Reporter's Notebook

In Puerto Rico, but Unable to Leave New York Behind

By KATE TAYLOR and SUSANNE CRAIG

Bill de Blasio is on vacation, and the city’s political class is trying to choose a City Council speaker.

Study: Americans Safe From Gun Violence Except in Schools, Malls, Airports, Movie Theatres, Workplaces, Streets, Own Homes

Mass shootings have become all too common in the U.S. (photo: file)

By Andy Borowitz, The New Yorker

07 November 13

The article below is satire. Andy Borowitz is an American comedian and New York Times-bestselling author who satirizes the news for his column, "The Borowitz Report."

new study released today indicates that Americans are safe from the threat of gun violence except in schools, malls, airports, movie theatres, workplaces, streets, and their own homes.

Also: highways, turnpikes, libraries, places of worship, parks, universities, restaurants, post offices, and cars.

Plus: driveways, garages, gyms, stores, military bases-and a host of other buildings, structures, and sites.

National Rifle Association C.E.O. Wayne LaPierre applauded the study, saying that it reinforced his organization's long-held position that the United States does not need additional gun laws. "This study makes it abundantly clear that Americans are in no danger of gun violence except in these isolated four hundred and thirteen places," he said.

He added that he hoped that the study would spark a conversation "about the root cause of mass shootings: people who recklessly show up at places where they could be shot at."

 

De Blasio, in Puerto Rico, Finds Relaxation and Fellow Red Sox Fans

By KATE TAYLOR 10:31 PM ET

Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio met the island’s governor and first lady, who share his love for the Boston team.

That Time Nazis Marched to "Keep Redskins White"

Political MoJo

Previous | Next

→ Race and Ethnicity, Sports, Top Stories

—By Alex Park

Thu Nov. 7, 2013 3:00 AM PST

 

"Keep Redskins White!" Members of the American Nazi Party demonstrate against desegregating the Washington, DC, football team, October 1961. Photo by Neil Leifer/Sports Illustrated/Getty Images

Currently, Washington, DC's pro football team, the [Redacted], has the distinction of being the only team in the NFL whose name is a racial slur. A little more than 50 years ago, it had another unfortunate distinction: It was the last remaining all-white team in the league.

A timeline of racist teams, nicknames, and mascots

The struggle to integrate Washington's football team is recounted in Thomas G. Smith's 2012 book, Showdown: JFK and the Integration of the Washington Redskins. As Smith tells it, the showdown began in 1961, when John F. Kennedy's interior secretary, Stewart Udall, who'd committed to ending segregation anywhere in his sphere of influence, declared his intent to break pro football's last color bar. Udall later recalled, "I considered it outrageous that the Redskins were the last team in the NFL to have a lily-white policy."
The call for integration was met with opposition, most notably from the team's owner, George Preston Marshall, a laundromat magnate turned NFL bigwig who had held firm for years. As legendary Washington Post columnist Shirley Povich wrote:

For the 24 years when he was identified as the leading racist in the NFL, he simply stared down the criticism of his refusal to sign a black player. It was the only subject on which the voluble Marshall never expressed a public opinion, never resorted to a quip. But he bristled when this columnist reminded him in print that "the Redskins colors are burgundy, gold and Caucasian."

Marshall appeared as outraged by federal interference as he was by the prospect of diversity. "Why Negroes particularly?" he asked. "Why not make us hire a player from another race? In fact, why not a woman? Of course, we have had players who played like girls, but never an actual girl player." The controversy drew out assorted bigots, including neo-Nazis (above), who protested on Marshall's behalf to "Keep [the] Redskins White."
Udall had one advantage over Marshall: The team's new home field, DC Stadium (later renamed RFK Memorial), was federal property. With Kennedy's approval, Udall gave Marshall a choice: He could let black players on his team, or take his all-white squad to someone else's gridiron.
"You can't tell what will happen under the guise of liberalism," Marshall griped shortly before acquiring a handful of black players for the 1962 season. He would comply with Udall's demands even if it meant hiring "Eskimos or Chinese or Mongolians." The newly integrated team went on to have its best season in five years.

