The unions won too, they are just too stupid and greedy to know it.

Unions have blasted the bill for ending their ability to collectively bargain their medical benefits. Health care plans for 500,000 public workers would be set by a new state panel comprised of union workers and state managers, rather than at the negotiating table. A sunset provision would allow unions to resume collective bargaining after increased health care contributions are phased in over four years.

In addition, police officers, firefighters, teachers and rank-and-file public workers would all pay more for their pensions and health benefits.

Supporters of the bill say the state needs to cut costs because the pension and health systems are underfunded by more than $120 billion total. The Christie administration estimated the bill would save $3 billion in health benefits over the next 10 years and $120 billion in pension costs over 30 years. Much of the pension savings are from the controversial elimination of the cost-of-living adjustments for retirees, which unions have threatened to challenge in court.

Now that he's achieved his major priority, he's got some free time on his hands, right? I hear Iowa and New Hampshire are lovely this time of year.

Posted by: DrewM at 06:55 AM | Comments (136)
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In the (week)end there will only be CHAOS!* more...

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 02:52 AM | Comments (397)
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Like Patterico, I don't know if everything being printed there is a real DM. However, Gennette herself confirmed parts of the other day's dump.

Were those real, but now these are fake? Possible. I don't know.

Patterico's way of looking at it is it's news if it's real and it's also news if it's fake.

We don't know who "JohnReid9" is, the man (?) who is sending the DMs is. He has a connection to NikkiReid, "Betty," who actually received these DMs (it is claimed). Whether this is Father-Daughter or Husband-Wife or left hand/right hand we don't know.

That out of the way: If these DMs are real, then:

1. Anthony Weiner was not engaged in lewd conduct with minors, but

2. Anthony Weiner was engaged in inappropriate exchanges with them.

Yeah, look: A 46 year old dude should not be acting like a contemporary of young girls, cursing with them, talking about the crushes they have on him, etc. He should be keeping the line between adult and minor very strong, not fuzzing it up.

Actually, he shouldn't be talking to these girls privately at all, but he definitely shouldn't be getting flirty and familiar with them.

Below, the death threat I got tonight.

more...

Posted by: Ace at 10:32 PM | Comments (281)
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I actually didn't know this was going on.

But it's been going on all day. A cyberthon for care packages for the troops.

S.E. Cupp is on now. She seems to be bartering pictures and stuff for donations.

I don't know how they don't hit $500,000.

Now Breitbart is up.

Goal Exceeded! $507,000!

Posted by: Ace at 06:31 PM | Comments (38)
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The Seven Year Itch: When Do People Get Married and Divorced?

Of course based on this data it really should be called the seven-and-a-half year itch.

Young people are waiting to marry much more than they did 25 years ago which is a good thing. But it also flies in the face of my usual cynical advice to get hitched early so you can get your first marriage out of the way while you still have your looks and few communal assets.

Posted by: Maetenloch at 06:08 PM | Comments (864)
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Read it either at Sipsey Street Regulars, a blog following Gunwalker closely, or the original in the LAT.

The acting director of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is strongly resisting pressure to step down because of growing controversy over the agency's surveillance program that allowed U.S. guns to flow unchecked into Mexico, according to several federal sources in Washington.

Kenneth E. Melson, who has run the bureau for two years, is reportedly eager to testify to Congress about the extent of his and other officials' involvement in the operation, code-named Fast and Furious.

...

"He is saying he won't go," said one source close to the situation, who asked for anonymity because high-level discussions with Melson remained fluid. "He has told them, 'I'm not going to be the fall guy on this.' "

But get this: Melson needs the approval of DoJ to testify before Congress. And for some reason, DoJ hasn't granted it yet.

Meanwhile, the WaPo has been spinning like a top for Team Gun Violence, claiming that Issa was fully briefed and raised "no objections." He calls that an "outright lie."

And DoJ was shopping the claim around, looking for a dupe to publish it.

Spokesman Hill told The Daily Caller that the Justice Department has been shopping the Issa story around town. “We have had people who have contacted us before the Washington Post,” he said. “They told us people in the Justice Department were trying to push this story and I think a number of publications didn’t think it was credible or, for whatever reason, decided not to run it.”

More on the Obama Administration's very own Captain America, the supposed "Fourth Estate" of our media.

I don't think it's a separate estate. It's just the PR division.

Posted by: Ace at 06:00 PM | Comments (109)
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The Commander in Chief addressed the 10th Mountain Division today:

First time I saw 10th Mountain Division, you guys were in southern Iraq. When I went back to visit Afghanistan, you guys were the first ones there. I had the great honor of seeing some of you because a comrade of yours, Jared Monti, was the first person who I was able to award the Medal of Honor to who actually came back and wasnÂ’t receiving it posthumously.

