Nova Scotia Liberals move solidly into majority territory

The Corporate Research Associates daily tracking poll for The Chronicle Herald shows little movement as the campaign in Nova Scotia progresses. And the only small movement it does show is away from the incumbent government and the third place Tories and towards the Liberals of Stephen McNeil.

I wrote about the state of the race and the election projection in this week's article for The Globe and Mail, and I invite you to check it out.

Since the last major update on this site, the projection has swung rather significantly in the Liberals' favour. The party is now projected to take 50.3% of the vote, up 4.8 points from where the Liberals stood with polling up to Sept. 18. That gives them a 23-point lead over the New Democrats, and even their likely low range still puts them 21 points up on the NDP. Stretched to its extreme, the Liberals would still win by 10 points even if the polls fall on their face as they have in recent elections.

The New Democrats have slipped 1.1 points to 27.3%, while the Progressive Conservatives have dropped 3.1 points to 20.1%. They seem to have bit hit hardest by the gains McNeil has made during the campaign so far.


http://www.threehundredeight.com/2013/09/ns-liberals-move-solidly-into-majority.html

N.J. legislators inching toward override of Christie's gay marriage veto

TRENTON — Under the din of a bustling election season, there’s a quiet movement afoot to make gay marriage a reality in New Jersey by the end of the year.

Advocates have been working to convince state lawmakers — including a number of Republicans — that they should cross Gov. Chris Christie and override his veto of a bill (S1) that would legalize same-sex marriage. The state currently allows civil unions, and Christie maintains same-sex marriage should be decided by a voter referendum.

The effort to override Christie is still an uphill battle: In the Assembly, advocates need 12 more lawmakers to vote for an override than those who voted for the original bill. Three more votes are needed in the Senate. And the clock is ticking, with the legislative session ending in January.

But with new pledges to vote for an override — and a lame-duck Legislative session approaching — there are signs the gap is shrinking.

http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2013/09/gay_marriage_new_jersey_christie_veto_override_effort.html

Hawaii Mormons concede gay marriage debate by pushing for religious exemptions.

Whether Mormons favor or oppose the potential change, the letter said, they should push for “a strong exemption for people and organizations of faith” that would protect religious groups “from being required to support or perform same-sex marriages or from having to host same-sex marriages or celebrations in their facilities; and protect individuals and small businesses from being required to assist in promoting or celebrating same-sex marriages.”

Owen Matsunaga, one of the stake presidents over a number of Mormon congregations and the church’s spokesman in Hawaii, said LDS leaders in Salt Lake City “are certainly aware of the issues in Hawaii” but expect local leaders and members to make decisions specific to local circumstances.”

“Our position in Hawaii,” Matsunaga wrote in an email, “is entirely consistent with the church’s doctrine and in harmony with this pattern.”....

The letter’s language seems to “signal a kind of resignation that there’s a shift in society that we can’t stop,” Monson said, “but we can ask for exceptions.”



http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/20/hawaii-mormons-gay-marriage_n_3956599.html?utm_hp_ref=religion

Let's get a few thing straight about Syria

Whether or not you support a military strike on Syria, let's stop acting like Republicans and accept facts as they are: facts.

1. Assad is a bloody dictator who is possibly worse that his dad.

2. Yes, the Syrian military gassed their own people.

3. Yes, Syria committed war crimes.

4. No, it was not genocide.

5. No, this is not some plot to facilitate construction of an oil pipeline.

6. No, Miley Cyrus was not sent on stage to distract from Syria.

7. Syrian rebel forces are alleged to have been forcing non-Muslim out of captured territories. There may be no good guy in this fight.

There. Lesson over.

New Mexico high court to hear case for same-sex marriage statewide

Reuters) - The New Mexico Supreme Court agreed on Friday to decide once and for all whether same-sex matrimony should be legal statewide after several counties began issuing marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples, prompting a legal challenge.

Stepping into an intensifying debate over gay marriage in a state where same-sex unions are neither expressly recognized nor prohibited by law, the New Mexico court set a hearing for October 23 to consider a request from all 33 counties statewide to settle the matter.

All five of the state Supreme Court justices concurred in ordering a review of the case without comment.