Obama Has Lied to American People, Says Lying Expert

Mitt Romney. (photo: unknown)

By Andy Borowitz, The New Yorker

04 November 13

 

The article below is satire. Andy Borowitz is an American comedian and New York Times-bestselling author who satirizes the news for his column, "The Borowitz Report."

resident Obama has imperiled his second term by lying to the American people, one of the nation's foremost lying experts said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press."

The accusation carried weight, observers said, coming as it did from a legendary figure in the high-stakes world of competitive lying.

He was harshly critical of Mr. Obama's fibbing, calling it "amateurish at best," contrasting the President's lack of lying experience with his own half-century of dishonesty.

"The American people deserve a President who is a world-class liar," he said. "Sadly, they do not have that President."

Speaking from experience, he said that he had learned "the hard way" just how difficult lying can be: "Just when you think you've gotten away with it, there's someone with a hidden camera catching you telling the truth."

He said that it was possible that the President "might grow as a liar" in the remaining three years of his term, but he was not optimistic.

"Lying isn't something you can just pick up on the job," he said. "Maybe President Obama would be better off leaving it to us professionals."

• Op-Ed Contributor

  Mexico's Soda Pop Ploy

  

  Dan Woodger

  By DAVID TOSCANA

  Published: November 3, 2013

  Op-Ed: Mexico’s Soda Ploy

• One of the most talked-about is a tax of one peso (about 8 cents) on every liter of sugary beverages, which our Congress approved on Thursday. The tax — part of a fiscal reform package that also includes an 8 percent tax on junk food — is aimed at obesity.
  By various measures, Mexico is either the world’s fattest country, or the second fattest, after the United States.
  
  So here’s an idea: now that we’ve taxed soda, let’s tax corruption. According to the Mexican employers’ association, the cost of corruption is 9 percent of our economic output ($1.2 trillion). If you apply the standard value-added tax of 16 percent, you’ll collect $17 billion. If you think a tax on soft drinks will make us healthier, just imagine what a tax on corruption could do. 
   

Chinese woman arranges sex romp with mysterious online lover ... her father-in-law

Lili, 28, and Wang Pai, 57, were both using fake profiles when they started trolling the Internet for a good time. So when they finally met up, they were stunned to discover one another’s true identity. But their husband-and-son, Wang Jai, was even more shocked when he busted them.

Comments (43)

By Lee Moran / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Tuesday, October 29, 2013, 8:59 AM

Police investigate after a woman accidentally met up with her father-in-law for a sexy liaison — and got busted by her husband at a hotel in northeast China.

A Chinese woman arranged a hot sex blind date with a mysterious online lover — only to find out it was her own father-in-law.
Lili, 28, and Wang Pai, 57, were both using fake profiles when they started talking in an Internet chat room.
RELATED: COMIC IN LEGAL BATTLE WITH ADULT SHOP OVER SEX TOY
After hitting it off, and unaware of each other's true identity, they agreed to meet in person — at a hotel in Heilongjiang province, northeast China — for some raw, passionate loving.

But when a scantily clad Lili opened the door to her room, she was stunned to find her in-law waiting at the door.
RELATED: GAY BRITISH ARTIST TO LOSE VIRGINITY IN FRONT OF AUDIENCE
Then — to make matters even worse — her husband, Wang Jai, turned up after reading her emails, punched her in the face and attacked his pop.
"When I opened the door, I don't know if she was more surprised or me," said Pai, according to the Daily Star.
RELATED: COUPLE ARRESTED FOR HAVING SEX IN PARKED CAR
"She turned and ran off down the hallway into her husband, my son, who had been following her. He started shouting and then he attacked her, and then he attacked me," he said.
Jai — who allegedly knocked out two of his wife's teeth and gave his father a head injury that required hospital treatment — was arrested and held for five days.

