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Hissyspit's JournalNew Jersey Voters Believe Christie in Dark on Bridge Scandal: Poll
Source: Reuters
New Jersey voters believe Christie in dark on bridge scandal: poll
Wed Jan 15, 2014 11:13am EST
NEW YORK (Reuters) - New Jersey voters do not blame Governor Chris Christie for an epic September traffic jam on one of the world's busiest bridges, but think the scandal will hurt his chances as a 2016 presidential contender, a poll released on Wednesday found.
The prominent U.S. Republican's repeated apologies for the four-day tie-up has softened his image with voters who recently reelected him to a second term, earning him one of the lowest "bully" scores recorded in a poll by Quinnipiac University.
Fully 50 percent of respondents polled believed Christie's statement he did not know that a top aide, who he has since fired, called for the closure of three lanes on the George Washington Bridge possibly as political payback to the Democratic mayor of Fort Lee.
Just 41 percent of the 1,207 voters polled January 10-13, after the release of e-mails tying the aide to the scandal dubbed "Bridgegate" by local media, did not believe Christie's assertions that he did not know his staff had been involved.
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSBREA0E10W20140115
WikiLeaks Release: Administration Seen as Retreating on Environment in Talks on Pacific Trade
Source: WikiLeaks / New York Times
@wikileaks: RELEASE: WikiLeaks releases long sought Trans-Pacific Partnership (#TPP) #Environment draft http://t.co/iWw0yotOcv
Press release: Secret Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP)
Today, 15 January 2014, WikiLeaks released the secret draft text for the entire TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership) Environment Chapter and the corresponding Chairs' Report. The TPP transnational legal regime would cover 12 countries initially and encompass 40 per cent of global GDP and one-third of world trade. The Environment Chapter has long been sought by journalists and environmental groups. The released text dates from the Chief Negotiators' summit in Salt Lake City, Utah, on 19-24 November 2013.
The Environment Chapter covers what the Parties propose to be their positions on: environmental issues, including climate change, biodiversity and fishing stocks; and trade and investment in 'environmental' goods and services. It also outlines how to resolve enviromental disputes arising out of the treaty's subsequent implementation. The draft Consolidated Text was prepared by the Chairs of the Environment Working Group, at the request of TPP Ministers at the Brunei round of the negotiations.
When compared against other TPP chapters, the Environment Chapter is noteworthy for its absence of mandated clauses or meaningful enforcement measures. The dispute settlement mechanisms it creates are cooperative instead of binding; there are no required penalties and no proposed criminal sanctions.. With the exception of fisheries, trade in 'environmental' goods and the disputed inclusion of other multilateral agreements, the Chapter appears to function as a public relations exercise.
Julian Assange, WikiLeaks' publisher, stated: "Today's WikiLeaks release shows that the public sweetner in the TPP is just media sugar water. The fabled TPP environmental chapter turns out to be a toothless public relations exercise with no enforcement mechanism."
The Chairs' Report of the Environment Working Group also shows that there are still significant areas of contention in the Working Group. The report claims that the draft Consolidated Text displays much compromise between the Parties already, but more is needed to reach a final text. The main areas of contention listed include the role of this agreement with respect to multilateral environmental agreements and the dispute resolution process.
Read more: http://wikileaks.org/tpp-enviro/pressrelease.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/15/us/politics/administration-is-seen-as-retreating-on-environment-in-talks-on-pacific-trade.html
Administration Is Seen as Retreating on Environment in Talks on Pacific Trade
By CORAL DAVENPORT
January 15, 2014
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is retreating from previous demands of strong international environmental protections in order to reach agreement on a sweeping Pacific trade deal that is a pillar of President Obama’s strategic shift to Asia, according to documents obtained by WikiLeaks, environmentalists and people close to the contentious trade talks.
The negotiations over the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which would be one of the world’s biggest trade agreements, have exposed deep rifts over environmental policy between the United States and 11 other Pacific Rim nations. As it stands now, the documents, viewed by The New York Times, show that the disputes could undo key global environmental protections.
The environmental chapter of the trade deal has been among the most highly disputed elements of negotiations in the pact. Participants in the talks, which have dragged on for three years, had hoped to complete the deal by the end of 2013.
