February 22, 2011: Gov. Christie to hold “Turn Back The Clock!” Counter-Rally with Republican electeds

As Charles Wowkanech, New Jersey State AFL-CIO President, joins a furious clan of Wisconsin workers who will travel to Trenton this Friday who say the time is now to rally for collective bargaining rights, Gov. Christie will hold a counter rally on the Statehouse steps with Wisconsin Republican Governor Scott Walker. Christie and Walker will be joined by dozens of other Republican elected officials from around the nation at their "Turn Back The Clock!" Rally. "The time is not 'Now'; the time is 'Then'. It is time to turn back the clocks," asserted Walker in a media release. Wisconsin Gov. Walker, who wishes to turn back the clock on public union labor's right to collective bargaining, will be joined onstage by New Jersey Congressman Chris Smith, who wishes to redefine the legal definition of rape, turning back the clock on the right to womens' productive freedom; Missouri State Sen. Jane Cunningham, who's introduced a bill to turn back the clock on child labor laws; and newly elected Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, who earlier last year expressed his wish to turn back the clock on civil rights by declaring that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was "unconstitutional". "This is who I am!™," began Gov. Christie with his now famous trademark phrIase. "Last year in New Jersey, and last November, the American people elected Republicans to turn back the clocks. To turn back the clocks on collective bargaining for unions. On environmental protection. On abortion rights. On child labor laws." Public workers say 'the time is now'. Well, we say the time is 'then'. Now is the time to turn back the clock to 'then'. At this rally, we will stand shoulder to shoulder in solidarity with our fellow Republican electeds across the nation and speak out to support their right to turn back the clocks.

Christie issues Executive Order “terminating New York Mets basebal

News shocker: February 17, 2011

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie issues Executive Order “terminating New York Mets baseball season as of February 18 due to the ongoing baseball season crisis”.

Against the objections of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, New Jersey Gov. Christie Christie issued Executive Order No. 41 officially terminating the New York Mets baseball season as of February 18th. However, the New Jersey governor may have overreached his authority this time.

“The governor of New Jersey has no authority over the New York Mets, as they are geographically domiciled in Queens, with their principal place of business being in New York City. If anyone has the authority to put the team out of their misery before the start of the baseball season that would be me is the mayor of New York,” said Mayor Bloomberg in a statement to the press. The New York mayor was still considering all options at this time to deal with the impending Mets baseball season crisis. Governor Christie defended his actions, “ I am a lifelong New York Mets fan, and it pains me to have to take this action. But the families of New Jersey come first, and must be protected from the ongoing baseball crisis.”

Teams scheduled to play the Mets will receive “a half a win for each game that was to be played”, said Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig.

The exact wording of Executive Order No. 41, in part:

WHEREAS, the last time the New York Mets were in the World Series was 2000; and

WHEREAS, the New York Mets finished the 2010 season with a winning percentage of just .488, in fourth place; and

WHEREAS, the New York Mets finished the 2009 season with a 70-92 record, finishing in 4^th place in NL East; and

WHEREAS, the New York Mets finished the 2008 season with a 89-73 record, finishing in 2nd place in NL East; and

WHEREAS, the USA Today's sports section last week touted the Phillies' pitching staff as “one of the all-time bests…”NOW, THEREFORE, I, CHRIS CHRISTIE, Governor of the State of New Jersey, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and by the Statutes of this State, do hereby ORDER and DIRECT:

1. A state of baseball emergency exists with regard to the New York Mets ‘professional’ baseball team by reason of the facts and circumstances set forth above.

2. In light of these facts and circumstances, I hereby order the termination of the New York Mets baseball season as of Friday, February 18^th 2011;

3. Furthermore, I order all pitchers, catchers and all other baseball players currently contracted to perform professional athletic services for the New York Mets to return home to their families until further notice, and cease and desist from any and all spring training activities at this time.

4. Mets manager Terry Collins is hereby ordered immediately to cease and desist from any and all managerial, directorial, coaching and other leadership activities.

4. This action is taken to ensure that the families of the New York/New Jersey metropolitan area are in no danger of seeing something offensive to the sensibilities of the ordinary baseball fan.

AP Newswire Trenton February 4, 2011: New census data: Hispanics the dominant minority group; number 2: Facebook-Americans.

AP Newswire Trenton February 4, 2011: New census data: Hispanics the dominant minority group; number 2: Facebook-Americans. New Jersey's population grew more racially and online-virtually diverse over the past decade and continued its shift to southern counties, according to new data released today by the Census Bureau. The numbers from the 2010 Census provide a detailed portrait of the state's ongoing demographic changes, including population counts for all 21 counties, 566 municipalities. Among the findings: • Hispanics are now the dominant minority group in New Jersey after decades of sustained growth. • However, the number of New Jerseyans who identified themselves as "FaceBook-Americans" rose 39 percent to roughly 1.5 million. • Twitter-Americans were counted for the first time in 2010, and showed to be a growing virtual population at just under 3%. • MySpace-Americans, once a dominant group in 2000, have dwindled down to .02% of the virtual population. The Census information will be used almost immediately to redraw legislative districts in time for the November elections. A man who identified as "BobinPJs" tweeted that the "rdstrictng plns in NJ n stp trtng us like r dnt exst." The white population continued to decline in New Jersey, falling 1 percent to about 6.03 million. This is the second consecutive decade the proportion of white residents has fallen in New Jersey, which New Jersey State Tea Party chair Donald Bardus Swartz, of Teaneck immediately "blamed on the Jews." In other news, Congressman Jon Ryan expressed concern that the new census data may cause New Jersey to lose several state legislative seats: "...now we have 40 state senators. This decrease in population due to having less people may cause that number to be 38 or even 35 by the time we're all done."