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Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/chinese-woman-plans-sex-romp-father-in-law-article-1.1499895#ixzz2jb7OgOAa

New York Mayor’s Mansion Seeks a Missing Item (the Mayor)

Nicole Bengiveno/The New York Times

A Mansion Without an Occupant: After 12 years as a backdrop for V.I.P. receptions and high-powered meetings, Gracie Mansion, home of New York’s mayors, is expecting a full-time resident.

New York Mayor’s Mansion Seeks a Missing Item (the Mayor)

By JAMES BARRON and SAM ROBERTS 17 minutes ago

Gracie Mansion hasn’t had a full-time resident in 12 years, but one of the candidates vying to succeed Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg is expected to move in in January.

• Slide Show: A Mansion Without an Occupant

Operating in Secret Dark Pools A Mob of Campaign Consultants/ Lobbyists Coup d'État of New York Government Goes Unreported

Political Goodfellas

Eight campaign consultants all but one are also lobbyists, have monopolized NYC elections system that only the Justice Department using the Sherman Antitrust Act can bust.  These consultants run every important campaign in New York.  The campaign monopoly is only part of a conspiracy that is not only about who gets elected.  It is also part of a second conspiracy to make money off of government as lobbyist or insiders. There is serious evidence of illegal coordination between the Independent Expenditure PACs and consultants. The data of big 8 working together is massive.  In the 20 competitive races for the city council this year’s these big 8 consultants helped 98 of the 54 competitive candidates in those races.  Consultants were able to help more candidates in the races by being on more than one side in the same race. They don't only compete with each other as one would think.  

Using PAC the Big 8 Has Gamed New York Democracy, By Controlling Elections 

Parkside working for The Real Estate Board of New York's PAC Jobs4NY worked for and against 35 candidates in the 20 competitive council races.  The Advance Group working through 4 PACs NYCLASS, United for the Future, Citizen Action and Hotel Workers for A Strong Middle Class worked for 27 of candidates in the 20 competitive council campaigns. Of the 21 candidates supported by Parkside Jobs4NY 17 were run by the big 8. Another candidate Dickens who had no race is running for speaker and some Jobs4NY money went to a republican candidate. Of the 44 council candidates supported by PAC in which Advance worked for or had a relationship with 34 when to candidates run by the Big 8.  Half of the other 10 went to incumbent candidates who had no races. The big 8 worked for council candidates who may be running for speaker, who had no races.  Berlin Rosen Daniel Garodnick, Red Horse and Hudson TDG James Vacca, Hudson TG Mark Weprin. Multi-Media run by newspaper publisher Michael Nussbaum have been doing printing for the Parkside Group for years in the dark pools because state election law does not require subcontractors are reported. Red Horse worked alongside Parkside for DSCC where Melvin Lowe was indicted this week for fake printing invoices. Red Horse has at least 20 interest group clients. This summer the New York World reported Hudson TG LLC – offer lobbying services to represent special interests with the officials they have sometimes helped to get elected. The only campaign consultant that does not directly lobby is Brandford Communications. But Brandford's Ernie Lendler did pull a Melvin Lowe when he gave convicted Brooklyn Boss Norman fake invoices.  Lendler did not get indicted in exchanged for testifying against Norman Background on the Big 8 Consultants as Lobbyists * CrainsNY on the Advance Groups Double Dipping (CrainsNY)

The Preposterous Removal of Judge Scheindlin

 

October 31, 2013

Posted by Jeffrey Toobin

The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit just chastised Shira Scheindlin, the trial judge in the case challenging the constitutionality of the N.Y.P.D.’s stop-and-frisk policy, for speaking out about the issue while the trial was going on. In a ruling today, the appeals court said Scheindlin’s statements suggested that her “impartiality might reasonably be questioned.” As a result, all further proceedings in the case, in which Scheindlin found that that city residents’ rights had been violated, will be transferred to another trial judge. The appeals court, in a footnote, in particular cited Scheindlin’s statements to me in a piece for The New Yorker, as well as to the AP and the New York Law Journal. (I have some familiarity with this sort of thing. )

