Hissyspit
Hissyspit's JournalChristie Aide Kelly Sent Second ‘Traffic Problems’ Text
Source: Bloomberg
Christie Aide Kelly Sent Second ‘Traffic Problems’ Text
By David Voreacos and David Glovin
February 27, 2014 3:36 PM EST
In the days before the manufactured ties-ups at the George Washington Bridge, a former deputy chief of staff to New Jersey Governor Chris Christie sent a second text message about causing “traffic problems” elsewhere, according to newly released documents.
Bridget Anne Kelly wrote Aug. 19 to another Christie ally, David Wildstein, saying: “We cannot cause traffic problems in front of his house, can we?” One state legislator described the dialogue as reflecting a “juvenile, cavalier attitude.”
The message was among those released today by a state legislative committee investigating lane closures at the bridge from Sept. 9 to Sept. 12, which snarled traffic in Fort Lee, New Jersey. Kelly was referring to a politically influential rabbi in New Jersey, the New York Times (NYT) and Bergen Record reported.
Kelly’s firing was announced Jan. 9 by Christie, a Republican eyeing a White House run who has denied any role in the bridge scandal. Lawmakers and federal prosecutors are probing who shut down the lanes and why. Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich, a Democrat, has said he believes the traffic jams were meant to punish him for not backing Christie’s re-election last year.
Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-27/christie-aide-kelly-sent-second-traffic-problems-text-1-.html
Senate Democratic Leader Reid Says Conservative Koch Brothers Lack Conscience, Are Un-American
Source: Associated Press
@AP: Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid says conservative Koch brothers lack conscience and are un-American: http://t.co/TkiLJvr8L8
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Senate's top Democrat criticized a pair of billionaire brothers in unusually harsh terms Wednesday, accusing the conservative duo of being "un-American," spreading lies about President Barack Obama's health care overhaul and lacking a conscience.
In a pair of appearances on the Senate floor, Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., became the latest Democrat this election year to denunciate Charles and David Koch - pronounced "Coke."
The brothers' representatives said Reid's attack was "disgraceful" and accused him of attacking people hurt by the 2010 health care law.
Reid's focus was on television ads that are being used against Democratic congressional candidates, commercials that he said misleadingly criticize the health care law.
"When you make billions of dollars a year you can be as immoral and dishonest as your money will allow you to be," Reid said. "It's too bad that they're trying to buy America, and it's time that the American people spoke out against this terrible dishonesty of these two brothers who are about as un-American as anyone that I can imagine."
Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_REID_KOCH_BROTHERS
BREAKING: Arizona governor vetoes bill allowing religious reasons for refusing service to gays
Source: Associated Press
@AP: BREAKING: Arizona governor vetoes bill allowing religious reasons for refusing service to gays.
ARIZONA GOVERNOR VETOES RELIGIOUS FREEDOM BILL
By BOB CHRISTIE
— Feb. 26, 2014 7:52 PM EST
PHOENIX (AP) — Gov. Jan Brewer on Wednesday vetoed a Republican bill that set off a national debate over gay rights, religion and discrimination and subjected Arizona to blistering criticism from major corporations and political leaders from both parties.
Brewer's decision defused a national furor over gay rights and religious freedom.
The bill backed by Republicans in the Legislature was designed to give added protection from lawsuits to people who assert their religious beliefs in refusing service to gays. But opponents called it an open attack on gays that invited discrimination.
The bill thrust Arizona into the national spotlight last week after both chambers of the state legislature approved it. As the days passed, more and more groups, politicians and average citizens weighed in against Senate Bill 1062. Many took to social media to criticize the bill, calling it an attack on gay and lesbian rights.
Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/arizona-governor-returns-home-amid-furor-over-bill
Collins Enters Game, Becoming NBA'S 1st Openly Gay Player
Source: Associated Press
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jason Collins has become the first openly gay player to see action in an NBA game.
Collins, signed Sunday to a 10-day contract with the Brooklyn, reported into the game against the Los Angeles Lakers with 10:28 left in the second quarter and the Nets leading 35-26 after Nick Young made the first of his two free throws.
The crowd welcomed him with a nice ovation when public address announcer Lawrence Tanter announced his name.
Earlier, Collins said he was too busy trying to learn plays to worry about making history.
Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/collins-enters-game-nbas-1st-openly-gay-player
Breaking: Ukraine's Legislature Votes to Hand Presidential Powers to Parliament Speaker
Source: Associated Press
@AP: BREAKING: Ukraine's legislature votes to hand presidential powers to parliament speaker.
@BreakingNews: Ukraine's parliament votes to temporarily hand over the duties of president to the speaker of the assembly, Oleksander Turchinov - @Reuters
UKRAINE: PARLIAMENT CHIEF TAKES PRESIDENTIAL POWER
By YURAS KARMANAU and JIM HEINTZ
— Feb. 23, 2014 5:58 AM EST
KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine's newly emboldened legislature has voted to hand the president's powers to the parliament speaker.
The legitimacy of Sunday's vote is unclear. President Viktor Yanukovych has said that a flurry of parliament decisions in recent days are illegal.
The Verhovna Rada voted overwhelmingly to temporarily hand the president's powers to speaker Turchinov.
