Bob2222

FWIW, I quit 22+ years ago with the help of the American Lung Association's "Freedom from Smoking" program. I was working for the VA at the time, and they sponsored the program. http://www.lung.org/...t/getting-help/ Now available online, but since I used the FFS program before the internet, I can't vouch for it. ("The Basic FFS Online program is offered free of charge. The Premium FFS Online Program is offered for $15 for 3 months, or $40 for one year, and includes more detailed information such as Message Boards for participants, downloadable relaxation exercises and other social networking capabilities.") For several years, I was so concerned about getting hooked again that If I was walking behind a smoker, I'd cross the street to avoid smelling the smoke.

Like everything, "it depends". I telecommute (I don't think I'm alone). I'm not sure something like PJs and bunny slippers would be appropriate.... I think "the clothes I'd wear to court to fight a traffic ticket or wear to a job interview" might come across better.

I think (and I am not a lawyer, and I don't need to stay in Holiday Inns any more) that in New Jersey if one party of the telephone conversation is aware it's being recorded, it's OK. And why would you think he's not recording it?

That might be what the (presumably) liberal anti gun website says, but it just can't be right. I don't see anything like it in the ATF report. There were 2063 NJ ATF traces in 2011. http://www.atf.gov/s...ics/trace-data/

Maybe I should have said, "He'll win by a landslide if the signs them all". I agree he's likely to win in November no matter what he does. (I'll guess a 99.7% probability if he signs them -- but "only" a 90% probability if he doesn't. That's b/c of the minimum wage amendment that Sweeney managed to put on the ballot for November, which will bring out more indigo-blue voters.) Voters aren't awfully happy with NJ taxes and the economy, and the good karma from Superstorm Sandy will fade, so he may not be as much of a shoo-in as the polls suggest right now. Christie's coat tails for the legislature races should be shorter too, which is probably one of the reasons minimum wage is on the ballot. But I'll still put my $0.05 bet on Christie. From a practical standpoint, there isn't much difference between 10 rounds and 15 rounds. From the perspective of Christie's political career, the difference is huge. Those 5 rounds are enough to keep him off a national ticket.

Romney signed the Mass AWB and was the father of Obamacare. He lost, in spite of what Gallup's polling showed up to the last minute. Gallup has been polling since the 1930s, and almost never blows it this badly. If I work with the assumption that that there wasn't massive vote fraud, my only remaining explanation is that a couple of million potential conservative voters couldn't see much if any difference between Romney and Obama and just stayed home. (Libertarian Gary Johnson won 1,275,821 votes -- 752,388 votes more than the Libertarians won in 2008.) The Republicans may be stupid, but they aren't stupid enough to repeat exactly the same mistake in 2016. Christie is running for the #2 spot on the ticket in 2016 and the #1 spot in 2024. I've read that he turned down the VP spot in 2012 because he wasn't convinced that Romney could win. Which he was completely correct about. He still has to accumulate some conservative bona fides before he'll win the #1 spot. He'll 54 in 2016 and be 62 in 2024. He has the time. If Christie signs some of the more Draconian measures, the Republican conservative voters will go nuts if he's on the ticket in 2016, and we'll see 2012 Version 2.0. He'll win in NJ in November if he signs all of them. But IMO that will make it very difficult for him to ever seek national office.

Or, maybe more..... http://www.bloomberg...n-campaign.html Just as an aside, Steve Sweeney has put the minimum wage increase on the ballot as a constitutional amendment for November. When Christie vetoed it he said he wasn't opposed to an increase per se, but questioned the timing given the state's unemployment problem. I don't think he'll oppose the amendment. This only affects about 1-2% of NJ workers directly, but in November it may bring out a slightly different demographic for a NJ off year election. I think Christie has enough accumulated karma to veto much/most of this stuff (as does Paul Mulshine http://blog.nj.com/n...kfire_on_t.html) but the question is if he'll take the risk -- the potential reward being the Naval Observatory in 2016 or White House in 2024.

Christie's conundrum is that what will play among the NJ soccer moms and Volvo Republicans won't play for the red state Republican primary voters in 2016. The goal of this legislation isn't to save any lives, it's to damage Christie. I expect that he'll wait until he gets the report from his NJ SAFE panel before he does anything. I'm less optimistic about him vetoing now that the bills have been toned down to a certain extent. No matter what he does, I think we'll see an amazing ballet performance for a big guy.

45 days with a few exceptions. Christie should have his report before he need to sign or veto anything. I posted this over on the Lautenberg/Booker thread, and it might be relevant to this, too.

There are maybe a dozen threads that I could link this to -- but this is an almost decent segue....

It was a done deal. Either they finally told him why Corry Booker was measuring his office for drapes. Or he suddenly remembered that they told him. (I can't think of any friends we have in the US Senate that come from blue states. Can you?) He's a Democrat. Besides, who isn't against illegal mayors? Or illegal senators?

Looks like Colorado may go to 15 rounds -- so instant resale market!