This is preposterous. The Second Circuit took this action on its own, without even a request from the city (the defendant in the case). Apparently, it took the view that there had been such an egregious violation of the rules of judicial conduct that the court had to act on its own—sua sponte, as the lawyers say. It also stayed Scheindlin’s rulings aimed at reforming stop-and-frisk.
Scheindlin did nothing wrong. She talked about her judicial career and her history on the bench in a way that illuminated the work that all judges do. In my experience, it’s a common complaint from judges that the public doesn’t understand their work, and doesn’t care about what they do. Scheindlin’s conduct in this case exemplified the independent tradition of the judiciary. She should be honored for it, not scolded.
“Too many judges, especially because so many of our judges come out of that office, become government judges,” Scheindlin told me—one of the quotations that appeared in the piece. “I don’t think I’m the favorite of the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Southern District. Because I’m independent. I believe in the Constitution. I believe in the Bill of Rights. These issues come up, and I take them quite seriously. I’m not afraid to rule against the government.”
In a final irony, the resolution of the case may not matter much anymore. Bill de Blasio will be mayor soon, and he has vowed repeatedly to change the N.Y.P.D.’s stop-and-frisk policy anyway. The appeals-court judges can take the case away from Scheindlin, but they can’t take the mayoralty from de Blasio.
Illustration by Elizabeth Williams/AP.

GOP Unveils Own Health-Care Web Site, EmergencyRoom.gov

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor speaks about the Jobs Act during a news conference at the Capitol, 02/28/12. (photo: Getty Images)

By Andy Borowitz, The New Yorker

01 November 13

The article below is satire. Andy Borowitz is an American comedian and New York Times-bestselling author who satirizes the news for his column, "The Borowitz Report."

aying that "the American people are fed up with a disastrous Web site that doesn't work and never will," House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Virginia) and a phalanx of congressional Republicans today unveiled their own health-care Web site, EmergencyRoom.gov.

"At EmergencyRoom.gov, every American can access the one tried-and-true health-care system that has worked in this country for decades," he said.

While Healthcare.gov has frustrated many users with its difficult-to-navigate design, Rep. Cantor said that at EmergencyRoom.gov, "Health care is just three easy steps away. One: enter your zip code. Two: see the list of emergency rooms. Three: get to the nearest one before you die."

The Virginia Republican wasted no time touting the cost savings of EmergencyRoom.gov, comparing it favorably with the notoriously expensive Obamacare site: "Unlike Healthcare.gov, which private contractors built at a cost running into the hundreds of millions, EmergencyRoom.gov was built for nine hundred dollars by my intern Josh."

And in contrast with Healthcare.gov's maze of forms, links, and phone numbers, he said, "EmergencyRoom.gov has just one phone number: 9-1-1."

In what may be the strongest selling point for the new site, Rep. Cantor said that the wait time on EmergencyRoom.gov is "virtually nonexistent," not counting the twelve to thirty-six hours spent in the actual emergency room.

Video: The Steps of City Hall

New York's City Hall has long been a theatrical setting where aspiring politicians make and break their careers, and where mayors have courted stage, screen, sporting and other celebrities.

CONTACT: Nick E. Smith, nsmith@council.nyc.gov Phone: (917)-608-8784 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  6:20 PM EDT, October 31th, 2013

