NY judge Luis Gonzalez turned his Appellate Division court into a patronage mill — state Commission on Judicial Conduct gives him a pass

From the Daily News: “When an early-retirement program produced 25 administrative openings, almost every one went to buddies and kinfolk. [Judge] Gonzalez okayed a half-dozen well-paying jobs for people who had family ties to his chamber, never mind that some lacked the published qualifications for the posts. . . .

“Gonzalez managed or enabled all this by dismantling a reformed hiring process put in place by his predecessor. Under that system, job openings were publicly posted for the first time. A panel of senior career employees passed on the qualifications of applicants. Gonzalez dropped the listings and the panel.”

In addition, the New York Law Journal wrote that Gonzales “had simultaneously claimed two primary residences, including a rent-stabilized apartment in the Bronx, benefiting from both the tax advantages of home ownership and the advantages of rent stabilization.”

They can all Bite Me: Gonzalez for being a pig. Governor George Pataki for putting him on the Appellate Division, First Department bench. Governor David Paterson for elevating him to Presiding Justice. And the Commission on Judicial Conduct for letting him get away with it.

Luiz Gonzalez turned his high court into a patronage den – NY Daily News. Brought to our attention by The Flacks Report.

Ted Kennedy widow disinvited as commencement speaker over her ‘apparent’ beliefs

Anna Maria College in Paxton, Mass., withdrew their invitation to Victoria Kennedy to speak at their spring commencement after being told by Worcester Bishop Robert J. McManus that Kennedy was not an appropriate choice, because of her position on “the dignity of life from conception and the sanctity of marriage.”

Susie Madrak writes: “Isn’t that special? Once again, the conservative American Catholic leadership selectively brings its position to bear on any Catholic who opposes their highly-politicized positions on abortion, birth control and gay rights — in this case, Vicki Kennedy, widow of Senator Ted Kennedy . . .

“I will say this until I am blue in the face: Until we see the day that Catholic bishops also publicly embarrass politicians who vote for unjust wars, capital punishment or against the rights of workers to unionize things which are ALSO Catholic teachings, we know that they are nothing more than hypocritical sacks of lard.”

via Vicki Kennedy Disinvited As Commencement Speaker After Catholic Bishop Pressures College About Her ‘Apparent’ Beliefs | Crooks and Liars.

Republicans Reveal that Entire Presidential Race was a Prank

“In an April Fool’s Day announcement that took the political world by storm, the Republican Party revealed today that its entire presidential race had been an elaborate prank. . . .

“Texas Governor Rick Perry said he worried that ‘every time I screwed up at a debate people would figure out I was pulling their legs,’ but added, ‘The American people seemed to accept the idea that a Governor of Texas could be a blithering idiot.’

“When one reporter mentioned that Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) was not at the press conference, a sudden silence fell over the gathering.

“ ‘Did anyone ever tell Ron this was supposed to be a prank?’ Mr. Romney asked.  ‘Holy cow, maybe he’s really serious.’ ”

Apparently I’ve been wasting my time making fun of these guys when, all along, the joke was on me. I’m so embarrassed.

Republicans Reveal that Entire Presidential Race was a Prank « Borowitz Report.

Military nonbelievers’ event shows you don’t have to believe in God to kill people

“Organizers said they hoped the “Rock Beyond Belief” event at Fort Bragg would spur equal treatment toward nonbelievers in the armed forces and help lift the stigma for approximately 295,000 active duty personnel who consider themselves atheist, agnostic or without a religious preference.”

So many things to say and so few electrons.

I’ll limit myself to two for now:

  1. The number 295,000 is crap. It includes about 8,000 atheists, 1,800 agnostics and 286,000 “no religious preference” (I know the numbers don’t add up — they come from the Chicago Tribune). Yup, out of 1.4 million active duty members of the military about 1/2 of a percent are atheists.
  2. The atheists now want their own military chaplains. I’m in favor of good treatment for anyone willing to serve their country. But what will an atheist chaplain say to a dying soldier? “My son, I see you’re dying. It’s important to remember that you born for no particular reason. Your death has no meaning and you will have no existence after this one. Your life here was short, but other than a few people no one cares and no one will remember. Your children won’t remember you and your wife will remarry. You have no soul, but if you did, I’d commend it into the hands of Richard Dawkins and Alisa Rosenbaum.”

Military nonbelievers’ event shows there are atheists in foxholes – chicagotribune.com.

NJ Chris Christie’s bills are ghostwritten by conservative business group

From NJ.COM: “Let’s say you’re a state lawmaker, passionate about charter schools, and you want to turn this passion into laws that create social change. What you need are bills. And you want them fast — ready-made, just add water, written in language that can withstand partisan debate and legal scrutiny.

“There is a place that has just what you want.

“It’s called the American Legislative Exchange Council, a little-known conservative group headquartered in Washington, D.C., and funded by some of the biggest corporations in the United States — most with a business interest in state legislation.”

Cute, huh?

But it doesn’t stop there. Christie has now lashed out at the state’s own non-partisan bill writers, the Office of Legislative Services:

“For four decades, the OLS has been revered in Trenton by lawmakers who say its professional staff keeps the Legislature on par with the governor’s office. The nonpartisan office is also so far behind the scenes that most New Jerseyans have never heard of it.

“But last week, Republican Gov. Chris Christie thrust it into the spotlight when he launched a broadside at David Rosen, the office’s longtime chief budget officer, for tamping down Christie’s rosy projections of 7.4 percent revenue growth.

“Christie called the OLS a ‘tool’ of Democrats who control the Legislature and said Rosen’s testimony before the Senate budget committee — which predicted state revenue would fall $537 million short of Christie administration projections during the next 15 months — was ‘dead on arrival.’ ”

For cutting-and-pasting legislation from conservative websites, while attacking New Jersey’s own budget experts, Christie can BIte Me.

Some of Christie’s biggest bills match model legislation from D.C. group called ALEC | NJ.com.

and

Little-known N.J. Office of Legislative Services shrugs off claims of partisan slant

Education — A BiteMe Manifesto

At BITEME.ME,we have been covering education news for some time, and our loyal readers have been clamoring* to know just where we stand on this important issue. Here then is where we at BITEME stand on some key education policies:

  1. We’re pro-testing. The only way to measure the success of our students and our schools is through objective testing.
  2. We’re pro-tracking. Teaching homogenous classes is more efficient than teaching heterogeneous ones.
  3. We’re pro-teacher. Vilifying the teachers or their unions won’t make the schools better. (We’re also pro-management. Management must set objectives and policies, provide resources and help the teachers do their jobs.)
  4. We’re anti-voucher. We don’t actually have any facts for this, but we think that the conservative Heritage Foundation is behind the movement for school vouchers because they see it as a way to get taxpayer funding for religious schools.
  5. We’re anti–social promotion. We think a diploma should attest to a student’s academic achievement.
  6. We’re anti–student loans. Government-funded student loans have inflated the cost of tuition.
  7. We’re pro–free state colleges. A free college education helps a state’s citizens become smarter and more employable, and the cost to the taxpayers is reasonable.

We think this is a pretty satisfying list. Conservatives will hate numbers 3, 4, and 7. Liberals will hate numbers 1, 2, 5, and 6. We must be doing something right.

*= in our dreams