New subpoena to Port Authority

~ susie ~ 1 Comment

03072015_ChrisChristie_004_3x2_1080

There’s just so much there, I really don’t see how Chris Christie honestly expects to be a presidential contender:

Federal prosecutors issued a new subpoena to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey this week seeking possible evidence of claims New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s administration retaliated against the Democratic mayor of Jersey City.

The subpoena seeks records from a broad range of former authority officials regarding their interactions with Jersey City, according to a person familiar with the matter, including two Christie allies who resigned from the authority amid the George Washington Bridge lane closure scandal, David Wildstein and Bill Baroni.

Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop has said that the Christie administration punished him when he failed to endorse the governor’s reelection in 2013.

Within an hour of his decision not to provide Mr. Christie a coveted endorsement from across the political aisle, Mr. Fulop has said, meetings his administration had scheduled with state commissioners were abruptly canceled.

This is awesome

~ susie ~ 3 Comments

Great Miami River (flood stage)
If you want climate change preparedness money, you have to admit there’s such a thing as climate change! Can’t wait to hear what Fox News does with this one:

In an elegant reply to politicians who aren’t scientists but don’t mind ignoring experts who are, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has come up with a simple solution: States whose governors decide there’s no need to plan for the consequences of a changing climate will no longer qualify for federal grants for emergency preparedness. For climate deniers like Louisiana’s Bobby Jindal, Florida’s Rick Scott, or Texas’s Greg Abbott, it’s a pretty clear opportunity for them to put their coastlines and their populations where their mouths are. Governors who refuse to consider climate in their states’ hazard mitigation plans could lose hundreds of millions of dollars in FEMA money.

The new policy would only apply to grants aimed at disaster preparedness — funding for FEMA assistance following natural disasters would not be affected.

“If a state has a climate denier governor that doesn’t want to accept a plan, that would risk mitigation work not getting done because of politics,” said Becky Hammer, an attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council’s water program. “The governor would be increasing the risk to citizens in that state” because of his climate beliefs.

Hottest winter on record

~ susie ~ 3 Comments

Ready for summer. #pool #philadelphia

Well, I hope at least we get one more summer like the last one out of this mess, because it was just about perfect:

It may not make shivering Northeasterners feel any better, but their miserable winter wasn’t shared by the rest of the planet.

The three-month stretch from December through February was the warmest on record, the US National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) reported this week. Average global temperatures were 0.79 degrees Celsius (1.42 Fahrenheit) above the 20th century average, the highest mark since record keeping began in 1880. February’s average alone was 0.82 degrees Celsius (1.48 Fahrenheit) above the last century’s benchmark, the second highest on record for the month.

While the heavy snowfalls on the US East Coast and even parts of the South got a lot of attention this winter, the American West, Europe, and most of Russia had a warmer-than-average winter. Parts of Siberia saw average temperatures five degrees Celsius (nine Fahrenheit) above normal.

“I had a meeting over in London — it was in mid-February — and people there were saying, ‘Oh, what a nice, early spring,’ ” Donald Wuebbles, a University of Illinois atmospheric science professor and co-author of last year’s National Climate Report, told VICE News.

The latest figures “are a nice indication that things are continuing to happen,” Wuebbles said. But he added: “It’s only one indicator of the many things happening in the Earth’s climate system that we expect to continue.”

Dear sweet Jesus

~ susie

Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL)

Well, Debbie Wasserman Schultz announced she isn’t running, so if Alan Grayson wins the nomination and runs against Rick Scott, that will be very amusing:

According to the Tampa Bay Times, Scott told donors that he’s interested in challenging Nelson when he would be up for re-election at the end of his third term.

The Times argues that a Senate run might actually make a little more sense than a presidential run for Scott, who has made a habit of approaching national topics like Obamacare. Scott just barely won his last gubernatorial elections against Democrat Alex Sink and Republican-turned-Independent-turned-Democrat former Gov. Charlie Crist.

Scott’s last election wasn’t without some unusual bumps, including during a debate when he refused to take the stage until Crist got rid of a small fan he had with him.