This week, The New York Times published a hard-hitting series on New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and sketchy conditions at the state's halfway house system.
The 10-month investigation on Community Education Centers., Inc uncovered many incidents of violence, drug use, sexual assault and escapes from these facilities, which are designed to help transition jailed inmates back into the community. Christie's close friend and political adviser, William Palatucci, runs the halfway homes.
According to the report, roughly 5,100 people escaped these institutions since 2005. The piece also details the increase in funds given to these institutions under Christie while the number of beds under contract has gone down.
On Monday, the governor downplayed the report and called on the New Jersey Department of Corrections to make rounds of inspections. He wrote in a statement, "While many of the disturbing accounts reported in today's New York Times documenting lax oversight and accountability in some of New Jersey's halfway houses took place prior to this administration, we have an obligation to ensure the community placements program is effectively and safely operating today."
The timing couldn’t be worse, as the search is underway for Mitt Romney's running mate, and Christie's long been rumored to be on the shortlist.
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Christie isn't racist or crazy enough to be compatible with Romney.
So Lawrence, why is the first segment still the last on line? And the show still completely out of order? Not too mention that the volume on each clip are all different from one another. From loud to quiet to loud again etc..
I expect better from an Irishman my friend. Get it together.. ; ]
Cheers
This is a sleeping giant of a scandal. It's almost hard to believe that this level of raw corruption is happening in such a blatant way.
It's time for a full-scale investigation on this: Christie was the lobbyist for this creepy company. This company violated the law and used money that was designated for non-profits only. Christie paid them back when he became governor---in spades.
And now, violent criminals are slipping out of the "halfway houses" run by Christie's good buddy and self-described close friend...when will the next one strike?
Comments, Mr. Christie? Or are you too busy using state helicopters for personal use while criminals go running wild in our state?
In 2001 I submitted a complaint to the NJ Attorney General's office regarding the discovery that I had purchased a home with an illegal well and was shown a fake well. Lawyers were involved in this, with my lawyer hiring the seller's real estate company to provide me with a title stating I had a private well! I went to my city and they told me it was illegal for me to own my home. They also said that I could not sell my home. My neighbor, sharing the well, showed me my real well and gave me the bad news about his role in all of this. The city then came and gave him a CO so he could sell his home. All of this info went to the AG's office. Nothing happened. I then tried to hold the surveyor responsible who left off the well falsing being told, again by my attorney, that wells are not on surveys. I gave up on the AG at that point because nothing happened to the surveyor who put a fence on the survey and the well was in the middle of the fence. He claimed he did not see the fence or the well when I confronted him but could not explain his survey. I finally bought a drill and drilled a hole in the well pipe to the neighbor's home and bad things happened. Evidently the AG's office was not pleased with this resolution. The city was not pleased and I was scared. Today I still have this horrible 1926 well and will probably walk away from this house because my city was able to raise our taxes 30 percent because a council, under the protection of the Governor (the former AG) allowed this. 4 people without a public hearing. So, everyone else in NJ gets a cap on their property taxes except the city that employs the most public employees! The employees have to fight for their jobs and now they have to fight for the cap!
Olympics row over horse 'cruelty'
YouTube footage of controversial dressage technique provokes storm of protest and threats to boycott 2012 event in London
An international row over allegedly "cruel" training methods is threatening to engulf the elite world of top-class equestrian sport ahead of the 2012 Olympics.
The controversy over what is being called "the blue-tongue scandal" has led the British Horse Society to demand an urgent inquiry into the practices being used on some of the world's most expensive competition horses.
Tens of thousands of people have signed online petitions or sent letters of protest to the sport's governing body, the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI), based in Switzerland. There is also talk on social networking websites of a boycott of the 2012 Olympic equestrian event in south London, at which some 23,000 spectators are expected.
The furore began when a video of a dressage horse ridden using a technique called rollkur – the practice of drawing the horse's neck round in a deep curve so its nose almost touches its chest – was posted on YouTube. It showed Swedish rider Patrik Kittel at October's World Cup dressage qualifiers at Odense in Denmark warming up his horse, Watermill Scandic, for a sustained period of time in the position, also known as hyperflexion. The horse's tongue appears to loll out and go blue. Kittel has since received death threats.
The incident has caused a "phenomenal reaction", says dressage trainer and author Lady Sylvia Loch. "It is a shocking symptom of where the sport is going, it's the tip of the iceberg. What is going on behind closed doors in the training of these horses is very wrong.
"Dressage should be about lightness, freedom of movement and a partnership between horse and rider. Rollkur is so, so cruel. The horse can only see its own feet, so it is reliant on the rider for balance which is simply psychological torture."
Loch believes the sport's good name is under threat. "Dressage should be a delightful ballet where the work looks effortless. It doesn't need vile and unnatural methods. Horses shouldn't be brainwashed like this."