COUNCIL MEMBER WILLIAMS RESPONDS TO SECOND CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS' STAY IN FLOYD v. NEW YORK BROOKLYN, NY- Council Member Jumaane D. Williams (D-Brooklyn) released the following statement today, after the Second Circuit Court of Appeals removed the federal judge in Floyd v. New York, and stayed the lower court's ruling which would have required a series of reforms to the NYPD's controversial practice known as Stop and Frisk, including the appointment of a federal monitor. The stay was not based on the specific reforms ordered by the lower court, or the merits of the case in Floyd, but on the conduct of the presiding judge in the case. "In this country, being right on an issue has never meant an easy win. The stay by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals today has absolutely nothing to do with the positive reforms ordered in the lower court's ruling or the merits of the case in Floyd v. New York, including the appointment of a federal monitor to end the abuse of Stop and Frisk by the New York Policy Department (NYPD). Instead, this stay has everything to do with an individual judge's own conduct, and even that is questionable. When the merits of the case were heard by the lower court, we won. While this stay is frustrating, when the court hears the merits of the case again, there is no doubt that we will win again. With this stay, however, the people of New York City continue to be put into a state of confusion over the status of Stop and Frisk, and whether the approach used by the NYPD, which has led to hundreds of thousands of innocent New York City residents being unconstitutionally stopped and frisked, will continue. The people of New York City must have full confidence that their constitutional rights will not be violated under Stop and Frisk. Even with this stay, the Community Safety Act, of which I was a lead sponsor, will soon be enacted and will help protect New York City residents against the violation of their basic civil right and liberties. It will establish an independent inspector general to oversee the use of Stop and Frisk and enable residents to have violations of Stop and Frisk heard in a court of law. Protecting the rights and liberties of all New Yorkers is what the two-year fight to pass the Community Safety Act (CSA) was all about. It is disheartening that opponents of reforming Stop and Frisk, including opponents of the Community Safety Act, continue to hold the people of New York City in a state of confusion. The chilling effect on the brave members of the NYPD that the City's attorney spoke about in this case is being caused by the City's and police union's continued suits and deliberate misinformation still being purposefully fed to union members, information that cannot be supported by the judge's orders or the language in the CSA. Just two days ago, Commissioner Kelly was unable to deliver a speech to students at Brown University. Students protested the New York Police Department's (NYPD) abuse of Stop and Frisk, and the bias-based profiling that the department's approach leads to. The damage being done to the image and brand of the Mayor, the Commissioner and New York City by refusing to even acknowledge that these practices lead to profiling is only getting worse. What's more is that the Mayor and Police Commissioner are lessening the chance of leaving behind a legacy that remembers many of their positive accomplishments by continuing to oppose these reasonable reforms, and holding the people of New York in a perpetual state of confusion. This stay represents yet another chapter in the long, historic struggle for civil rights in this nation, and no rights have been won overnight. Instead of continuing to fight to protect a practice which has violated the civil liberties of hundreds of thousands of New York City residents, many of them black and Latino, the Mayor, along with the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association's (PBA) and the Sergeant Benevolent Association's (SBA) join me in moving the conversation of safer streets and better policing forward by dropping these lawsuits and unifying New York City. No matter how long this fight lasts, it is a fight worth winning, and a fight that we will win. American history is replete with instances where well-meaning individuals ended up on the wrong side of a civil rights issue. I am prayerful that this administration and the respective union leaders will at long last, to paraphrase Dr. King, acknowledge that the moral arc of our City is bending toward justice."

NYC Mayor: Bill de Blasio (D) To Burger King, "This Is an Unsupportable Situation"

by poopdogcomedyFollow

Well said: http://www.thenation.com/...

Shortly after 11:30 on Wednesday morning, Bill de Blasio, New York City’s likely next mayor, stood just a few blocks from City Hall and did what none of his recent predecessors would have done without the help of drugs or tickle torture: he pledged his support for the city’s vast fast-food workforce and the scores of low-wage workers laboring beside them. Standing in front of a lower Manhattan Burger King, de Blasio offered praise for the campaign to organize fast-food workers and laments for the industry whose grabby, employer-take-all economics has consigned so many New Yorkers to a subsistence existence. As one initial remedy, he called for New York City to have the authority to set—and presumably raise—its own minimum wage. “The bottom line is, this is an unsupportable situation where every day hard-working people can’t make ends meet, and the companies involved certainly can do more,” de Blasio said as a squad of fast-food workers cheered behind him, and reporters scribbled notes on steno-pads. “And it is right, it is right, for leaders in government to step up on behalf of these workers and help them organize to win their rights.”

