NJ: Socialist Candidate Supports Community Garden Effort

From Red Bank Patch:

It’s official: socialists support fresh fruits and vegetables. Pat Noble, an 18-year-old Red Bank resident and member of the Socialist Party USA running for election onto the Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders, has endorsed the efforts of volunteers who hope to develop a community garden on a vacant lot along the Navesink River.

Though a community garden, in theory, has found support from the borough’s council, its location remains a point of contention. Gardeners want to see the project developed on the lot just off of Front Street, citing its centralized and highly visible location as some primary reasons. Though they’ve been reluctant to provide reasons of their own, Red Bank’s council members want to see the garden developed, well, anywhere else . . .

NJ: From the Bottom Up

From Ballot Access News:

New Jersey elects its state legislators in odd years. This year, New Jersey’s active minor parties have more candidates for the Assembly (the lower house) than they did two years ago. Libertarians have candidates in four districts this year, whereas the party only had candidates in a single Assembly district in 2009. The Green Party has candidates is two districts this year, compared to only one in 2009. The Constitution Party has two candidates in one Assembly district this year, compared to no legislative candidates at all in 2009. There are 9 independent candidates for the Assembly.

NJ: Marijuana Legalization Activist Launches Independent Bid for State Assembly

From PhillyBurbs:

Edward Forchion, the Pemberton Township native best known by his alias, NJWeedman, is throwing his hat into the political ring again. The longtime marijuana activist has filed to run as an independent candidate for one of the 8th Legislative District’s two state Assembly seats. He is one of 11 independents who have filed to run for state, county or local offices in the November general election . . . Forchion is the best-known of the independents, having previously run third-party campaigns for governor, Congress, the state Legislature, and the Burlington County Board of Freeholders. He also has received publicity for his run-ins with the law . . . 

NJ: Anti-Racist Group "Cracks Nazi Skulls" Ahead of Neo-Nazi Rally

From Philly Burbs:

A clash between neo-Nazis and members of an antiracist organization Friday evening left four Nazis in the hospital and prompted two arrests, according to the New Jersey State Police. The fight involved about 50 people and took place on the eve of a neo-Nazi rally Saturday in Trenton.

State troopers responded to the fight at about 7 p.m. on the unit block of Pemberton Street, where members of the Detroit-based National Socialist Movement were gathering to prepare for their rally.
The group has been described as one of the largest neo-Nazi hate groups in the country and promotes a racist and anti-Semitic agenda, according to both the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center.

While the NSM members were meeting, about 25 people from a Minnesota-based group called the Anti-Racist Action Network drove into the borough and an armed melee ensued between the two groups. They fought with weapons such as knives, pipes and wooden boards, state police said . . .

The Nazi group was meeting ahead of a Saturday rally in Trenton.  From The Philly Inquirer:

Roughly 50 members of a neo-Nazi group took to the streets of Trenton on Saturday to speak out against illegal immigrants, crime, and the nation's leaders . . .

The Anti-Racist Action Network reported on the action on their website:

On Friday, April 15^th, 2011 some anti-fascist in Anti-Racist Action learned of the location of the National Socialist Movement's national conference for rank promotion and five-year planning. A group of 30 of us decided to march to where the Nazi's were strongest, to bodily and boldly confront them, and we were decidedly victorious. After the the dust settled six Nazis were hospitalized, more were injured, their vehicles and property were damaged, and their conference was ended. On the other side, one anti-fascist required moderate first aid.

Many of us at the melee were people of color, working class, immigrants, women, queer, transgendered, and/or people on parole or probation. The logic of the victim is constantly thrust upon us. We are said to be 'at risk' and must be protected and pandered to. It is said that we need others, usually the State, to protect and stand up for us. But, through the action of splitting Nazis' heads open, we rejected the logic of victimization. We will continue to do so, we will be victims no longer. We do not need others to stand up for us, we have each other. When we are attacked, we will find each other and counterattack, so hard and so fierce that we will surprise even ourselves.

If the Nazis call us bitch ass faggots, they might not be that far off the mark. But if they conflate those slurs with weakness, the six hospital visits they faced would prove otherwise.

NJ: Libertarian Fights for Transparency in State's Failed Drug War

From Curtis Leeds at NJ.com:

READINGTON TWP. — John Paff asked what he thought was a simple question: how much money did police seize from the inside of a 2006 BMW? When township police wouldn’t say, Paff, who is chairman of the state Libertarian Party’s Open Government Advocacy Project, sued. Paff now has his answer: $61,649. But police released the information before the case could be heard in court. It had been scheduled for Jan. 18 . . .

Under the state Open Public Records Act and the common law right of access, Paff sought the amount seized. Police refused the request, and said “criminal investigatory records of information deemed to be confidential” are exempt from disclosure . . . 

NJ Poll: 19% of Independents Say They Voted Third Party in November

From New Jersey News Room:

Of those interviewed, 64 percent said they voted and could recall the direction of their vote. Partisans did not deviate from their parties: 94 percent of both Democrats and Republicans say they voted for a congressional candidate from their party. Independents, however, continued to lean Republican as they did in last year's gubernatorial election, with 46 percent of independents voting Republican and 35 percent voting Democrat. A surprising 19 percent of independents said they voted for a third party candidate.

