Harry Wilson: I Lost Because 'People Didn't Pay Attention'

Harry Wilson: I Lost Because People Didnt Pay Attention
Among the 2,200 people--by their count--in the audience for today's State of the State Address was Harry Wilson, the failed Republican Candidate for state Comptroller. Wilson, you may recall, was (Read more...) ...

Cuomo To Speak At Schneiderman Swearing-In
AG Eric Schneiderman announced this afternoon that Gov. Andrew Cuomo will speaking at his public swearing-in ceremony tomorrow night at City College. The event, which starts at 7 p.m., will also feature unnamed “special guests” from around the state. Schneiderman, as you’ll recall, was widely believed not to be Cuomo’s first choice to succeed him in the AG’s office. In fact, the Governor reportedly preferred one of the former senator’s four Democratic primar...

Cuomo offers way to recovery, calls for end to high taxes
Gov. Andrew Cuomo presents his State of the State Address in the Convention Center in the Empire State Plaza in Albany Jan. 5, 2011. (Skip Dickstein / Times Union) From left, Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, Assembly Speaker Shelly Silver, and Comptroller Tom Dinapoli listen to Gov. Andrew Cuomo's State of the State Address in the Convention Center in the Empire State Plaza in Albany Jan.y 5, 2011. (Skip Dickstein / Times Union) Gov. Andrew Cuomo makes a point during his State of the State ...

Feds Say VA GOPer Used Position To Endow Job He Was Seeking
Source: TPM A former Republican member of the Virginia House of Delegates set up a plum position for himself at Old Dominion University -- a job he funded through Legislation he introduced at the same time he was soliciting the gig, a federal Grand Jury charged in an indictment on Wednesday. The Scandal all started brewing back in 2007, when a bill Phillip A. Hamilton pushed through to give $500,000 per year to the Center for Teacher Quality and Educational Leadership at ODU, a program intended ...

House Republicans challenge Obama on debt limit
(01-06) 15:20 PST WASHINGTON (AP) -- In power scarcely a day, House Republicans bluntly told the White House on Thursday its request to raise the nation's $14.3 Trillion Debt Limit will require federal Spending Cuts to win their approval, laying down an early marker in a new era of divided government. Speaker John Boehner made the challenge as the new GOP majority voted to cut funding for House members' own offices and committee operations by $35 million. Rank and File Republicans described th...

Cuomo Nominates Martens As Environmental Chief
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Gov. Andrew Cuomo has nominated Joe Martens, a key figure in some of the state’s major Adirondack land acquisitions, to serve as commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation. Martens has been president of the nonprofit Open Space Institute since 1998, directing land acquisition, historic preservation and farmland protection. He’ll take over at DEC from Peter Iwanowicz, who was appointed by Gov. David Paterson in late October after Paterson fi...

Cuomo nominates Open Space Institute president to lead DEC
ALBANY (AP) — Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has nominated Joe Martens, a key figure in some of the state’s major Adirondack land acquisitions, to be commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation. Martens has been president of the nonprofit Open Space Institute since 1998, directing land acquisition, historic preservation and farmland protection. He’ll take over at DEC from Peter Iwanowicz, who was appointed by Gov. David Paterson in late October after Paterson fired Com...

Martens In At DEC, Percoco Gets A Title
Gov. Andrew Cuomo just announced another round of appointments, led by the selection of Open Space Institute Joseph Martens, who did a stint in the first Cuomo administration, as DEC commissioner. “Joe’s lifelong experience of fighting to protect and preserve our environment will bring the highest level of stewardship to our state’s beautiful natural resources,” Cuomo said in a Press Release. “Joe knows how to strike the critical balance between defending our natu...

Md. ethics panel reprimands former Charles County register of wills
The Maryland State Ethics Commission has reprimanded the former longtime register of wills for Charles County for telling commissioners in that county that she did not have a "Retirement" plan, when in fact she had been paying into the State Pension plan. A man who answered the phone at Bowles's home in Newburg said she was on Vacation and advised a reporter to call back next week. When asked whether he could reach Bowles, the man said she was unavailable for comment and hung up. The reprimand...