This was not the first time de Blasio had volunteered his voice for low-wage worker rights. As public advocate, he has been a reliable supporter of the fast-food workers’ movement, appearing at labor conferences long before the media cared to follow him and pressing worker-friendly legislation like the recently passed paid sick days bill. During the dog days of the Democratic primary, he spent a week trying to live on a minimum-wage worker’s budget. But de Blasio’s appearance Wednesday outside a downtown Burger King signaled a potentially new moment for both city politics and Fast Food Forward, the coalition behind New Yorkers fast-food worker campaign. As the mayor-apparent of New York City, de Blasio is not just some scrappy local pol offering a thumbs-up to a worthy cause; he is a rising political power with a broad mandate and potentially national platform (indeed, de Blasio is now one of the highest-ranking elected officials to embrace the fast-food workers’ movement). And, as suggested by the scrum of elected officials clamoring for turns at the mic before him, he might actually have a significant base of elected support behind him. - The Nation, 10/18/13

de Blasio also opened up about the moment that made him make income inequality the key issue of his campaign: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...

When asked by Arianna Huffington, The Huffington Post founder and editor-in-chief, what can be done to make those in positions of power "also take personal responsibility, not just delegate responsibility to government," he said he believes his campaign -- and the growing national conversation around income inequality -- are already starting that process. When he began campaigning, he said, "There was the not-unsurprising countercharge from some corners, starting with our own mayor, that it was divisive in some way, or class struggle in some way, to talk about inequality."
But he said he has since heard something quite different, both from New York's middle class and its wealthy.
From "many people in a lot of the business sectors" he said, there was "a sort of a pause that it caused for them to have that conversation brought up front and center."
De Blasio related the experience of listening to a supporter in the real estate industry introduce him at an event Thursday. The real estate leader said he at first felt "uncomfortable" with de Blasio's talk of inequality, until he thought about his own grandfather, an immigrant who worked his way up with menial jobs.
"He thought about what if his grandfather had experienced that lack of opportunity prevalent today," de Blasio said. "And so it became very personal for him in an unusual fashion, and I think this debate is causing a reexamination for a lot of people. That moment last night crystallized for me that maybe people need that little transcendent moment, where it becomes more personal." - Huffington Post, 10/18/13

This is exactly why we need to make sure voters come out to the polls on Tuesday, November 5th.  Now de Blasio has a big lead in the polls over his opponent, Joe Lhota (R).  But Lhota has been running a very negative campaign against de Blasio: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...

attribution: None Specified

Republican Joe Lhota on Wednesday released the New York City mayoral campaign's harshest ad to date, using footage of a recent biker gang attack to suggest that the city would return to its violent, crime-filled past if Democrat Bill de Blasio is elected. Lhota, a former deputy mayor to Rudolph Giuliani who is trailing badly in the polls, centers the ad around the dramatic video of the biker attack that left several people, including a young father, injured. It then segues into harrowing black-and-white images from the 1970s and '80s, including footage of an overturned police car, a man holding a gun and corpses sprawled on the ground.
The 30-second spot, which will air on the city's broadcast networks, warns that de Blasio has a "recklessly dangerous agenda on crime" because the public advocate suggested that he would meet with biker groups.
The ad, by far the most negative in an increasingly nasty campaign, comes on the heels of Lhota's accusations during a Tuesday night debate that de Blasio is "untested" and unable to continue the city's historic reduction in crime that began in the 1990s under Giuliani. Lhota has frequently criticized de Blasio for wanting to reform the police department's stop-and-frisk policy, which allows officers to stop anyone deemed acting suspiciously. - Huffington Post, 10/16/13

de blasio isn't going to sit silent over Lhota's latest attacks: http://www.nydailynews.com/...

A day after Republican Joe Lhota unleashed a scathing attack ad that painted de Blasio as soft on crime, the Democrat responded with an ad of his own that featured another member of his photogenic family.
De Blasio won the Democratic nomination last month partly on the strength of touching ads featuring his Afro-sporting teenage son, Dante.
The ad he started airing Thursday focused on college-aged daughter Chiara, who looks directly at the camera and offers a cheerful response to attacks on her father.
“Now that my dad is on the move, his opponents are on the attack,” the 19-year-old sophomore says, without mentioning Lhota by name or repeating the charges in his ad. - New York Daily News, 10/18/13

His ad may not mention Lhota by name but he mentioned him by name in an interview: http://thegrio.com/...