In case you missed it, President Obama has been to Iraq and Afghanistan. He has also awarded the Medal of Honor.

Of course, there was one little detail he got wrong in his speech. Something so small ... trivial, really ... that I hate to even bring it up.

Jared Monti, who was in 10th Mountain, was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously. His eternal resting place is about 50 miles from where I sit typing this.

As all readers of this Smart Military Blog™ know, Salvatore Giunta, who was not in 10th Mountain but instead the 173rd Airborne, was the first living Medal of Honor recipient from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

And, given that he was also the first living recipient since the Vietnam War, you'd think this might leave a lasting impression on the Commander in Chief. You'd be wrong.

It's a shame whoever loaded TOTUS with that speech didn't care half as much about this very simple detail as he did making sure his boss took credit for something. And it's doubly shameful that Obama didn't catch it, but we all know he just reads whatever is on the 'prompter anyway.*

Dramatization and update below the fold. more...

Posted by: andy at 04:35 PM | Comments (257)
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New trailer.

There was a question raised about the villains here, the old Captain America foe, "HYDRA." Someone asked, "Does that mean he's not fighting Nazis?"

The trailer explains that HYDRA is the Nazi "Deep Science Division." If I heard that right. What the hell is deep science? I don't know. more...

Posted by: Ace at 04:19 PM | Comments (79)
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The DREAM Act went up for a vote; it was killed by a vote.

That's how we do things in America.

Or it was. B.O., or Before Obama.

I.C.E has announced changes to its deportation program. Agents are now specifically urged to consider whether an illegal is studying in high school or college or is serving or did serve in the military.

"Specifically urged" means "don't do it if you want to keep your job or get promoted."

Video of a tart-tongued Krauthammer at the link.

Original version of flag found at The Chicago Boyz; alternate version (with yellow field depicted here) created by Points and Figures.

Posted by: Ace at 04:08 PM | Comments (56)
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So, Jews can't fly to Saudi Arabia. That's long been a policy of The Kingdom.

But this ban on Jews is being implemented by Delta. Delta will be the ones doing the paper-work and enforcing it at the gate. It'll be on them.

Also, on anyone carrying a cross. So, sort of evenhanded at least.

Good riddance to bad rubbish.

Jews and Israelis, or passengers carrying any non-Islamic article of faith, will not be able to fly Delta Air Lines flights from the U.S. to Saudi Arabia under Delta's new partnership with Saudi Arabian Airlines.

I hated Delta anyway.

Buh-bye.

Oh, and unrelated: Two Muslims arrested for planning attack on recruiting center.

Update: The article on USAToday was pulled.

Now it's been replaced by:

Airline code-sharing agreement causes confusion
Updated 11m ago | 173 | 43
Share
An early version of this story contained incomplete information and has been removed

Which sounds to me like "The story was correct, but Delta is a big-money advertiser, and we're not supposed to run this until we have the 'context' their PR office supplies us with."

Here's their article explaining that, when it comes to a superior cultural, "diversity" requires you to act as a handmaiden for their discrimination and intolerance:

We, like all international airlines, are required to comply with all applicable laws governing entry into every country we serve. You as passengers are responsible for obtaining the necessary travel documents, such as visas and certification of required vaccinations, and weÂ’re responsible for making sure that you have the proper documentation before you board.

On a personal note, I want to share with you all that IÂ’m proud to work at a global airline that serves a diverse customer base with an extremely diverse workforce...

I'll bet.

It's always surprising that the liberal mind is so intolerant of others' supposed intolerance, and will gnash their teeth and scream about it and even commit assault, and yet, when Islam pokes up its head to say "Respect our intolerance," this somehow goes into the "diversity of views" category and everyone is supposed to (literally?) bow to it.

Of course Styen has been making this point pithily since forever ago:

"Our tolerance of our own tolerance is making us intolerant of other people's intolerance, which is intolerable."

The Religion blog article is here.

Sure, some people have egregious policies. And by partnering with those people, you mainstream them and make them acceptable.

So you don't partner with them. Seems easy.

Question: And this is a real question.

Would this man:

be permitted on Delta's Saudi Arabia service?

If not, why not? And if it's okay for Delta to boot him off on behalf of the Saudis, may I inquire why we may not boot him off on our own authority?

How does acting at the behest of a foreign interest create rights that American businesses usually don't have?

If a foreign interest can confer rights, it can also subtract them, yes?

This New Tolerance certainly does seem to be a strange and highly selective thing.

An airline can implement a policy of JudenRein at 30,000 feat, but if I dare use the words "gay" or "faggy" I'm the worst person ever.

Better Question: from kdabear:

If they partnered with an airline that barred muslims, would Delta stay in the partnership and make the same lame excuses?

Posted by: Ace at 03:18 PM | Comments (324)
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