Others say it is a tool to improve the suppleness of a horse. "There are many people in the equestrian world who view rollkur as a valuable training method although clearly there are many people who take the contrary view" said Roly Owers of the World Horse Welfare charity, "but in my view rollkur was not the cause of Watermill Scandic's tongue going blue".
"Current rules do not allow prolonged or extensive use of rollkur. However, the incident has brought into focus that issues need to be ironed out. I wouldn't like a ban, as the method will simply be used albeit not in public. It will go underground.
"I don't think that people inside the sport realise the strength of feeling that is out there. There has been quite a phenomenal reaction to this, and clearly we want to see the Olympics bring more people into equestrian sports, not drive them away."
In its letter to the FEI asking it to investigate, the British Horse Society's chairman, Patrick Print, wrote: "In our view, the concerns so widely expressed are reasonable and therefore deserving of an urgent two-part investigation: first, an inquiry into the treatment of this particular horse on this particular occasion; and, second, a broader inquiry into the ethics and consequences of hyperflexion.
"Please note that we pass no comment on the aesthetics of seeing a competition horse contorted in a way it never appears to choose for itself. Our concern is only to speak out when we believe that the welfare of horses demands it."
The FEI said it was taking the issue seriously. "FEI's main concern has always been, and will always be, the welfare of the horse. We are taking the issues raised in the video and in the comments made by members of the public very seriously and have opened a full investigation," a spokeswoman said.
Dressage, invented to train horses for war, became an Olympic discipline in 1912. Horses sell for anything between £10,000 and £500,000. Although more research is in the pipeline, evidence to date is inconclusive, leaving rollkur an undecided issue for bodies such as British Dressage.
"We take the welfare of the horse very seriously, and we have a strong policy against anything that distresses a horse, but things are relative to each horse," said Claire Booth, a spokeswoman for British Dressage. "Trotting a horse in small circles for a long time can be cruel, but for a short time is a perfectly acceptable training method. Dressage judges are looking for a happy athlete in the arena, and that's not going to be achieved by force."
In an interview with Horse and Hound magazine, Kittel, the rider at the centre of the storm, said he had been misrepresented. "Scandic was a little hot at Odense, so I rode him for longer than usual. Throughout every training session, including this one, I give my horses walk breaks. I did not ride Scandic in this depicted frame for the entire duration of the training as implied.
"Scandic sometimes plays with his tongue. During the filmed period of my training, he caught his tongue over or between the bits. I stopped when I noticed and put it back in the right place."
• This article was amended on 19 January 2010 to clarify a point made by Roly Owers about rollkur being thought of by its supporters as a valuable training method which does not make a horse's tongue go blue; he stresses that there are many people who disagree with this view but he does not believe that rollkur was the cause of Watermill Scandic's tongue going blue.
The issue of Romney's Olympic entry horse in the dressage competition, raises the question of how he can claim it as therapeutic use for Anne Romney and at the same time, take it as a business deduction. Added to that, is the question of cruel and inhumane methods used by many trainers who train horses in dressage.
Olympics row over horse 'cruelty'
YouTube footage of controversial dressage technique provokes storm of protest and threats to boycott 2012 event in London
An international row over allegedly "cruel" training methods is threatening to engulf the elite world of top-class equestrian sport ahead of the 2012 Olympics.
The controversy over what is being called "the blue-tongue scandal" has led the British Horse Society to demand an urgent inquiry into the practices being used on some of the world's most expensive competition horses.
Tens of thousands of people have signed online petitions or sent letters of protest to the sport's governing body, the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI), based in Switzerland. There is also talk on social networking websites of a boycott of the 2012 Olympic equestrian event in south London, at which some 23,000 spectators are expected.
The furore began when a video of a dressage horse ridden using a technique called rollkur – the practice of drawing the horse's neck round in a deep curve so its nose almost touches its chest – was posted on YouTube. It showed Swedish rider Patrik Kittel at October's World Cup dressage qualifiers at Odense in Denmark warming up his horse, Watermill Scandic, for a sustained period of time in the position, also known as hyperflexion. The horse's tongue appears to loll out and go blue. Kittel has since received death threats.
The incident has caused a "phenomenal reaction", says dressage trainer and author Lady Sylvia Loch. "It is a shocking symptom of where the sport is going, it's the tip of the iceberg. What is going on behind closed doors in the training of these horses is very wrong.
"Dressage should be about lightness, freedom of movement and a partnership between horse and rider. Rollkur is so, so cruel. The horse can only see its own feet, so it is reliant on the rider for balance which is simply psychological torture."
Loch believes the sport's good name is under threat. "Dressage should be a delightful ballet where the work looks effortless. It doesn't need vile and unnatural methods. Horses shouldn't be brainwashed like this."
Others say it is a tool to improve the suppleness of a horse. "There are many people in the equestrian world who view rollkur as a valuable training method although clearly there are many people who take the contrary view" said Roly Owers of the World Horse Welfare charity, "but in my view rollkur was not the cause of Watermill Scandic's tongue going blue".
