Blog

I have a new column up at NewJerseyNewsroom on what to do when you fall behind on your mortgage.  Click here for the full piece.
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I am a huge fan of Google Apps, particularly the ability to have full Gmail, contacts and Google Calendar for my own domain.  What was missing was the ability to merge my gmail contacts with those on my domain's contacts list.  This was particularly frustrating because I use Google Voice and it was linked to my personal Gmail.  Thankfully, Soocial.com, a product I have been using to keep Outlook contacts in sync with Gmail, and which is totally free, now allows you to set up multiple Gmail ac...
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Bergen County residents can get a free radon test from the Bergen County Executive.  More information on radon can be found here

The Bergen County Executive issued the following press release:

Bergen County Executive Dennis McNerney and the Department of Health Services (BCDHS) announce free radon test kits will be given on a first come, first serve basis to county residents. Free test kits will be available for Bergen County residents in the lobby of the Bergen County Administration Building...

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I have written several times at Newjerseynewsroom.com about health care reform, which unfortunately is more about health insurance reform than a full reform of our health care system.  The plan that is emerging is not good, but better than the status quo.  

One aspect of the reform that is quite troubling is the excise tax on "cadillac plans."  Unions strongly oppose this concept because they have traded salary for generous benefits for years and now will be taxed on those plans at 40% (assumi...
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Last week, the New York Times ran a piece discussing how efforts to keep people in their homes by restructuring mortgages were not only failing but detrimental to those people who really should just move out and move on.  This might actually be true to an extent, though the Times primary concern was of course with the state of the banking system (who cares about people when Chase's bottom line is at stake). 

Today, however, in discussing New York City's commercial real estate market, the Times...
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Today it appears that the Stuyvesant Town purchase by Tishman Speyer and its partners will go down as one of the biggest real estate flops ever.  The huge residential complex was purchased for $5.4 Billion in 2006, and never really made much sense.  As the New York Times is reporting, Tishman Speyer and Blackrock are planning to default on this months mortgage payment. This deal would have fallen apart even had the economy not tanked, and it would probably be best if the mortgage lenders just...
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I have had some interesting responses to my cable tv column at newjerseynewsroom.com. I am hoping to do a followup piece to discuss some of the things people have pointed out to me, so please feel free to email me any comments you might have.
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I have a new column up at newjerseynewsroom on the Cablevision/HGTV dispute. Check it out here.
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A few weeks ago, I wrote a story about Joe Ferrierro's chances of winning an appeal from his federal conviction for fraud.  Those chances appear to have gone up. The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in two of the three honest services fraud cases that are on this year's calendar.  The court expressed great skepticism about the law, with most of the justices thinking it too vague and therefore unconstitutional. It also did not seem like the Court had much interest in reshaping the law to mak...
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