New Jersey Congressman Steve Rothman announced that he fired his Chief of Staff, Bob Decheine, following Decheine’s arrest in Maryland for soliciting a minor, according to a report on Politickernj.
If convicted, Decheine faces a possible 10 years in prison and a $25,000 fine before he can apply to work as a TSA screener.
On the left, Jay Lassiter and Jeff Gardner of BlueJersey.com. Michael Aron of NJN, seated center. On the right, Art Gallagher and Murray Sabrin of MurraySabrin.com
NJN’s Reporters Roundtable will be a bloggers roundtable this week.
I was privileged to join BlueJersey’s Jay Lassiter and Jeff Gardner, along with Murray Sabrin for the taping on Michael Aron’s weekly show this afternoon at NJN’s studio in Trenton.
The half hour show will air Friday evening at 7PM and Sunday morning at 10AM and be posted on NJN’s website on Monday the 29th.
Politickernj has a poll running, “Who is the Democrats’ best 2013 candidate for governor?” that includes Congressman Frank Pallone.
Governor is probably the only higher office that Pallone would run for because can run in an odd-year election and not risk his congressional seat. He declined to risk his seat to take Senator Robert Torricelli’s place on the ballot in 2002.
The only way Pallone could win the Democratic nomination for Governor in 2013 is if no one else wanted to run against Chris Christie.
Middletown did not miss a loan payment. It didn’t even miss a deadline as the headline states. The township’s leadership chose not to apply for a loan now for a project, the dredging of Shadow Lake, that they don’t anticipate happening until 2012. Why would they?
If your bank was having a special on home mortgages that expires on on Friday, but you’re not in the market to buy a new home, did you miss the deadline for the mortgage special?
The Asbury Park Press article does present interesting and useful information about the Shadow Lake situation. It reveals that township officials are on top of the situation and are examining their alternatives. It is unfortunate that the Nudniks chose to spin the information as if there was crisis.
It’s not often that you will see New Jersey’s most conservative state legislator, Senator Mike Doherty, and our most liberal member of Congress, Rush Holt, on the same side of an issue.
The disgraceful security procedures deployed by TSA are such an issue.
Holt has written to John Pistole, the administrator of TSE, questioning the veracity of the agency’s claims regarding the radiation safety of the full-body scanners, whether the scanners are effective in detecting concealed weapons, weather the intimate images created by the scanners are indeed deleted once a passenger is cleared, and declaring that our airport security system is broken as evidenced by three year-old children being aggressively patted down by TSA screeners.
Holt praised Israel’s methods of airport security:
I’ve visited Israel many times in my life, including this fall. I have been impressed by how effective-and minimally intrusive-their airline passenger screening system is, particularly given the daily terrorist threat to Israel’s citizens. Clearly, our government would learn much from their system. If a country as small and threatened as Israel can effectively protect their flying public, there is no reason why American children and their parents cannot be protected using the same layered, common sense-based system employed by Israel.
The Congressman requested a meeting with Pistole to discuss the following questions:
1) Any reports from independent entities that have validated the effectiveness of the AIT systems currently being fielded to detect the full range of explosive threats known or anticipated to be employed by potential terrorists.
2) Whether any independent entity has verified that the AIT machines have been modified so as to ensure that no permanent record of a passenger scan is retained, retransmitted, or otherwise copied either directly from the AIT machine itself or by TSA or other personnel utilizing any form of videorecording technology.
3) The measures TSA has taken to address GAO’s concerns and recommendations regarding the employment, cost-benefit analysis, and expected over all costs of fielding these AIT systems.
4) The measures TSA has taken to improve and validate its Screening of Passengers by Observation Techniques (SPOT) program, as discussed in GAO’s May 2010 report on the program.
5) Why TSA does not systematically use watch list-derived intelligence information to screen passengers more selectively via AIT systems and the SPOT program.
6) Whether or not TSA has sought or received recommendations from the government of Israel about how TSA could improve its screening programs without invading the privacy of passengers.
Hat tip to BlueJersey’s Rosi Efthim for publishing Holt’s letter.
Jason Zengerle’s in depth piece on Governor Chris Christie in New York Magazine.
Christie speaking at the Republican Governors Association about his meeting with NJEA President Barbara Keshishian after the head of the Bergen County Teachers Association sent out the email praying for Christie’s death.
Christie will be live on NJ 101.5 with Eric Scott this evening at 7 for the month Ask The Governor program. Scott has taken a critical tone towards the Governor lately. The show should be classic. Listen on the radio or watch it here.
Got a question for the Governor? Submit it to NJ101.5 here.
From lukemtait the person posted this video on YouTube:
Lets get the facts straight first. Before the video started the boy went through a metal detector and didn’t set it off but was selected for a pat down. The boy was shy so the TSA couldn’t complete the full pat on the young boy. The father tried several times to just hold the boys arms out for the TSA agent but i guess it didn’t end up being enough for the guy. I was about 30 ft away so i couldn’t hear their conversation if there was any. The enraged father pulled his son shirt off and gave it to the TSA agent to search, thats when this video begins.
******* THIS VIDEO OCCURRED AT SALT LAKE CITY INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT ON NOVEMBER 19TH AT AROUND THE TIME OF 12:00 PM **********
In the Broken News: Pastor Had a 3 Way story posted yesterday I said that the Asbury Park Press did not make the ReGen/FDA/Pallone, et al campaign cash story front page news. It has come to my attention that the APP story was printed on the front page of their print edition on Saturday October 16.
Additionally, in the Asbury Park Press Is Unfair And Biased, Dishonest And Incompetent story posted on November 10th I reported that APP reported Kevin Penton had not responded to my inquiry about the story I critiqued. Penton did indeed respond via email. I missed it. In his November 8 email Penton said he stood by his reporting.