"Current rules do not allow prolonged or extensive use of rollkur. However, the incident has brought into focus that issues need to be ironed out. I wouldn't like a ban, as the method will simply be used albeit not in public. It will go underground.
"I don't think that people inside the sport realise the strength of feeling that is out there. There has been quite a phenomenal reaction to this, and clearly we want to see the Olympics bring more people into equestrian sports, not drive them away."
In its letter to the FEI asking it to investigate, the British Horse Society's chairman, Patrick Print, wrote: "In our view, the concerns so widely expressed are reasonable and therefore deserving of an urgent two-part investigation: first, an inquiry into the treatment of this particular horse on this particular occasion; and, second, a broader inquiry into the ethics and consequences of hyperflexion.
"Please note that we pass no comment on the aesthetics of seeing a competition horse contorted in a way it never appears to choose for itself. Our concern is only to speak out when we believe that the welfare of horses demands it."
The FEI said it was taking the issue seriously. "FEI's main concern has always been, and will always be, the welfare of the horse. We are taking the issues raised in the video and in the comments made by members of the public very seriously and have opened a full investigation," a spokeswoman said.
Dressage, invented to train horses for war, became an Olympic discipline in 1912. Horses sell for anything between £10,000 and £500,000. Although more research is in the pipeline, evidence to date is inconclusive, leaving rollkur an undecided issue for bodies such as British Dressage.
"We take the welfare of the horse very seriously, and we have a strong policy against anything that distresses a horse, but things are relative to each horse," said Claire Booth, a spokeswoman for British Dressage. "Trotting a horse in small circles for a long time can be cruel, but for a short time is a perfectly acceptable training method. Dressage judges are looking for a happy athlete in the arena, and that's not going to be achieved by force."
In an interview with Horse and Hound magazine, Kittel, the rider at the centre of the storm, said he had been misrepresented. "Scandic was a little hot at Odense, so I rode him for longer than usual. Throughout every training session, including this one, I give my horses walk breaks. I did not ride Scandic in this depicted frame for the entire duration of the training as implied.
"Scandic sometimes plays with his tongue. During the filmed period of my training, he caught his tongue over or between the bits. I stopped when I noticed and put it back in the right place."
• This article was amended on 19 January 2010 to clarify a point made by Roly Owers about rollkur being thought of by its supporters as a valuable training method which does not make a horse's tongue go blue; he stresses that there are many people who disagree with this view but he does not believe that rollkur was the cause of Watermill Scandic's tongue going blue.
I am tired of hearing Mittens talk about make believe Obama's failed policies that added trillions to the National debt.
Can anyone explain to me which democratic policies added TRILLIONS to the debt?
Someone needs to ask Romney that question RIGHT NOW.
The only policies that added more to the national debt are ALL GOP.
Stimulus spending to fix GOP screw ups is also GOP spending.
Again, which Obama policies added TRILLIONS to the debt?
There are NONE.
The talking heads who allow politicians to blah blah blah have no idea what to ask after the tried and true talking points have been delivered.
Try the .40c of every dollar spent by this unbudgetted Obama Administration since he got into office is borrowed money, and it was Democrat Party policy not to take up and discuss and vote on the House of Representatives budget bills for the past two years, and this year closing September 39th, 2012. $5 Trillion dollars of debt added since he took office in Jan, 2009, passed the Stimulus bill of $800+ Billion that went in payments to the states and a half assed public works projects effort for what he later admitted was not shovel ready projects, but crap, inefficient, and wasteful patronage spending only. Add to that the huge increase in the Federal Government's employees roles, the spiking salary'sand bonuses for the autocrats he appoints to postions of middle management positions in the federal agencies, and the various TARP fund bailouts of the auto sector companies with the unions the only ones coming out ahead instead of letting them go into a court bankruptcy procedure, Cash for Clunkers, Soyndra and other failed green energy subsidies etc., etc, etc. That enough for you, BO12? By the way, that borrowed money spending is going out at the rate of $3.7 billion a day now.
The congress of the state and federal government are the most powerful unions in the world. They vote their own wages, they vote their own pensions, they vote their own benefits, and they vote their own health insurance, ALL are the best, all are the most expensive, all are public employees, and all are at the government and taxpayer expense. Reducing their perks would go a long way at reducing the deficit and balancing the budget.
For some unknown reason this network wants to promote people for Rpmney's VP choice based on something like sex appeal and/or media entertainment leaders, instead of listening to the candidate expressing his search for a candiate to share the ticket with him that will be able to assume the office of President. It will most likely be a solid political figure from a Mid-Western state, with Rob Portman and Tim Pawlenty being the leading contenders.
But it amazes me somewhat that the liberal media that bemoaned the George Bush political move to criticise Dukakis over the Willy Horton incident of escaped from halfway house and work release to go on a rape and murder expedition would be trying to bring that to bear against Governor Christie. Either you are for rehabilitation or you are not.