If This Isn't 'Election Interference' What Is?

 

Luke Russert: Media ARE Biased Against People Of Faith

NBC News reporter Luke Russert is the son of the late Tim Russert who was host of NBC's Meet the Press.

Christie: Efforts To Privatize NJ TV Network Advance

Moving forward with the next steps in securing the future for public broadcasting in New Jersey, Governor Christie today took several actions aimed at carrying out the Administration’s goal of transitioning New Jersey Network into an independent broadcast entity that will continue to serve a New Jersey-centric programming mission, without taxpayer subsidy.

These steps include: the signing of the New Jersey Public Broadcasting System Transfer Act; the direct appointment of three members to the reconstituted New Jersey Public Broadcasting Authority, as provided for in the Act; and, the temporary suspension of layoffs for NJN employees while the transition process develops.

“Today, we are taking the next steps to secure the future of New Jersey public television as an independent public media organization able to stand on its own without any continuing taxpayer subsidy,” said Governor Christie. “In addition to our work already underway, these actions today pave the way for New Jersey focused programming to continue uninterrupted while New Jersey Network’s transition to a free-standing institution is completed.”

Governor Christie signed S-2406, the New Jersey Public Broadcasting System Transfer Act, a bill modeled on the Christie Administration’s proposal submitted to the legislature in September to accomplish the conversion of New Jersey Network from a government body to an independent entity, either to a non-profit corporation or through an agreement with an existing public broadcasting entity.

The Department of Treasury will be responsible for implementing the law, aspects of which is already underway, including:

· compiling an inventory of the authority’s and foundation’s assets and liabilities;

· identifying the methods or mechanisms required to transfer assets and liabilities;

· receiving and approving proposals for the transfer of any or all of the authority’s or foundation’s assets; and

· assuring that the successor to NJN can fulfill the responsibilities of a maintaining a New Jersey-focused public broadcasting operation.

In addition, Governor Christie today named the following three individuals to serve on the New Jersey Public Broadcasting Authority, effective immediately:

· Treasurer Andrew Sidamon-Eristoff

· John Inglesino, Rockaway, New Jersey

· Anthony Della Pelle, Morristown, New Jersey

S-2406 provides for the current membership of the Authority to be sunset and reconstituted. These appointments represent the three direct appointments authorized by the Governor under the new statute. Two additional members will be appointed to provide for the remaining membership, one by the Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-Gloucester/Cumberland/Salem) and one by the Assembly Speaker Sheila Y. Oliver (D-Essex/Passaic).

Finally, Governor Christie also announced that the layoff plan for NJN employees, initiated in September in accordance with existing collective bargaining agreements, Civil Service Commission rules and regulations, and with the goals of moving NJN from a government body to an independent entity, will be temporarily suspended to provide for the continued temporary operation of NJN while the transition is completed.

Senate sponsors of the legislation are Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-Gloucester/Cumberland/Salem) and Joseph Kyrillos Jr. (R-Monmouth) and in the Assembly it was sponsored by Assemblymembers Lou Greenwald (D-Camden), Alex DeCroce (R-Morris and Passaic) and Upendra Chivukula (D-Somerset/Middlesex).  

Here's How To Protest Juan Wlilliams' Firing

I've been told that NPR's web site has crashed.
I've also been told that you can't get through to their ombudsman via e-mail.
And I've been told that their phone lines in Washington are also down.
They're flooded -- flooded -- with protests over the idiotic firing of Juan Williams.
But this doesn't mean that you still can't protest.
Here's what to do: Call or write or e-mail your local NPR affiliate radio station. There's one near you.
Click here for the printable station list.
Then contact that local station and give them a piece of your mind. Do it now! You'll be glad you did.

Fire Helen Thomas: Here's How!

It's long past time for Helen Thomas to leave her post in the White House press corps.
Her recent remarks calling for Jews to "get the hell out of Palestine" and "go back to Poland; go back to Germany" are a disgrace. She's a bigot.
But Helen Thomas will not leave of her on accord.
She apparently has no class; no decency; no sensibility.
She seems to be a stubborn old fool who doesn't want to budge.
So, she will have to be removed by her employer, the Hearst Corporation.
So far, Hearst has dissociated itself from Thomas' scurrilous remarks but the company will not say that it will fire her.
This is where you come in.
You can call or e-mail Hearst corporate communications chief Paul Luthringer and tell him that Hearst needs to get rid of Helen Thomas. Fire her.
Call Paul Luthringer at 212-649-2540 or e-mail him at pluthringer@hearst.com.
Tell him that Helen Thomas must go.
Helen Thomas wants to get the Jews the hell out of Israel. But now, we want to get Thomas the hell out of the White House.
And we can succeed.
Do it today!

Trolley Driver's Sex? 'FTM'

From James Taranto at the Wall Street Journal:

Here's a jaw-dropping example of how far afield so-called affirmative action has gone from its initial purpose of compensating for past discrimination against black Americans. Last Friday a Boston trolley collision injured 46 people and caused an estimated $9.6 million in damage. Officials say trolley driver Aiden Quinn, distracted by a text message, rear-ended the other trolley.

ABC News reports that Quinn was an affirmative action hire, despite being a white male of sorts:

Quinn was originally hired as a part-time driver by the MBTA under the name Georgia Anne Quinn. In 2007 he was hired for a full-time position from a lottery of minority candidates. He was granted minority status as a self-described "female-to-male transgender," two sources told ABC News. Quinn lists his sexual orientation as "FTM."

"[Quinn] was initially hired as a minority and used her transgender status,'' an MBTA source said.

MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo told ABC News there was "nothing unusual" about Quinn's hire, and that he was picked out of a lottery that he entered in 2004.

Or that she entered in 2004--it's hard to keep these things straight.Boston Herald columnist Howie Carr slams the Boston Globe for having "waited until the 19th paragraph to mention Quinn's sex change." It's worse than that, though: The Globe never mentions that Quinn was an affirmative-action beneficiary, and indeed implies the opposite:

Quinn, 24, joined the MBTA 22 months ago after attempting for three years to get a job through the transit agency's lottery, a random system designed to prevent bias in hiring.

Carr raises another pertinent question:

We still don't know how far along Georgia/Aiden's transformation is. Is he taking hormones? If so, do the treatments have any side effects?

According to PositivelyAware.com, a support site for HIV patients, "FTMs" often take testosterone, whose side effects "include behavioral developments associated with production during puberty (aggression and increased libido)." Curiously, the Globe story begins as follows:

Last week's Green Line crash, the second in a year involving a 24-year-old operator, has renewed focus on the MBTA's training and hiring standards, which allow drivers as young as 18 to control a trolley.

"I think, at a minimum, it should be looked at," said Senator Mark C. Montigny, a New Bedford Democrat who serves on the Legislature's Transportation Committee. "The irony is, in some places you can't even rent a car if you're under 25."

An age limit on trolley drivers may be a reasonable precaution, but preferential treatment for applicants who chemically simulate male puberty is insane on its face.