Category: Uncategorized

Posted on

NJ: Chris Christie uses state helicopter to attend half of his son’s baseball game

From Washington Monthly: NJ Gov. Chris Christie arrived at his son’s baseball game this afternoon aboard a State Police helicopter.

Right before the lineup cards were being exchanged on the field, a noise from above distracted the spectators as the 55-foot long helicopter buzzed over trees in left field, circled the outfield and landed in an adjacent football field.

Christie not only used a state helicopter to catch a high school baseball game, he also had a car waiting for him to drive him 100 yards to the field.

I suppose one could make the argument that the governor really enjoys high school baseball and wants to show support for his son, so Christie went above and beyond to be there. Of course, that would be a little more compelling if the governor didn’t leave half-way through the game.

During the 5th inning, Christie and First Lady Mary Pat Christie got into the car, rode back to the helicopter and left the game. During a pitching change, play was stopped for a couple of minutes while the helicopter took off.

Christie left because he had a meeting with a bunch of wealthy Iowans who were in town to tell the governor how much they love him and want him to run for president.

As for the chopper, it’s one of two $12.5 million helicopters purchased for the state police. The intention was to use them for “homeland security duties and transporting critically injured patients.”

Christie, it appears, has added a new purpose for the aircraft.

The good news is Christie is really looking out for the people of NJ by cutting the education budget. Don’t want to be wasting any money, you know…

Posted on

Jersey Shore: Snooki crashes into Italian police car

From The Daily Beast: On Monday afternoon at 4:30 p.m., Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi plowed one of the cast’s blue Fiat Multipla cars into the back of a police vehicle while driving on one of the side streets outside Florence’s city center. She then managed to wedge her dark blue car between the cop car and a cement barrier, scraping the passenger side and badly damaging the Jersey Shore vehicle. Deena Cortese, who was in the front passenger seat, had to exit the car through an open window. The impact was so violent that one of the police officers was treated with a neck brace and taken from the scene by ambulance.

Snooki was then taken into custody but has not been formally charged with any crime, pending the results of a drug test and reports on the condition of the driver. The producers of MTV told local reporters that no alcohol was involved in the accident, but the police were seen administering a breathalyzer test just to be sure, no doubt based on the cast’s reputation. Snooki was arrested for public drunkenness last summer, and her other housemates are all known for their debauchery.

This time Snooki could be in serious trouble. Italian court cases are painfully niggling and not always friendly to foreigners—just ask Amanda Knox. Trials often take years to complete for even the most banal infractions. If the police officer is deemed to be truly injured beyond simple whiplash, and if Snooki is found to be negligent, she may face serious charges. One of the obvious downsides for a reality TV star is that every moment of their life is captured on tape. This might prove lucky for the Florentine police, though. No matter what happens, they will most surely sequester MTV’s footage of the accident to see exactly what happened.

More at The Daily Beast

Snooki joking in a neck brace after accident
Posted on

Sarah Palin may be getting nervous – Alaska To Release Thousands Of Palin Emails

In response to Freedom of Information Act requests dating back to the 2008 presidential elections, Alaska is set to release more than 24,000 pages of emails sent and received by Sarah Palin during her governorship. The Anchorage Daily News reports that 2,415 pages are exempt from the request.

MSNBC reports the e-mails should be ready by June 10. The state, reports MSNBC, had at first said it would cost as much as $15 million for the records, but the Daily News says individuals and news organizations that requested the records will pay $725.97 in copying fees.

Part of the reason it’s taken so long for Alaska to retrieve and make email records public is because the former Alaska governor sent and received official email using a Yahoo account. The Daily News reports:

Technicians searched for those records by sifting through email accounts of more than 50 state employees, including Cabinet members, executive staff and close aides, to look for emails Palin sent or received from her personal account.

Posted on

How does amending the Minnesota state constitution to outlaw marriage equality protect anyone’s marriage?

Minnesota may place a referendum on the ballot that would write prejudice and bigotry into the state constitution of Minnesota.

Watch the video and ask yourself: how does outlawing marriage equality protect your marriage? How does it ‘protect’ anyone’s marriage?

More on MoveOne.org

Posted on

Sarah Palin gets her facts wrong – AGAIN

Former half-term governor of Alaska Sarah Palin, in the only interview she’s granted (to her employer FoxNews) during her “One Nation” bus tour, claimed that the U.S. federal debt had grown more under Obama than “all those other presidents combined.”