Environmentalists said that the draft appears to signal that the United States will retreat on a variety of environmental protections — including legally binding pollution control requirements and logging regulations and a ban on harvesting sharks’ fins — to advance a trade deal that is a top priority for Mr. Obama.
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Breaking: Oklahoma Ban on Gay Marriage Ruled Unconstitutional
Source: Tulsa World
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
Oklahoma ban on gay marriage ruled unconstitutional
BY DAVID HARPER, Tulsa World
U.S. Senior District Judge Terence Kern ruled Tuesday that Oklahoma’s ban on marriage equality is unconstitutional.
The ruling is stayed pending appeal, meaning marriages will not occur immediately in Oklahoma.
Read more: http://www.newsok.com/oklahoma-ban-on-gay-marriage-ruled-unconstitutional/article/3923784
FBI Doesn't Plan to File Criminal Charges Over IRS Targeting of Conservative Groups
Source: Wall Street Journal
Breaking: FBI doesn't plan to file criminal charges over the IRS's targeting of conservative groups. on.wsj.com/1eEjOjY
6:10pm - 13 Jan 14
Criminal Charges Not Expected in IRS Probe
FBI Investigation Involves Heightened Scrutiny of Conservative Groups
By Devlin Barrett
Criminal Charges Not Expected in IRS Probe
The Federal Bureau of Investigation doesn't plan to file criminal charges over the Internal Revenue Service's heightened scrutiny of conservative groups, a move that likely will only intensify debate over the politically charged scandal.
Read more: http://m.us.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303819704579318983271821584
Bin Laden Photos Won’t Be Released as Supreme Court Spurns Appeal
Source: Bloomberg
Bin Laden Photos Won’t Be Released as Supreme Court Spurns Appeal
By Greg Stohr
January 13, 2014 9:35 AM EST
The U.S. Supreme Court refused to order the release of photos of Osama bin Laden’s corpse and burial at sea, leaving intact the CIA’s classification of those images as top-secret.
The justices today turned away an appeal by Judicial Watch, a conservative watchdog group that filed a Freedom of Information Act suit seeking release of the 2011 photos. A lower court ruled that the classification of the images was proper.
The Obama administration and Central Intelligence Agency said release of the photos would damage national security by inflaming tensions overseas and leading to retaliatory attacks against Americans.
The lawsuit involved 52 images of bin Laden after he was killed during a raid by U.S. special operations forces on his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, in May 2011. President Barack Obama said in 2011 that the photos were “very graphic.”
Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-01-13/bin-laden-photos-won-t-be-released-as-court-spurns-appeal.html
TOM TOMORROW: Reefer Madness
Daily Kos Link: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/01/13/1268716/-Comic-Reefer-madness
Breaking: Supreme Court Won't Revive Arizona's 20-Week Abortion Ban
Source: Associated Press
COURT WON'T REVIVE ARIZONA'S 20-WEEK ABORTION BAN
Jan. 13, 2014 9:42 AM EST
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has rejected Arizona's bid to put in place its ban on most abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy.
The justices on Monday declined to reconsider a lower court ruling that the law violates a woman's constitutionally protected right to terminate a pregnancy before a fetus is able to survive outside the womb.
"Viability" of a fetus is generally considered to start at 24 weeks. Normal pregnancies run about 40 weeks.
Gov. Jan Brewer signed the ban into law in April 2012. Nine other states have enacted similar bans starting at 20 weeks or even earlier.
Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/court-wont-revive-arizonas-20-week-abortion-ban
WNYC: More New Jersey Mayors Say They Think They Were Punished For Not Playing Along w/ Christie
@GregMitch: RT @politicalwire: More New Jersey mayors say they think they were punished for not playing along with Chris Christie
http://t.co/wXKAyEEkVJ
http://www.wnyc.org/story/nj-mayors-was-christie-getting-revenge-me-too/
NJ Mayors: Was Christie Getting Revenge on Me, Too?
Friday, January 10, 2014
By SARAH GONZALEZ : Reporter, WNYC/NJPR
Mayors in New Jersey say they're starting to consider foul play on behalf of the Christie administration in light of the George Washington Bridge lane closure controversy.
Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer says she had a face to face visit with Governor Christie in the Spring, when he asked her to endorse him for re-election. She told him she would be remaining neutral.
“He was quite disappointed, but I wouldn't say that he was angry. He was disappointed and said he would keep asking,” Zimmer said. "And I said, 'We can keep the conversation going but I don't expect to be changing my position.’ And I didn't.”
She had applied for a Hazard Mitigation Grant to protect Hoboken from flooding. During Sandy, 80 percent of the city was under water.
Zimmer says she asked the state for $100 million in grants. She got $300,000 — a fraction of 1 percent.
“It's a lot less and I was extremely disappointed,” Zimmer said. “And at the time I was angry because I felt like the focus was on the shore.”
- snip -
In Jersey City, Mayor Steven Fulop recently disclosed that the Christie administration cancelled several meetings — the day after he refused to endorse the Governor.
In Elizabeth, Chris Bollwage, who has been the mayor for 21 years, says his city has gotten payback from Christie after its state legislators opposed several pieces of the Governor's legislation.
“The Governor's retribution was to close down the Division of Motor vehicles here in the city of Elizabeth, which is the fourth largest city in the state of New Jersey,” Bollwage said.
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Terry McAuliffe Bans Discrimination Against LGBT State Employees
Source: Washington Blade
Terry McAuliffe bans discrimination against LGBT state employees
January 11, 2014
By Michael K. Lavers
RICHMOND, Va.—Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe on Saturday signed an executive order that bans discrimination against LGBT state employees.
“An open and welcoming state is critical to the 21st century economy, but it’s also imperative for justice and fairness,” said McAuliffe during his inaugural address he gave after officially taking office.
McAuliffe repeatedly promised during his campaign against then-Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli that the first executive order he would sign as governor is a ban on anti-LGBT discrimination against state employees. Former Gov. Bob McDonnell did not issue such a mandate, but U.S. Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner as governor banned discrimination against state employees based on their sexual orientation.
Julian Walker of the Virginian-Pilot reported gender identity and expression for the first time was included in the anti-discrimination order.
Read more: http://www.washingtonblade.com/2014/01/11/terry-mcauliffe-bans-discrimination-lgbt-state-employees
Take that, Cuccinelli.
The 5 Most Damning Revelations In The New Chris Christie Bridge Scandal Documents
http://thinkprogress.org/home/2014/01/11/3150641/damning-revalations-contained-chris-christies-bridge-documents-dumpThe 5 Most Damning Revelations In The New Chris Christie Bridge Scandal Documents
BY IGOR VOLSKY ON JANUARY 11, 2014 AT 2:35 PM
Christie’s Port Authority chairman knew about the closings.
Though Christie insisted that David Samson, his chairman of the Port Authority, was not involved in the closings, the documents show that he was aware of the new traffic pattern before testing ended on Sep. 13.
In fact, Samson even wrote an angry email to New York Port Authority Official Patrick Foye, a Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) appointee, accusing him of leaking information to the press. “He’s playing in traffic, made a big mistake,” he wrote:
Christie officials knew that the new traffic patterns were causing massive congestion and raising safety concerns. Still, they continued the “study.”
Christie appointees Bill Baroni — the Deputy Director of the Port Authority — and David Wildstein — director of interstate capital projects — were told on the very first day of the study (Monday) that the new traffic patterns were causing massive delays in Fort Lee and impeding public safety. Fort Lee Police Department Chief called the new traffic pattern a “miserable failure.” Still, the officials kept the bridge lanes closed for three additional days:
Officials were also told that the tests were “very expensive and labor intensive”:
A PowerPoint presentation prepared after three days of snarled traffic, titled “EARLY assessment of the benefits of the trial.” The conclusion: “T.B.D.” (To be determined):
- snip -
Port Authority officials blamed the traffic on the Mayor of Fort Lee.
- snip -
Christie appointees tried to squash press stories about the study.
After reporters from the Wall Street Journal, New York Daily News, the Star Ledger, and other outlets began sending press inquires about the lane closures in September and then again as the controversy heated up in November, Christie appointees repeatedly instructed the press team to keep quiet and avoid comment.
Baroni specifically told Foye to avoid any public discussion about the matter:
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