Uh Oh

Christie Knew Of Lane Closures, Former Port Official Claims

The New York Times reports that a former Port Authority official says "evidence exists" that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie knew about politically motivated lane closings on the George Washington Bridge as they were happening.
The assertion contradicts earlier statements by Christie, who has said that he was "embarrassed and humiliated" when he found out that the lane closures were politically motivated instead of, as he'd been led to believe, part of a traffic study.
He said members of his staff acted without his permission or knowledge in September when they closed the lanes in what appeared to be an attempt to punish the mayor of Fort Lee, N.J. The closures caused massive traffic jams.
A letter from the attorney for David Wildstein, who personally oversaw the lane closings and resigned as the scandal grew, says his client has evidence "tying Mr. Christie to having knowledge of the lane closures, during the period when the lanes were closed, contrary to what the governor stated publicly."and he can prove the inaccuracy of some," the letter added. 

This man has a career in movieland, after he gets out of prison. 

I Ain't No Matt Yglesias

• Total Posts: 197
• Total Comments: 26

You got to have a mountain to climb.

Who Was Wrong?

Turns Out, Joe Biden Was Right About Dividing Iraq

From the National Journal and James Kitfield

"He was ahead of his time. "Biden got it dead right, and I still think transitioning to a federal power-sharing arrangement is the only way to stop the killing and hold Iraq together," says Leslie Gelb, former president of the Council on Foreign Relations, who wrote the op-ed with Biden."

 

You go, Joe!

What Does This Mean?

From Henry

Paul Krugman on hot money flows and Turkey.

There cannot be a crisis next week. My schedule is already full.

– Henry Kissinger

"Qualitatively, this looks like a classic emerging-markets crisis: foreign funds came flooding in, there was a sharp rise in private-sector foreign-currency-denominated debt, and then foreign money turned on its heel and fled. Quantitatively, it shouldn’t be that bad: Turkish external debt is only 40 percent of GDP (or was before the lira plunged), and supposedly Turkish businesses aren’t that leveraged. On the other hand, there’s a political crisis as well as a currency crisis. 

Oh, and contagion among emerging markets.Lovely."  PK.

Amateur Sports...Got To Love Them

Alleged Heroin Kingpin Helped Russia Win Olympics for Sochi 

 Russia won the right to host the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, beating out Austria and South Korea, with the help of a mysterious Russian businessman, Gafur Rakhimov, who U.S. authorities describe as a top organized crime boss and heroin kingpin currently under criminal indictment in Uzbekistan.
"He is one of the four or five most important people in the heroin trade in the world," Craig Murray, a former British ambassador to Uzbekistan, told ABC News for a report to be broadcast tonight on "World News With Diane Sawyer".
"He's absolutely a very major and dangerous gangster," Murray said. 

Uzbekistan delegate Gafur Rakhimov, left, during a sports congress in Ankara, Turley, November 1998.


Now that's what I call "Juice".  

h/t ABC News.

Everyone Needs A Good Reference

I just doesn't get any better than this:

Rob Ford sticks up for Justin Bieber: ‘He’s a young guy’ 

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford is sticking up for another headline-grabbing Canadian — Justin Bieber.
Ford was asked about the pop singer when he spoke by phone today to hosts on the Washington, D.C.-based Sports Junkies radio show.
Ford said Bieber is only 19 and asked the radio personalities, who called Bieber “Canada’s worst export,” to think back to when they were that age. On Wednesday, Bieber was charged in Toronto with assault.

    

Yup. I want to join their fan-club. Crack, booze, women and violence...just what the world needs more of.

Propane Shortages Across Virginia

How the Frack can this be?

WINCHESTER, Va. - In conjunction with the non stop cold, snow and ice, Virginia is experiencing a state-wide propane shortage.The U.S. Department of Energy reported that they've seen the largest draw of propane this season since the department was started 27 years ago.The U.S. Energy Information Administration reports that propane is up to $3.75 per gallon in Virginia, versus the $2.89 per gallon at this time last year.  

I wonder what's up? Not the Bro's!

 

72 billion reasons to smile.

So 'long Pete

Pete Seeger has left us...much poorer.

So 'long buddy. You was the best.

So You Thought You Knew It All

Milk Doesn't Do a Body So Good After All

—By Kevin Drum

| Wed Jan. 29, 2014

 

A Yankee In the Statehouse

BOB BROWN/TIMES-DISPATCH

Former President Bill Clinton, left, smiles as Governor-elect Terry MCauliffe, right, and his wife, Dorothy, head down the steps of the State Capitol in Richmond, Va.. on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2014, for McAuliffe's swearing-in as the 72nd governor of Virginia.

Duck Dynasty it aint.

A Graph of Misery

There is only one job available for every three people who want one. Where have all the jobs gone?