the Clinton org had dug into Justice.
Have an investigation, please, as long as it goes to the origin of all the mishandling – Bill’s runway rendezvous with Justice where they were instructed to bury the Clinton email scandal and force the FBI (patsy Comey) to come out with an ‘all clear’. That was a wildly unprecedented step, Justice never confirms or denies closure.
Had Bill not pushed, as usual, way over the top Hillary would likely be Pres, ironically. There would have been no ‘all clear’, and without that no need to come ‘clean’ when the Weiner emails popped up (pun intended) four weeks before the election. Nothing to leak if the investigation weren’t deemed ‘closed’.
18/19 in the tweet are amazing. ‘Heavy weight source.’ In other words, because they knew it was a credible leak re: McCabe and Comey they decided to come clean. Otherwise, all of this would have been swept under the rug in an HRC administration.
These guys all got their arms twisted – HARD – by WJC/HRC. And then, true to form, hung out to dry. How many times do loyal Clintonistas need to be blown up by Billary while they get off scot-free? Suckas. LOL.
8:13 – Reminds me of the mall that was supposed to save Flint, Michigan. Maybe they should just skip the New Brunswick idea and change the Meadowlands/Xanadu abomination into the new tech campus?
I think one of the problems facing New Jersey in the coming decade(s) are that it’s becoming obvious that the current trend is that people, old and young, want to live in a nice city…and New Jersey, unlike just about every other state in the Union…has zero nice cities.
You have to admit, this is a sh1tty, sh1tty list of cities. Except for Edison and Toms River which obviously aren’t cities at all.
http://www.geonames.org/US/NJ/largest-cities-in-new-jersey.html
New Jersey – Largest Cities
Name Population Latitude/Longitude
1 Newark wikipedia article 281,944 40.736 / -74.172
2 Jersey City wikipedia article 264,290 40.728 / -74.078
3 Paterson wikipedia article 147,754 40.917 / -74.172
4 Elizabeth wikipedia article 129,007 40.664 / -74.211
5 Edison wikipedia article 102,548 40.519 / -74.412
6 Toms River wikipedia article 88,791 39.954 / -74.198
7 Clifton wikipedia article 86,334 40.858 / -74.164
8 Trenton wikipedia article 84,225 40.217 / -74.743
9 Camden wikipedia article 76,119 39.926 / -75.12
10 Passaic wikipedia article 71,085 40.857 / -74.128
^^^ and I don’t mind Clifton, but where’s the city? All of the bars on Van Houten Ave? Allwood plaza?
Jersey City is getting there. Went to the LSC this weekend and stopped off at a tiny place for lunch called Short Grain. I had pho, Gator had avocado toast and the D had lemon ricotta pancakes. Paid on a square device and of course the water came in Mason jars. Then had fancy ice cream on Hudson Square. I could barely find my old digs things have changed so much. Jersey City is rapidly becoming Brooklyn. Though, I don’t see anywhere else significant doing it.
Hoboken and JC
Also Hoboken considered part of JC
I also think Harrison is going to be completely leveled from end to end turning it into a poor man’s Arlington VA
Harrison is incredible. But just not enough Brownstones to ever become a Brooklyn.
Lib & Chi – I actually was saying to my wife tonight that Jersey City may be getting there. I’m also a fan of Harrison (and Kearny), and even down-neck Newark. I think that whole area has promise. What I think would be really cool is if they can actually develop that rail trail from Montclair/Glen Ridge on the old Boonton line all the way to Jersey City. That would be so cool if you could actually bicycle from the Bloomfield area all the way to Jersey City (and keep it safe).
About two weeks ago I even “viewed” that whole line via online mapping and streetview/streetside online to see how it would work from Benson Street all the way to Jersey City. It looks very cool!
In the early 90’s I used to be a member of the Arlington Player’s Club. I really liked that area.
Ex Pat / Left
Here is where your argument falls apart. Comney reopened the investigation. You can argue all you want about the Who What Where, Why it was reopened, but the end result was that there was nothing there. Wieners emails resulted in nothing.
Just like Benghazi, Uranium Ore etc etc etc. Right wing dog whistle, with no substance.
FISA court. Yes it is a rubber stamp factory and I do I have 4th amendment concerns. But there are a lot of serious points that came out of it.
To date, not one word of the Steele dossier has been discredited. No one has found a, “that could not have happened on that date because X was in Y”, etc. And you know that teams of people on both sides are digging.
For the warrants to be re-uped, they had to show results and they have. We’ve had 5 indictments, 4 guilty pleas and at least 7 still on deck. That is the Crux of this. Mueller is showing results, but Donnie is trying to shut it down to protect himself.
The biggest hypocrisy here is that you call out “Bill’s runway rendezvous”, (yes it was wrong), but is OK for Donnie to shut down Mueller. MKay
That rail trail would be a commuters dream too. It’s only about ten miles and pretty much all down hill or flat. You could easily catch the Path at Journal Square or ride all the way down to Grove Street. If they really wanted to be crazy, there are a few unused railroad tunnels that run under 1-9 in JC. The most difficult part of bringing this trail to fruition will be the retrofitting of the two draw bridges. There’s one over the Newark River and another over the Hackensack. No one will want to pay for that and the latter bridge is in terrible condition. The trail has some incredible views of the Meadowlands though.
That list of cities is inaccurate. Woodbridge should be on there.
Cambridge Analytics is the story of the day.
I have an A-Z, what color is your parachute, plan for the day I get Sh1T Canned. I reckon it will happen at least once to me in the next few years. One of the roles I had planned was Political Data Analysis. My plan was slightly different from Cambridge, in that I didn’t have Ukrainian H00kers in my Business Plan. Also I was focused on more local races.
I think Cambridge has given this business model a boost and I need to put something together before the November Midterms.
There most certainly was something there. The “there there” was that McCabe, Comey, & company were about to be exposed for sitting on them for a month. Try to play that out in your mind. Really, really, try. What happens if Comey takes no action prior to the election? When the existence of those emails come out, guess who else is out? Comey, that’s who. There is absolutely no way that Trump or Clinton keep him on. You see that, right? Let’s say Comey sits on his hands and does nothing. It truly doesn’t matter whether it comes out before the election or after the election or who wins the election, Comey is automatically gone. Even if he had a Quid Pro Quo with Clinton and she saw an opportunity to kick him to the curb, she absolutely would have. If Trump wins by a cuticle width, Trump not only fires him, he announces that he is firing him on day one because he spoiled the landslide. There just is no way Comey has any chance of survival unless he gets out ahead of it. I think that is logical thinking that everyone should be on board with.
Now here is where I’ll depart with my conjecture, and it is only mine. When Trump wins all kinds of machinations start to happen. Whether Obama finds out then or he already knew, I have no idea. But…from election day until inauguration day there are a whole bunch of Obama higher-ups from all over the swamp who know at least a part of what happened. Everyone except Trump, that is.
“Here is where your argument falls apart. Comney reopened the investigation. You can argue all you want about the Who What Where, Why it was reopened, but the end result was that there was nothing there. Wieners emails resulted in nothing.”