NJ: Libertarian Party Plans Airport Protest on Opt-Out Day

From the NJ Libertarian Party:

The NJ Libertarian Party is joining We Won't Fly by organizing the National Opt Out Day demonstration at Newark Airport. On Wednesday, November 24th we urge all travelers who are "selected" to undergo the intrusive full body scanning to Opt Out. Instead they will be forced to participate in the more time consuming and humiliating enhanced "pat downs". The pat downs include moving hands up legs until contact pressure is made with genitals.  We are meeting on November 24th at 6:00 PM at the bar of Chile's Too in terminal B. Demonstrations will start at 6:30.  Our goal is to raise awareness among travelers over this new TSA procedure.

NJ: Councilman's Resignation Leads to Calls for Non-partisan Town Council

See this post at Poli-Tea for background.  From North Jersey news:

An Englewood Cliffs councilman resigned from his seat recently saying he was fed up with the borough's two-party system's focus on political victories rather than serving the community efficiently. While the borough's Democrats and Republicans have argued about who is causing the problems, this brings up a point.

Political parties may play a role in setting the government's agenda on the national level, but town councils do not need Democrats and Republicans. They need open-minded leaders to responsibly deliver their communities a good quality of life.

There are certainly examples of mayors and council members working across the political aisle, but there are just as many instances of block voting by party members.

Voting on ordinances shouldn't be done by party line. It should be done on what the person thinks is best for the residents.

You'd think that we would want elected representatives voting in favor of what is best for constituents, rather than some party, at all levels of government.  Our state legislatures, governor's houses, the US Congress and White House don't need Democrats and Republicans either.

NJ Independent: Founding Fathers "Rolling Over in their Graves" at Democrat's Arrogance and Hubris

From the Courier Post Online:

U.S. Rep. John Adler on Tuesday sought to minimize the import of third-party candidates while he was bookended by two long-shot hopefuls for the 3rd Congressional District seat. . . . "I don't think third-party candidates, with all due respect to these gentlemen," Adler said "and that other fellow are ever particularly relevant in elections in New Jersey." . . . "We have a tradition of voting Democrat or Republican so I think it's unfortunately sort of a distraction from the real choices that voters from this district have to make," Adler continued. . . .

"When Congressman Adler suggested there's no place for third-party candidates . . .," Donahue began . . . ". . . I saw the Founding Fathers roll over in their graves," Donahue continued. "I'm extremely disappointed by the arrogance and hubris by the congressman to make such a statement. Our Founding Fathers wanted citizen candidates in House of Representatives."  

NJ: Constitutionally Impaired Republican Congressman Will Face Challenge from Constitution Party Candidate

Remember Congressman Frank LoBiondo?  He is the Republican lawmaker whose gross ignorance of the Constitution was revealed at a town hall meeting earlier this year.  LoBiondo was embarrassingly stumped when asked about Article 1 Section 1 of the Constitution, and stuttered that it might have something to do with freedom of speech.  Peter Boyce plans to challenge LoBiondo this November under the banner of the Constitution Party.  From NJ.com:

Peter Boyce grew up in one of the poorest families in the Bronx, New York, but made himself into a millionaire by the age of 30. He did it through hard work on his own merit.

Now, he’s made it his mission to ensure that future generations of Americans can aspire to do what he did by preserving the freedoms that allowed him to accomplish his goals in the first place.

Boyce, currently a Millville resident, will be running for Congress in New Jersey’s 2nd Congressional District in November’s midterm elections. He will be running as a candidate for the Constitution Party, whose core belief is that representatives must always vote in line with the Constitution, something Boyce feels very few current representatives do today.

NJ: Constitution Party Candidate for Congress Launches Campaign with Speech on Immigration

From the Daily Journal:

Millville resident Peter F. Boyce plans to launch his campaign for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives Monday night with a speech here on immigration. Millville resident Peter F. Boyce plans to launch his campaign for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives Monday night with a speech here on immigration.

NJ: Libertarian Party Targets Abuses in Criminal Justice System

From My Central Jersey:

The state Libertarian Party is targeting towns they say are abusing the practice of downgrading criminal charges in municipal court to boost revenue and clear away cases. They even have a name for their effort — the Preempted Ordinance Repeal Project. And Somerville and South Bound Brook are among their prime immediate targets.

The project name refer to outdated municipal ordinances that have been preempted by state law, but remain on the books and are used to downgrade certain criminal charges — like, for example, a simple assault — to the municipal violation.

NJ: Greens Running at least Six Candidates in November

From Green Party Watch:

Green Party candidates are seeking four New Jersey Congressional and two Freeholder seats this November, offering a viable alternative to the politics of war and fear engendered by the governing duopolies in Washington and Trenton, according to Michael Spector, State Party Chair.

Read the whole thing.

NJ: Former Independent Candidate for Governor to Become President and CEO of Dodge Foundation

From the Dodge Blog:

After several months and a comprehensive search that attracted more than 200 candidates, the Trustees of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation have announced that Christopher J. Daggett will succeed David Grant as the new President and CEO . . . If you live in New Jersey, you probably recognize Chris’s name as the independent candidate for governor in 2009. He was the first independent candidate to raise the threshold amount of money to qualify for public matching funds and to participate in public debates with the major party candidates. He was also endorsed by The Star-Ledger, the state’s leading newspaper.

NJ: Libertarian Party Forces Repeal of Authoritarian Law

From NJ.com:

Guttenberg is the latest town to repeal "outdated" ordinances for loitering and disorderly persons at the request of the New Jersey Libertarian Party's Preempted Ordinance Repeal Project.

The party's goal is to remove the ordinances because there is no clear victims or clearly defined crime. Instead, it gives police another mechanism to make unnecessary arrests or harass and disperse people whose presence they dislike, John Paff, chairman of the New Jersey Libertarian Party said.