In New Jersey? In the 2012 congressional elections? Zero. In the 2011 state midterms, the Democrats picked up 1 seat, I think. (This is apparently the typical pattern for midterm elections in NJ.) http://www.nytimes.c...-flat.html?_r=0 http://www.politifac...ernor-more-48-/ Given Christie's rock-star popularity, they might pick up one or two seats in November -- but it probably won't be enough to make much of a difference.

NJ's election districts are traditionally heavily gerrymandered. The Republicans won the NJ congressional redistricting so the delegation is split 50-50, but the Democrats won the latest state legislative redistricting. The more annoying ones from the indigo-blue districts aren't leaving, unless they're carried out by the paramedics or lead out by the FBI in handcuffs. The best we can hope for is Christie vetoing laws, and that he's followed by another Republican governor who vetoes lots of laws. (Which, given NJ's political history over the last 50 years, may be like drawing to an inside straight.) http://media.lehighv...50410-large.jpg http://media.lehighv...e1901568216.jpg

Christie's conundrum -- these are the bills that NJ's Volvo Republican and soccer moms might find "reasonable". But signing many of them -- like magazine limits -- will destroy Christie's candidacy for national office in the red state Republican primaries, like Arizona, Texas and Louisiana. (Maybe that's the idea!) Either way, I think we'll see a ballet performance by the big guy that will put S.E. Cupp to shame!

They could rush this through in the dark of the night, like New York did. But the governor then has 45 days to sign them, veto them or if he does nothing, they become law. I don't expect Christie to do anything with them until he gets the report from his NJ SAFE task force.

I have 2 BILs who are retired in NC. I think NC will be an easier sale to my wife than Texas. (I don't see how Christie can sign most of this unless he wants his time as NJ Governor to be the peak of his career.)

I'm not sure Christie can do much more than stop things. NJ CCW is unlikely unless the US Supreme Court orders it. The Democrat-engineered redistricting plan makes regaining the NJ assembly and senate a long shot for the Republicans. It's possible -- the biggest declared NJ party ID is "independent" -- but a long shot. If Christie signs onto this proposed nonsense, or he loses in November, I think the only solution will be to move somewhere else. I donated to Christie's campaign last time -- I'm almost hurt that I haven't received anything yet. Almost.

That 45-day to sign-or-veto is one of the longest windows of any state. Christie is a very talented lawyer and politician. I expect to see a ballet performance from him that will put S.E. Cupp to shame!

If I look at the makeup of the NJ SAFE task force, there is one person on it that I'm confident knows the difference between a 15 round magazine, a 10 round magazine and a Pez dispenser. I don't think that will be their focus, and I don't think agreeing with the legislature on ANY of this will get him through the red state primaries and into the Oval Office -- or the Naval Observatory. This will NOT fly in Louisiana, Arizona and Texas. There is a risk that he'll annoy enough soccer moms Volvo Republicans to lose the governor's race in November -- but that was a risk in vetoing gay marriage and the minimum wage increase, too. He mostly annoyed people who wouldn't dream of voting for him anyway.

http://www.njleg.sta.../legprocess.asp

If I started getting a warm feeling when I listened to any politician, I'd check to see if I'd lost control of my bodily functions. He wasn't playing to the Arizona, Utah, Louisiana and Texas Republican primary voters back then. (I know he's not a 2A guy. He knows he's not a 2A guy. But he needs lots of 2A guys!) The ad will come out in the primaries, but he doesn't even look like the Chris Christie in the ad now. He'll say he's older and wiser today.

I dunno. The NJ SAFE Task Force includes a couple of shrinks, a specialist in drug/alcohol rehab, an educator, a Marine and a former AG who was a NJ Supreme Court justice that the NJ legislature actually tried to impeach. There might be some overlap, but I don't think their recommendations will have an awful lot of overlap with the things that the Assembly wants to do. Based on his record so far, vetoing bills written by Democrats seems to be one of the high points of Christie's day. This is kabuki, of course. But we still all need to play along. "Early" (Feb/Mar) 2016 Presidential Primary Calendar (so far) February Tuesday, February 2: Colorado caucuses1 Minnesota caucuses Missouri Utah Tuesday, February 23: Arizona Michigan March Tuesday, March 1: Colorado caucuses1 Massachusetts Oklahoma Tennessee Texas Vermont Virginia Tuesday, March 8: Alabama Hawaii Republican caucuses Mississippi Tuesday, March 15: Illinois Saturday, March 19: Louisiana (California and New Jersey's 2016 primaries aren't until June so they are pretty much irrelevant to the process.)

This is getting more and more strange. The shooter wasn't David Matusiewicz. It was his 68 year old father, Thomas F. Matusiewicz. Bizarre. http://www.usatoday....ooting/1909075/ http://www.delawareo...aking|text|Home

I think Christie will go along with whatever his NJ SAFE Task Force comes up with --- so let's just hope it doesn't recommend 10 round magazines, prohibition of internet ammo sales and classifying a .50 rifle as a destructive device.