This is flatly false. When Obama took office the debt stood at $10.6 trillion. After inheriting two wars and the worst economy since the Great Depression, the debt has grown by $3.7 trillion since Obama has been in office. Palin is off by about $7 trillion.
(via thinkprogress.org)

Posted on

HIV Google Map Gives New Perspective on Epidemic

From Wired.com: With HIV’s 30th anniversary around the corner, a new interactive map reveals U.S. data on the disease down to individual counties and, for some cities, even zip codes.

The nonprofit mapping effort, called AIDSVu, isn’t a perfect representation of the disease in the United States. The visualization is based on 2008 data, some states didn’t contribute county or demographic information that others did, and the map shows only diagnosed rates and cases. An estimated 1 in 5 HIV carriers in the U.S. are undiagnosed.

Despite these limitations, it may be the most thorough geographical depiction of HIV ever created.

“It shows HIV doesn’t respect borders like statistical reports do, and shows how far it’s reached into every part of the country, even rural areas,” said epidemiologist Patrick Sullivan of Emory University, one of the project’s leaders. “You can, for example, see a corridor of infection that goes down through the southeast. This is a new way of looking at this epidemic.”

Laws in every U.S. state require testing centers to report HIV-positive diagnoses, stripped of private information, to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Yet building a map using this data was a massive undertaking.

AIDSVu leaders spent more than 1.5 years coordinating the data’s entry into a single Google Map. With just a few clicks, it shows county-by-county HIV cases and rates, and the epidemic’s patterns by gender, poverty, ethnicity and other demographics.

New York City and Washington D.C. even show the disease’s reach down to zip codes. For example, in 10036, the zip code from which this story was written, the rate of people diagnosed with HIV is at least 1.95 percent. That’s about three times New York state’s average.

The AIDSVu map will be continually updated as fresh data arrives. The organization hopes states and counties that didn’t provide more detailed data will change their minds, helping create an even more complete picture of the epidemic.

Posted on

New Olivia Newton-John interview on Diversity Now Radio

Listen or download a new interview by Olivia Newton-John on Diversity Now Radio as she talks about her new movie, new music and building the Olivia Newton-John Cancer and Wellness Centre in Australia.

Diversity Now Media’s purpose is to break new ground for the LGBT Community and truly open the culture to the world through diverse and professional programming. We hope you will support our cause of bringing diversity to the masses through the education and entertainment of our programs.

Listen to Olivia’s interview by clicking here: Diversity Now Radio

Posted on

Civil Unions begin in Illinois today

From the Chicago Tribune: Long lines are expected to form early Wednesday at the Cook County Clerk’s downtown office of vital records as couples from across Chicago gather to be part of a historic moment — the issuing of the state’s first civil union licenses.

The doors will open at 7:30 a.m. and the clerk’s office will celebrate what it calls “the momentous occasion” by awarding a special gift package to the first couple to get a license. Adding to the festive atmosphere, about 20 local businesses will be supplying gifts that will be raffled off to other couples in line.

As with marriage licenses, couples will have to pay a $35 fee and wait one day before they can hold a civil union ceremony. Couples who are already registered as domestic partners in Cook County but want to enter into a civil union will get a $20 discount and their domestic partnership will be automatically dissolved.

Let’s all celebrate today this step forward for Illinois.

Forward, kids.

Posted on

Manhattanhenge is back!

There’s not much that’s as romantic or calming as the setting sun in Manhattan in the summer.

Manhattanhenge is back!

The semiannual phenomenon sees the setting sun align with the Manhattan street grid, creating an otherworldly moment when an orange glow fills the city’s cross streets and lights up buildings on both sides simultaneously. The name comes from Stonehenge, the prehistoric monument in Great Britain that aligns with the sun during the winter and summer solstice.

This year Manhattanhenge will took place on Tuesday May 31st at 8:17 pm and will again on Monday July 11th at 8:25 pm. A half sun will also be visible May 30th and July 12th. Mark your calendars!

For your best view, go as far east in Manhattan as possible while still being able to see New Jersey. The wider two way streets like 14th, 23rd, 34th and 42nd are recommended for even better views.

“Now you might never find that perfect town, but the sun still sets on a roof top where the city sounds like a Gershwin clarinet…”