And the new ad is just disgusting, inappropriate and divisive. It’s made worse by the fact that he didn’t say those things during the debate. Here’s your mainstream media there, here’s the TV audience and here I am. They asked him repeatedly, “what do you think of [de Blasio] on public safety and he offered some vague disagreements. Then the next day, from the safety of TV advertising, he throws out an absolute disgusting, divisive, alarmist ad. - The Grio, 10/18/13

de Blasio wasn't the only one to blast Lhota in the press: http://www.nydailynews.com/...

Bill Bratton was talking shop about cops, and he had a lot to talk about. Bratton’s on Democratic mayoral nominee Bill de Blasio’s short list for next NYPD commissioner.
If he’s appointed, the Boston native would go back to the desk at 1 Police Plaza he occupied in the early days of the Giuliani administration.
During that two-year stint, Bratton instituted the “broken window” and “CompStat” systems of policing that cut in half the out-of-control crime rate in a crack-plagued city where murders exceeded 2,000 a year.
Giuliani fired Bratton when he thought he stole his thunder by gracing the cover of Time.
Instead of Rudy.
When asked about Republican candidate Joe Lhota recently calling him “the most egotistical police commissioner in the city’s history,” Bratton laughed.
“Wow, that’s interesting, because I thought Joe was a friend,” Bratton said by phone from Los Angeles. “But then Lhota recently tried to claim credit for CompStat, which was created by me and Jack Maple using a Police Foundation grant to buy a few computers from Radio Shack. Giuliani liked it so much he implemented CompStat Lite in other city agencies. That’s where Lhota got involved. But for him to say he helped develop CompStat is to stretch the truth to the breaking point.”
Bratton adds that if Lhota calls him “egotistical,” based on his success and confidence, then he’s guilty as charged “because I’ve been successful and I’m confident. - New York Daily News, 10/18/13

FYI, Lhota's been having a rough week on the campaign trail: http://www.nydailynews.com/...

One mistake was an impromptu campaign stop Wednesday at a men-only prayer service in an ultra-Orthodox synagogue in Borough Park, Brooklyn.  First, he led a gaggle of reporters and campaign aides, including three women into the synagogue, upsetting the religious men praying inside.
That led to more awkward politics when the women — a Daily News reporter, a press aide and a female member of Lhota's NYPD security detail — were asked to leave while male reporters and aides were allowed to stay.
 "What I should have told everybody is I wanted to go into the synagogue privately and personally," Lhota said Thursday. "But, you know, as I walked in everybody else walked in."
Political campaigns typically vet stops on candidates' schedules to avoid conflicts like the one in Borough Park on Wednesday, but Lhota said he'd heard about the synagogue and made a last-minute decision to stop by during a campaign swing in the neighborhood.
"It was totally not on the schedule," he said.
In another blunder, his campaign took fire from photographers whose images were used in a Lhota ad that started airing Wednesday.
 The photographers said Lhota never asked permission to use the haunting images of a crime-ravaged city that the Republican used to suggest rival Bill de Blasio would return the city to its scariest days.
"I am very upset," said photographer Q. Sakamaki, who documented riots in Tompkins Square Park. "They used it without my permission for propaganda." - New York Daily News, 10/18/13

de Blasio has also been assuring voters that he will be ready to run the city the first day he comes into office: http://www.nydailynews.com/...

The front-runner in the race says he'll be prepared to lead the city on Day One and scoffed at critics who fear the Big Apple will collapse when Mayor Bloomberg leaves office.  "I do have the experience," he said in an interview on WOR-AM Saturday morning.
"I had the honor of working in the Clinton administration as the regional director for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. I worked for four years on the staff of the mayor's office," he said, referring to his time as an aide to Mayor David Dinkins. "I'm a citywide elected official now. I served as Hillary Clinton's campaign manager when she ran for U.S. Senate. And that's why, you know, President Clinton, President Obama, Secretary Clinton, Gov. Cuomo have all endorsed me."
The Democrat said the city will survive without its smooth-managing billionaire mayor come January. - New York Daily News, 10/19/13