Renault spy scandal threat to 'strategic assets'
Renault unveiled its Fluence ZE electic car at the 2010 Paris Auto Show. Th... Renault unveiled its Fluence ZE electic car at the 2010 Paris Auto Show. Th... Industrial Espionage that targeted Renault posed a serious threat to the French carmaker's "strategic assets", the company said on Thursday. Renault said on Wednesday that it had suspended three managers for leaking secrets about its Electric Cars. This decision was to "protect, without delay, the strategic, intellectual and technological...

Espionage threatened 'strategic assets': Renault
Industrial Espionage that targeted Renault posed a serious threat to the French carmaker's "strategic assets", the company said on Thursday. Renault said on Wednesday that it had suspended three managers for leaking secrets about its Electric Cars. This decision was to "protect, without delay, the strategic, intellectual and technological assets of our company," senior vice president Christian Husson told AFP. "For Renault, this is a very serious incident concerning persons in a particularly str...

Renault spy scandal threat to 'strategic assets'
Industrial Espionage that targeted Renault posed a serious threat to the French carmaker's "strategic assets", the company said on Thursday. Renault said on Wednesday that it had suspended three managers for leaking secrets about its Electric Cars. This decision was to "protect, without delay, the strategic, intellectual and technological assets of our company," senior vice president Christian Husson told AFP. "For Renault, this is a very serious incident concerning persons in a particularly str...

Palm Springs Police Chief Retires After Gay Sting Controversy
According to Testimony during pre-trial hearings last June - one undercover officer referred to the gay men as “cocksuckers” during the Sting.  In a motion to dismiss the case filed in September - Deputy Public Defender Roger Tansey provided evidence that the “cocksucker” comment was made in response to comments from Police Chief David Dominguez. The Chief allegedly said, “What a bunch of filthy mother fuckers. You guys should get paid extra for thi...

Lexington councilwoman K.C. Crosbie to run for state Treasurer
Urban County Council Member K.C. Crosbie will file to run for state Treasurer next week, she confirmed on Thursday. Crosbie, a registered Republican, would likely take on Incumbent Todd Hollenbeck next fall if she wins the GOP nomination. Crosbie was re-elected to the LFUCG council in November. If she won the treasurer’s race, Mayor Jim Gray would appoint someone to finish out her term. Crosbie, 42, said she decided Wednesday to take the plunge after getting approval from her husband and ...

Charles Walker Brumskine: Resolving the Ivorian Election Crisis
The Liberty Party, a leading opposition political party in Liberia, has followed the recent Elections in La Cote d'Ivoire between Laurent Gbagbo and Alassane Ouattara with concern. Immediately following the announcement of the results by the Elections Commission, I congratulated Mr. Ouattara on his historic victory. The defeat of an Incumbent president is noteworthy in our part of the world. Unfortunately, not too long thereafter the Constitutional Court of La Cote d'Ivoire decreed victory for...

Alicea to remain as state rep. despite uncertainty
The question of who would represent the 6th Worcester District come Jan. 5 has been answered for now: Geraldo Alicea. The Incumbent sophomore State Representative confirmed earlier Thursday he is continuing to serve in the House as a "holdover," saying he was told Tuesday about a section of the state constitution that allows for such a tactic. "I found out Tuesday," Alicea said. "We're following the state's constitution. There have been rules put in place for decades and these are the rules we h...

