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19 Nov 2010 22:14

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Politics: Joe Scarborough gets Olbermann treatment; world yawns

  • three number of candidates Keith Olbermann donated to, which led to his recent two-day suspension
  • eight number of candidates Joe Scarborough donated to; he’ll also get suspended for two days source
  • » Standards and stuff: It’s probably good to note that this double-standard between MSNBC and Fox remains bizarre. Fox News hosts (most notably Sarah Palin, who regularly endorses candidates and runs her own political action committee) don’t get treated this way. Honestly, we think that MSNBC has to loosen their standards for their political commentators. This is going to eventually come to a head in a more public way than either of these incidents. Know why we know this? Because Joe Scarborough is considering running on a presidential ticket with Michael Bloomberg in 2012. You think this crosses a line? What if that happens, guys?

18 Nov 2010 11:02

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Politics: Never too early: Here’s the first round of 2012 presidency news

  • obvious Sarah Palin, whose last two years have essentially been a dry run for the presidency, says she could possibly beat Obama in 2012.
  • spiffy In recent days, there’s been talk of Michael Bloomberg and MSNBC host Joe Scarborough running together on a moderate ticket.
  • vain In recent weeks, Donald Trump has been making a stink about running in 2012, too. Thing is, he brings this up every presidential cycle.

16 Nov 2010 20:25

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U.S.: NYC has another idea to expand New Jersey’s subway service

  • Commuters in New Joisey, you aren’t screwed yet. Weeks ago, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie announced he was killing off a massive public works project to get a subway line under the Hudson River into New York City. While fiscal conservatives feted the decision, many long-suffering commuters felt burned. New York City is considering coming to the rescue, offering to extend a subway line out of the city and into New Jersey – at a fraction of the shuttered plan’s cost:
  • $11.4
    billion
    the estimated cost (with overruns) of the New Jersey subway project that Gov. Chris Christie killed
  • $5.3
    billion
    the estimated cost of New York extending the No. 7 subway line under the Hudson River source
  • » Agreement still needed: While Michael Bloomberg’s administration is spearheading this, incoming NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo, along with Christie, would have to come to terms with the plan, which, while less expensive, definitely isn’t cheap. But the long-term benefits could prove worth it.

25 Oct 2010 22:28

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Politics: Three-term Mayor favors two-term limit

  • thenIn 2008, two-term New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg convinced the City Council to change the city’s law and allow him run for a third term.
  • now After winning a third term, Bloomberg will be voting this November to reinstate a two-term limit for NYC mayors. source

18 Sep 2010 15:12

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Politics: Michael Bloomberg decides to put his muscle behind the center

  • Backing Harry Reid and Meg Whitman. Pushing for cooperation. Where have you been? The NYC mayor, known for both his high-spending ways and his love of the iPad, has been starting to put some of his weight into a bunch of key national political campaigns lately. Bloomberg, a Republican-turned-independent, has been making a concerted effort to help encourage more agreeability in Congress. Could Bloomberg, who thinks the Tea Party is a fad, run for president? He’d be someone we’d at least look at. source

15 Sep 2010 10:47

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Politics: Meg Whitman somehow spending more than Michael Bloomberg

  • $109 million the amount Bloomberg spent on his high-spending 2009 NYC mayoral campaign
  • $119 million the amount Whitman, the ex-eBay CEO, is spending on her California gubernatorial campaign source

26 Aug 2010 10:52

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U.S.: Now cab drivers in NYC are getting stabbed ‘cuz they’re Muslim

  • crazy A New York cabbie was allegedly attacked by some film student the other night. He had been stabbed multiple times.
  • crazier Said student was a volunteer for a pro-unity group who had been to Afghanistan before. Which is screwed up. source
  • » Hey, over-the-top Mosque haters, read this. The cabbie, Ahmed Sharif, had this to say about the whole “Ground Zero Mosque” thing, which has been blown out of proportion at this point: “I feel very sad. I have been here more than 25 years. I have been driving a taxi more than 15 years. All my four kids were born here. I never [felt] this hopeless and insecure before.” He plans to also hold a news conference today and talk with Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Can we just emphasize how insane it is that a cabbie reportedly got attacked for his religion?
 

11 Aug 2010 11:12

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Politics: Happy birthday Charlie Rangel! Ethics trials are good presents

  • Strangely enough, some guests can’t attend his party. Rangel, who turns 80 today, plans to have a $200-a-plate dinner gala tonight, with the proceeds going to Rangel’s ethics-stained reelection campaign. He has invited a number of political bigwigs who may or may not show up – including Bill Clinton (can’t make it), David Paterson (not confirmed), Charles Schumer (not confirmed) and Michael Bloomberg (not confirmed). Worst of all, the night’s entertainment, Aretha Franklin, can’t make it either, due to a rib injury. The 20-term congressman recently made a passionate speech about his plight. source

24 Jul 2010 01:07

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U.S.: Vacation rentals in NYC no longer on the table thanks to new law

  • Craigslist entrepreneurs in NYC: Sorry. After saying he would veto the law, New York Governor David Paterson passed a law banning short-term vacation rentals in the city, forcing people to go to licensed hotels instead. If you go to Craigslist, you’ll see quite the cottage industry exists for this kind of housing. NYC mayor and noted iPad fanatic Michael Bloomberg supported the measure: “When housing designated for permanent occupancy is illegally converted into a hotel, unsafe conditions are created, the residential character of City neighborhoods is harmed and the supply of much-needed units of housing is depleted,” he said. Or, more likely, this cottage industry bloomed because hotels in NYC are super-expensive and out of whack with the rest of the country. source

03 May 2010 09:52

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U.S.: NYC mayor Bloomberg: Don’t assume it’s al-Qaeda or Taliban yet

  • There are hundreds of videos we haven’t seen all of them. We’ll look at each one many times, with experts… So far there’s no legitimate evidence that al-Qaeda or the Taliban or anyone else had anything to do with this – no matter what the Taliban says.
  • New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg • On whether the evidence suggests that terrorist groups had anything to do with the attempted Times Square attack. Yesterday, the Pakistani Taliban took credit for the car bomb, but Bloomberg is clear that it’s still early and that there’s no evidence that even the “person of interest” is the one responsible for the attempted bombing of Times Square. source