Oleksandr Turchinov is a close ally of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, the president's main foe.
Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/ukraine-presidents-whereabouts-unclear
Carbon Monoxide Detected at NY Mall, 1 Dead
Source: Associated Press
CARBON MONOXIDE DETECTED AT NY MALL, 1 DEAD
Feb. 22, 2014 10:56 PM EST
HUNTINGTON STATION, N.Y. (AP) — A hospital spokeswoman says a man has died after being overcome by carbon monoxide at a New York mall.
Huntington Hospital spokeswoman Julie Robinson-Tingue says the man was one of 10 people brought in after the carbon monoxide incident Saturday at the Walt Whitman Shops in Huntington Station on Long Island. The hospital did not immediately release any information about the man.
Suffolk County police earlier said three officers were among those overcome by carbon monoxide at the mall, which is about 35 miles east of New York City. They responded to a call shortly after 6 p.m.
Robinson-Tingue said three people were being treated at the hospital and the others have been discharged.
Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/5-hospitalized-due-carbon-monoxide-ny-mall
Forget The Local Cold: Worldwide, It Was Another Hot January
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/02/21/280767153/forget-the-local-cold-worldwide-it-was-another-hot-januaryForget The Local Cold: Worldwide, It Was Another Hot January
by SCOTT NEUMAN
February 21, 2014 4:24 PM
January will go down in the weather history books as the fourth-warmest on record.
That's right.
No matter how brutal the winter was in North America, especially the Eastern half, it was balanced by warm temperatures elsewhere on the planet.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Climate Data Center says that last month marks the 38th consecutive January and the 347th consecutive month (almost 29 years) that global temperatures have been above the average for the 20th century.
The last time the average temperature was below-average in January was in 1976 and the last time there was a below-average month was February 1985. Record keeping goes back to 1880.
NOAA says the combined global land and ocean surfaces for last month was 54.8°F (12.7°C), or 1.17°F (0.65°C) above the 20th century January average of 53.6°F (12.0°C):
"Most areas of the world experienced warmer-than-average monthly temperatures, with the most notable warmth across Alaska, western Canada, southern Greenland, south-central Russia, Mongolia, and northern China. Parts of southeastern Brazil and central and southern Africa experienced record warmth, contributing to the warmest January Southern Hemisphere land temperature departure on record at 2.03°F (1.13°C) above the 20th century average. Temperature departures were below the long-term average across the eastern half of the contiguous U.S, Mexico, and much of Russia. However, no regions of the globe were record cold."
The Weather Channel asks "in a warming world, how can it be so bitterly cold?"
"Deke Arndt, a scientist at the National Climatic Data Center explains, 'We see more evidence that we will continue to have cold air outbreaks as the climate continues to warm. Cold air outbreaks, like the type we saw in January, over time, have become statistically more uncommon.'"
Jeffrey Toobin: Clarence Thomas Disgraceful Silence (Eight Years Now)
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/comment/2014/02/clarence-thomas-disgraceful-silence.htmlFebruary 21, 2014
CLARENCE THOMAS’S DISGRACEFUL SILENCE
POSTED BY JEFFREY TOOBIN
As of this Saturday, February 22nd, eight years will have passed since Clarence Thomas last asked a question during a Supreme Court oral argument. His behavior on the bench has gone from curious to bizarre to downright embarrassing, for himself and for the institution he represents.
- snip -
As for Thomas, he is physically transformed from his infamous confirmation hearings, in 1991—a great deal grayer and heavier today, at the age of sixty-five. He also projects a different kind of silence than he did earlier in his tenure. In his first years on the Court, Thomas would rock forward, whisper comments about the lawyers to his neighbors Breyer and Kennedy, and generally look like he was acknowledging where he was. These days, Thomas only reclines; his leather chair is pitched so that he can stare at the ceiling, which he does at length. He strokes his chin. His eyelids look heavy. Every schoolteacher knows this look. It’s called “not paying attention.”
MORE
Oregon Won't Defend Gay-Marriage Ban in Lawsuit
Source: Associated Press
OREGON WON'T DEFEND GAY-MARRIAGE BAN IN LAWSUIT
By NIGEL DUARA and JONATHAN J. COOPER
— Feb. 21, 2014 2:59 AM EST
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — On March 12, 2004, the state of Oregon had a problem. Its most populous county was handing out marriage licenses to same-sex couples, and the state was unsure whether those actions were on solid legal footing.
Ted Kulongoski, then the governor, asked his attorney general if state agencies should treat same-sex marriages as legal, until the state Supreme Court makes a decision,
"Existing Oregon statutes limit the grant of marriage licenses to one man and one woman," then-Oregon Attorney General Hardy Myers wrote.
That November, 57 percent of Oregon voters agreed to a gay marriage ban. Then the Supreme Court voided the marriage licenses already issued. And federal law still banned the recognition of same-sex couples.
Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/oregon-wont-defend-gay-marriage-ban-lawsuit-0
Ew! Michelle Obama on Tonight Show w/ Jimmy Fallon
Profile Information
Member since: Fri Nov 12, 2004, 08:39 AMNumber of posts: 45,788