If you would like to get involved with de Blasio's campaign, you can do so here:

attribution: None Specified

http://www.billdeblasio.com/

NSA Promises to Stop Getting Caught Spying On Allies

NSA director Keith Alexander. (photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images)

By Andy Borowitz, The New Yorker

30 October 13

The article below is satire. Andy Borowitz is an American comedian and New York Times-bestselling author who satirizes the news for his column, "The Borowitz Report."

esponding to the firestorm of controversy over its spying on European allies, the head of the National Security Agency said today it would do everything in its power to avoid being caught doing it in the future.

"There are two important jobs for every spy agency: spying on people and avoiding detection," said the N.S.A. chief General Keith Alexander. "Unfortunately, at the N.S.A. we have only done the first job well."

"We have abused the trust of some of our closest allies," he said. "And none of this would have happened if they hadn't found out."

General Alexander said that the agency was instituting strict new practices that amounted to "a zero-tolerance policy on getting caught."

"I had a meeting with my top people today and said, 'I want you to put the same energy you put into spying on Germany, France, and Spain into keeping them from figuring out what we're up to,'" he said. "'Anything less than that will be unacceptable.'"

General Alexander also offered a heartfelt apology to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, a prime target of the agency's eavesdropping. "I know how upsetting it must be for you to know that your closest ally has been listening in on your phone conversations for the past eleven years," he said. "I give you my solemn promise that in the future you won't know."

 

Gotham

In Pay-to-Play Albany, Contributors Win Favors

By MICHAEL POWELL

Had a bill to raise the cost of the security tax stamp placed on packs of cigarettes passed, a donor would have stood to profit handsomely from the legislation.

In the Running

Lhota’s Years Working for the Dolans

By DAVID M. HALBFINGER

In his nearly 10 years with Cablevision and Madison Square Garden, owned by the Dolans, Joseph J. Lhota advocated generous benefits for his employer, which cost the city millions of dollars a year.

De Blasio in Position to Win Mayor’s Race by Historic Margin, Poll Shows

By DAVID W. CHEN and MEGAN THEE-BRENAN

Bill de Blasio is flirting with a record New York City mayoral win for a non-incumbent; that record is currently held by Abraham D. Beame, who won in 1973 with a 40-point victory margin.

• 46 Comments

Bill de Blasio for Mayor

By THE EDITORIAL BOARD

We believe he can weave his liberal vision with an ability to keep the streets safe, the budgets balanced and the schools working.

October 27, 2013, Sunday

MORE ON: Lhota, Joseph J, Elections, Mayors, Endorsements, de Blasio, Bill, New York City

Congress Spends Several Hours Pretending to Understand Internet

The U.S. Capitol building in Washington, DC. (photo: EPA)

By Andy Borowitz, The New Yorker

25 October 13

n an impressive white-knuckle performance on live television today, members of Congress spent several hours in a hearing room pretending to understand the Internet.

Beginning this morning, members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee devoted four hours to grilling Web-site contractors about site architecture, Web traffic, software, and other I.T. concepts about which their ignorance is nearly complete.

"As members of this committee, we are supposed to have a deep understanding of the technology involved in the health-care Web site," said Chairman Fred Upton (R-Michigan). "So it was absolutely imperative for us to fake that we do."

For the duration of the hearings, the Web contractors offered detailed testimony about "end-to-end testing," "enterprise identity management," and other technical concepts to a group of elected officials who can barely use e-mail.

"I would say that, to a man, we did not understand ninety-nine per cent of that computer nonsense they were going on about," Chairman Upton said. "To me it was a whole lot of blahbitty-blahbitty-blah. I hope it wasn't too obvious."

Rep. Upton said that "looking serious and nodding our heads a lot" contributed to the illusion that committee members had even scant comprehension of what was being discussed.

"At the end of the day, a lot of it came down to not asking the questions you really wanted to ask," he said. "Like, ‘What exactly is a Web site?'"