Sunday, August 15, 2010

Obama Walks Back Remarks, Controversy swells...

*** Sunday PM UpdateHowie Kurtz Scolds Media Over Coverage Of ‘Bogus’ Steven Slater Story (Mediaite) * 7 Best Moments From Sunday Talk (The Beast) * 50 Shots and One Week Later, an Arrest Is Made (NYT)

3Saturday

Obama Walks Back Remarks, Controversy swells...

Clarifying The Clarification Walking Back the Walk-Back? (YNN)

Breaking News Sunday PM SoHo properties, developer of Park51 mosque near Ground Zero, willing to talk about moving (DN)

Obama narrows mosque defense Smith, Politico

Sunday

Update Walk-Backs
Obama Says Mosque Remarks Were Not Endorsement (NYT) * In Lower Manhattan, 2 Mosques Have Firm Roots (NYT) * O: Muslims have 'right' to build mosque -- but won't say whether they shoud (NYP) * President Obama Clarifies: ‘I Was Not Commenting… On The Wisdom’ Of Building The NYC Mosque * With Remarks on Mosque, Obama Enters Risky Debate (NYT) * Obama mosque retreat (NYP) * With Remarks on Mosque, Obama Enters Risky Debate (NYT) * It's an emotional issue, but blocking the Ground Zero mosque is just what the terrorists want (Daly, DN) * Obama's Ground Zero Mosque Comments: President Recalibrates (VIDEO) (Huff Post) * Fox Hosts On Obama’s Support Of NYC * 9/11 Family Members Divided Over Mosque (Fox 5) * Republicans bash Bam over mosque (NYP) *** Sunday PM Governor Signs No-Fault Divorce Bill Into Law (NY1) * State's Convicted Drunk Drivers Now Need Ignition Interlocks (NY1) * Reps. Peter King and Jerry Nadler debated the proposed Park51 mosque * A lot of New York's Congressional delegation is just trying to stay out of the fray * Mayor Bloomberg saw Obama’s words as a “clarion defense of the freedom of religion” (although that was before the clarification and the clarification of the clarification) (YNN) * The WSJ has a nifty who’s for it, who’s against it mosque graphic.*** SUNDAY PM Lawsuit: St. Vincent's Hospital Squandered Millions, Exaggerated Debts

Mosque: ‘He Has To Stand Up For Religious Freedom’Saturday

Obama gives blessing to Ground Zero mosque (NYP) * Obama Strongly Backs Islam Center Near 9/11 Site (NYT) * President Obama's Speech On Ramadan: Full Text * Obama Defends Mosque Plan (WSJ) * Obama Breaks Silence On Mosque Debate, Sides With Mayor (NY1) * President Obama defends mosque near Ground Zero at White House Ramadan dinner (DN) * Obama keeps faith: President stands by downtown mosque and the Constitution (DN ED) * WATCH: Obama Defends Right To Build ‘Ground Zero Mosque’ At White House Dinner

Michelle Obama's popularity drops after Spain vacation (DN)

***Sunday Update Subway door blockers & dawdling tourists top New Yorkers' gripe list (NYP) * 'Doctored' books Brass looted St. Vincent's for millions: foes (NYP) * Andy's already pulling strings (NYP) * Cops' new tactic: Facebook 'em! (NYP) * Medicaid nightmare (NYP Ed) * Heart doc, 94, collecting pension and working (NYP) *16-Year-Old Boy Is Shot to Death in the Bronx (NYT) *Loopholes allowed firms targeted by AG to donate $150,000 to Andrew Cuomo's campaign (DN) * Drunken drivers won't breathe as easily starting Sunday (DN) * Random drive-by shooting claims life of 15-yr-old 'good kid' (DN) * Surveillance Tape Captures Suspect In Fatal NYC Stabbing (WCBS) *Do New Staff, Focus Have Lazio Rising? (Fox 5) *Justice Sotomayor visits the Bronx (WABC) *Fatally Shot Teen's Father Had Warned Him to Stay Inside *No-Fault Divorce Becomes Law In NY (YNN) * Cuomo on Rangel: “I’ve been at this long enough to know there’s always two sides to a story—and sometimes there’s a third side.”

Why lobby others when you can lobby yourself? 'Inside' lobby work City Commish 'conflict'
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Daily News editorial follows True News 5 Days Later
Some Pigs are More Equal Than Others, Term Limits Rules Do Not Apply to Current Council

Term Limits Rules Do Not Apply to Current Council
Today's Daily News Charter a new course: Commission can’t give pols a free pass around term limits (DN Ed)

Again what ever happen to the Council Slush Fund investigation?

Pay to Play Non Profit Charity 'pall' The city has cut off funding to Alianza Dominicana -- a powerful Washington Heights charity supported by beleaguered Harlem Rep. Charles Rangel -- at the same time the Department of Investigation has opened a probe of the group's finances (NYP)

Bloomberg Buys $$$ Term Limits
A day after the Rev. Sharpton announced he would fight Bloomberg on non partisan elections, the mayor announced he would end his push for that issue. . . Is the Rev. the most powerful man in NYC? Did he save the NYC Democratic Party? Pay to Play Rev. Sharpton $110K grant kept Rev. Al Sharpton quiet about Mayor Bloomberg changing term limits

Gambling on Gambling? "A New York attorney who became executive of a Monticello gaming company is raising serious questions about the honesty of key officials with a Malaysian conglomerate on the verge of entering into a 30-year relationship with the state to build and operate the huge racino planned for Aqueduct Race Track." writes the Times-Union's Jim Odato.