Cohen looking at City Council
Former State Rep. Ellen Cohen is exploring a run for City Council in the updated District C. “It has a real appeal to me,” added Cohen. Potential Candidates do not have to register until August at the earliest, though Cohen may act long before. “I’ll know where I’m heading on this soon,” she said. Cohen, 70, was head of the Houston Area Women’s Center for 18 years prior to her four-year stint in the Legislature. “I can’t possibly see me not being as in

WAR, WAR, WAR -- KILL, KILL, KILL -- LIE, LIE, LIE -- Its the American Way
Wouldn’t it be lovely if a new year’s resolution for 2011 for the U.S. would be to end war? FAT CHANCE. Sometimes I am startled by the reflection in the mirror in the ladies’ restroom at work of my black armband that I started wearing a year and a half ago with a first, very deep breath, assuming I would be called on often to explain it. It would afford opportunities to share my moral outrage at the international and civil lawless conduct of my government. I forget I have it ...

2 House Republicans Missed Swearing In While At A Fundraiser In The Capitol, Violating Constitution
Source: Huffington Post Two House Republicans Missed Swearing In While At A Fundraiser In The Capitol, Violating Constitution On Day It Was Read First Posted: 01- 6-11 03:53 PM | Updated: 01- 6-11 05:54 PM WASHINGTON -- Two House Republicans have cast votes as members of the 112th Congress, but were not sworn in on Wednesday, a violation of the Constitution on the same day that the GOP had the document read from the podium. The Republicans, Incumbent Pete Sessions of Texas and freshman Mike Fitz...

An Open Assembly Seat In Queens?
In the wake of losing eight (or possibly nine) seats - an unusually high number for a majority conference - the Assembly Democrats may have to defend yet another, this time in Queens. Queens sources say Assemblywoman Audrey Pheffer is in line to land a plumb patronage post: The Queens County clerk job that was left vacant by the recent death of Gloria D’Amico. D’Amico, who died in late December after a long battle with Cancer, had held her job since 1991. During her ten...

Obama To Visit Schenectady
President Obama is making his second trip to the Capital region in little over a year. The White House announced this afternoon that the president is visiting Schenectady on Tuesday. He visited Troy in September 2009 to tout The Economy and hi-tech investments. The Times Union reports that Obama is expected at General Electric headquarters. The visit will likely be a lot less awkward than the one he made last time, which came just days after the New York Times reported that the White House had...

Hamilton's scandal at Old Dominion
When news broke Wednesday that former delegate Phil Hamilton had been indicted for Bribery and Extortion, it was hard not to feel a twinge of sorrow for a bright and ambitious man who has so thoroughly ruined his career. But it would be impossible for even the most sympathetic supporter to read the federal indictment without feeling angry and betrayed. The allegations are not of witless missteps. The charges against Hamilton - that he used deceit to secure and conceal a $40,000 annual Salary fro...

New Non-Defecting Democratic State Senators Meet The Press
Newly-elected Sens. Mike Gianaris, Gustavo Rivera, Timothy Kennedy and Tony Avella took part in a getting-to-know-you session with the Capitol Press Corps in which they walked a delicate line of expressing loyalty to Conference Leader John Sampson while also distancing themselves from the Scandals and controversies that engulfed the Democratic conference the previous two years. “I voted for John Sampson yesterday and I supported him as leader,” said Rivera, who defeated scandal-scorc...

Stranges Last Nights Top Ten Late-Night TV Jokes January 5 2011
Beep beep! Love from Strange 10. Jay Leno : A man in New York City tried to commit Suicide by jumping out a 9th floor window, but was saved when he landed on a huge pile of uncollected garbage. Ironically, what he was depressed about was lack of city services. 9. Craig Ferguson : The two winning lottery tickets were sold in Idaho and Washington State, but the two winners haven’t come forward yet, probably because they’re still changing their underpants. 8. Jay Leno : That Homeless m...

Republicans discover Constitution a living document
Whoops: WASHINGTON -- Two House Republicans have cast votes as members of the 112th Congress, but were not sworn in on Wednesday, a violation of the Constitution on the same day that the GOP had the document read from the podium. The Republicans, Incumbent Pete Sessions of Texas and freshman Mike Fitzpatrick, missed the swearing in because they were at a Fundraiser in the Capitol Visitors Center. The pair watched the swearing-in on television from the Capitol Visitors Center with their hands ra...