The justices had previously declined to intervene on the issue, saying they would leave it to the lower courts to rule on lawsuits being filed in different counties.

At least two court decisions since August have tipped the scales in favor of same-sex unions in New Mexico, which gay rights advocates hope will join 13 other U.S. states and the District of Columbia in recognizing gay marriages outright.


http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/07/us-usa-gaymarriage-newmexico-idUSBRE98602120130907

Michael Bloomberg Blasts Bill De Blasio Over 'Racist' Campaign

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg blasted Democratic mayoral candidate Bill de Blasio, accusing him of running a "racist" campaign.

In an interview with New York Magazine published Saturday, Bloomberg said de Blasio is "using his family to gain support."

"I think it’s pretty obvious to anyone watching what he’s been doing," Bloomberg said of de Blasio. "I do not think he himself is racist. It’s comparable to me pointing out I’m Jewish in attracting the Jewish vote."

Back in August, de Blasio released an ad featuring his African-American wife, Chirlane McCray, and his 15-year-old son Dante. In the clip, the teen says his dad "is the only Democrat with the guts to really break from the Bloomberg years."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/07/michael-bloomberg-bill-de-blasio_n_3886338.html?utm_hp_ref=politics

A Warm San Francisco Night (VIDEO)

'Batwoman' Authors Exit, Claim DC Comics Banned Gay Marriage Storyline

The authors of "Batwoman" are exiting due to creative differences with DC Comics. Their decision came, in part, after an alleged ban on a same-sex marriage storyline.

Co-authors J.H. Williams and W. Haden Blackman announced they plan to leave "Batwoman" after issue #26 is released in December, The Hollywood Reporter first noted. The announcement was made in a blog post Wednesday.

"In recent months, DC has asked us to alter or completely discard many long-standing storylines in ways that we feel compromise the character and the series," they wrote. "We were told to ditch plans for Killer Croc's origins; forced to drastically alter the original ending of our current arc, which would have defined Batwoman's heroic future in bold new ways; and, most crushingly, prohibited from ever showing Kate and Maggie actually getting married. All of these editorial decisions came at the last minute, and always after a year or more of planning and plotting on our end."

Williams and Blackman said they reached the decision to leave DC Comics because "the eleventh-hour nature of these changes left us frustrated and angry" and prevented them from "telling the best stories we can."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/05/batwoman-dc-comics-gay-marriage_n_3873508.html

HI: Abercrombie prepared to call special session on marriage equality.

Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie (D) attempted to nudge state lawmakers into action on Wednesday, releasing a draft of a bill that would make his state the 14th to legalize gay marriage.

The legislation, based off a bill that stalled earlier this year in the state Senate, "was drafted in collaboration with legislators, staff and stakeholders," Abercrombie said.

Abercrombie has expressed hopes that state lawmakers will meet for a special session in order to vote on the measure. Speaking after a rally outside the capitol that was timed with the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington on Wednesday, Abercrombie said he would let leaders in the state legislature review the bill before urging them to convene again to debate it.

While Democrats control large majorities of both the state House and Senate, lawmakers have so far been unable to get the necessary two-thirds support for a special session in each chamber. Abercrombie has said he'd be willing to a call a special session if he believes it would result in the bill's passage.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/29/hawaii-gay-marriage_n_3835918.html

This time, long odds for GOP in NYC mayor's race

NEW YORK (AP) — New York City is one of the nation's most liberal cities, yet the Republican Party has won the last five mayoral elections.

But the GOP's eventual nominee this year — who will emerge from a primary that has been wildly overshadowed by its Democratic counterpart — will face steep odds in trying to make it six in November.

Joe Lhota, the former head of the region's transportation agency, is considered the favorite over John Catsimatidis, a billionaire entrepreneur best known for owning a grocery store chain. George McDonald, who founded a nonprofit that finds jobs for the homeless, is currently polling third.

But all three would be trounced by any of the top Democratic candidates in a general election showdown, according to recent polls. Registered Democrats outnumber Republicans 6-to-1 here, and President Barack Obama won 81 percent of the city's vote in his 2012 re-election.


http://www.kvue.com/news/national/221353851.html