No Change in Albany The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle’s business editor is dubious the fall elections will bring much change to Albany. Or the City The Staten Island Advance would like to see Bloomberg extend the Charter Revision Commission.

Paterson Aide's Domestic Violence Case Leads Court System To Reconsider Practices (WNYC)

Press: Evolve or Die
In U.S., Confidence in Newspapers, TV News Remains a Rarity
No more than 25% say they have a "great deal" or "quite a lot" of confidence in either. The findings are from Gallup's annual Confidence in Institutions survey. It is clear the media as a whole are not gaining new fans as they struggle to serve and compete with growing demand for online news, social media, and mobile platforms. The Pew Project for Excellence in Journalism's annual report on the State of the News Media, released in March, found for a third straight year, only digital and cable news sources growing in popularity, while network news, local news, and newspaper audiences shrink.

Election 2010 Monserrate Down, but Not Out of Sight * GOP candidate Lazio's campaign runs on empty

The Inconsistent Public
Joseph Mercurio Voters want government to do more except when it isn't working, then they turn on you. * Less Is More For Indie Voters | The Cook Political Report

The UFT is the Rat
- soon show up outside the offices of the United Federation of Teachers? Because if what veteran teachers-union employee -- er, ex-employee -- Jim Callaghan says is true, the UFT is sure fair game for one. Ironic though it is for a union to be targeted by employees. Callaghan says he was summarily fired Thursday, two months after telling UFT President Michael Mulgrew that he wanted to organize non-unionized workers at the group's headquarters into a collective-bargaining unit. (NYP Ed)The anti-labor UFT

Klein Loses on a Charter Chancellor Joel Klein has backed off his vow to allow a charter school to expand inside a public school, another indication that his powers were weakened when the mayoral-control law was renewed last year. (WSJ)

New York Economic Meltdown New York's Only Landmarked Arby's Calls It Quit (WSJ) * Parking Tickets Still Being Issued At Old Bus Stops, Drivers Say (NY1) * Bloomberg tells Paterson to cowboy up on 'Indian' smokes (DN) * Union raises dues to help 200 axed subway clerks (DN)* Interactive Tool for Tracking MTA Capital Plan (Second Avenue Sagas) * Why the City Needed the Federal Fiscal Relief (DMI Blog) * NYC retailer Gracious Home goes bankrupt * 25 grocery stores closing as part of turnaround *** Sunday City Cemeteries Face Gridlock * Will this year's state budget hold together? In April 2008, lawmakers and Gov. David Paterson closed a $4.6 billion budget gap. A few months later, as the economy dived, a $2 billion midyear deficit emerged.

Law and Order 7 hit in shootings (NYP) * Subway 'push fiend' a cook at Cipriani * Hot-dog man foils 'robber' (NYP) * Hunt for victimes of rape suspect widens to D.C. * Slap on the wrist for higher-ups in Long Beach field-trip drowing (DN) * City being sued for losing $187,000 belt buckle (DN) * Teen gunned down in 'mistaken identity' * Teen gunned down at random, gang eyed (NYP) *** Sunday Perv rabbi gets special jail meals * ACS workers say cops beat them during child removal * ‘Craigslist Killing’ Suspect Is Dead in Likely Suicide

Media and New Tech The Google/Verizon Payment Plan Some of the ideas about guaranteeing access to broadband Internet put forth by Google and Verizon are reasonable in principle, but they would dangerously limit the F.C.C.’s reach. (NYT Ed) * MTV, Universal call brief truce in digital rights battle * Union: Film firm a reel deadbeat (NYP) * With Summer, Big Cable Channels Keep Getting Bigger

Washington
Big chunk of economic stimulus yet to be spent by state, local governments (Wash Post) *
Voters Are Mad, but This Time It’s No Surprise to Democrats (NYT) *Senate hopeful Alvin Greene indicted on felony charges *Maureen Dowd: Robert Gibbs Was Right About The ‘Professional Left’ (NYT)

NYT’s Must-Read Profile Of America’s ‘Secret Wars’ On Two Continents

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Other Views

On October 15, 1958, veteran broadcaster Edward R. Murrow delivered his famous "wires and lights in a box" speech (VIDEO) The Last Lion of Tammany HOW JIMMY McMANUS, MANHATTAN’S LAST GREAT TAMMANY DISTRICT LEADER, HELPED TO REVIVE HELL’S KITCHEN AND THE THEATER DISTRICT c By James S. Kaplan f On January 13, 2011, the law firm of Proskauer Rose moved into 11 Times Square, which is located on 42nd Street between 7th and 8th Avenues. In moving west to the final building of the City’s Times Square redevelopment, the Proskauer firm joined such other major law firms as Cravath, Swaine & Moore, Covington & Burling, Roberts & Holland, and the advertising firm of Ogilvy & Mather. That such major professional firms, along with a number of newly constructed luxury apartment buildings on 42nd Street from ninth to eleventh avenue and trendy restaurants and off Broadway theaters would be located west of 8th Avenue in midtown would have been almost inconceivable fifty years ago. Tammany Last Stand Continued

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