Sunday, December 16, 2012

Sunday Update: Horror and Death By Gun Again

SNL Silent Night Children's Choir Opens Show Last Night
Sandy Hook Elementary’s nurse relives terror(NYP) * Children Wounded ‘All Over, All Over’(NYT) * Gunman Fired His Way Into School in Connecticut(NYT) * In a Town of Traditions, Grief Engulfs Holiday Joy * Gun lobby thrives near tragic scene(NYDN) * 2 Bklyn. churches hold gun buybacks today(NYDN)
* Obama to travel Sunday to Newtown(WABC) * Agents visit Conn. gun shops after school massacre(Fox 5) * 14 Most Pathetic Corporate Facebook Updates(Buzz Feed) * Pope, 'deeply saddened' by US school attack, prays for families of the victims:
*Shot through the heart  (NYDN ED) Unspeakable violence in a Connecticut school cries out for action on guns * "As muffled screams continued over the loudspeaker, 18 fourth graders began to color." (Wash Post)* Colorado Gov. To CNN: ‘Video Games’ May Be The Reason ‘Assault Weapons Are Used’ In Mass Shootings (Video) * New Yorkers Hold Vigils For Connecticut Shooting Victims (NY1)

C.T. Sen. Lieberman: Video Games, Movies ‘Cause Vulnerable Young Men To Be More Violent’  * Governor: Gunman may have planned worse massacre (LoHud) * RT : Top Democrat Dianne Feinstein will seek new gun law in next Congress *
Gov Dan Malloy Connecticut Governor On CNN: 'We Are A Particularly Violent Country'

MURDOCH BRIT PAPER CALLS FOR MORE U.S. GUN CONTROLS...
 Coping with the Newtown Tragedy from Afar (Vanity Fair) * What makes America's gun culture totally unique in the world, in 4 charts(Wash Post) * Noon Mass at Newtown church evcuated after 'credible threat' called in to police.(NYT) *Newtown church evacuated during Christmas pageant rehearsal after death threat(NYP) * Conn. gunman shot mother multiple times in head, killed himself as first responders arrived(NYP) * Adam Lanza had 'hundreds' of unspent rounds left, police say. * The media will quickly forget about guns - unless Washington stops them (Wash Post) * To ease transition for Sandy Hook students, everything from furniture to artwork will be moved to temporary school * Newtown has Mixed Feelings About the Media Horde in Its Midst * Painful Duty: Finding Words for Grieving Parents(NYT)
* 6-yr-old girl was the sole survivor in her class--by playing dead. "Mommy, I'm OK but all my friends are dead"  * Read profiles of every Sandy Hook victim who was tragically lost during Friday's massacre 
 
President Barack Obama w/heartfelt, honest speech saying US "cant have" another shooting tragedy. Sounded angry and called for "change"
 "For the fourth time in his four years as president, Obama will lead awful rituals of mass death..."  * Silent cheers and visible tears as President Obama - a hint of anger in some of his words. - tells gun lobby change is coming! .* A promise to use an executive order to toughen gun laws? We shall see* Deeds not words are now test of how we measure and care for our children, from CT's schools to Chicago's streets.* President Obama in Newtown, Connecticut: "We will have to change"(Politico)

No White House photos from family meetings. But the family of Emilie Parker, who was 6, released this on their own
 President Obama: "No single law or set of laws can eliminate evil from the world... but that can't be an excuse for inaction." * President Obama (from Chicago where every month there is a Sandy Hook massacre) sounds as if he is ready to take...*"Are we really prepared to say that we're powerless in the face of such carnage? That the politics are too hard?" * President Barack Obama w/heartfelt, honest speech saying US "cant have" another shooting tragedy. Sounded angry and called for "change" Good * Obama speech: step forward (minus the religious bs), but still can't say the word "guns"; like the NRA literally has guns to our heads* 

Obama: "In the coming weeks I will use whatever powers this office holds…in an effort aimed at preventing more tragedies like this."* We can't accept events like this as routine.Are we really prepared to say we are powerless..that the politics are too hard?"-Pres.Obama * "Let us make our country worthy of their memory," the president says of the fallen children.* Obama reads each of the 1st names of the victims of the Newtown school shooting - Live video* Obama reads each of the names of the children killed in shootings; "God has called them all home."* It was gut-wrenching to be there tonight -- to hear the sobs of people not just upset about this tragedy -- but directly devastated by it.*WATCH: Important moments from Obama's speech(Wash Post) * Pool reporter Ann Compton in the auditorium says several parents struggled with tears as POTUS read the names of the deceased. *Video of the President's talk.* Leadership is about moving a nation even if polls show complex & difficult picture.May this be central part of Prez's 2nd term & his legacy

Children Were All Shot Multiple Times With a Semiautomatic, Officials Say(NYT)

* 8-year-old shooting survivor recounts rescue, talks about death of former teacher(LoHud)

CHARLOTTE BACON 6, DANIEL BARDEN 7, RACHEL DAVINO 27, OLIVIA ENGEL 5, JOSEPHINE GAY 7,  ANA G. MARQUEZ-GREENE 6, DYLAN HOCKLEY 6, DAWN HOCHSPRUNG 47, MADELEINE F. HSU 6, CATHERINE V. HUBBARD 6, CHASE KOWALSKI  7, JESSE LEWIS 6, JAMES MATTIOLI 6, GRACE MCDONNELL 7, ANNE MARIE MURPHY 52, EMILIE PARKER 6, JACK PINTO 6, NOAH POZNER 6, CAROLINE PREVIDI 6, JESSICA REKOS 6, AVIELLE RICHMAN 6, LAUREN ROUSSEAU 30, MARY SHERLACH 56, VICTORIA SOTO 27, BENJAMIN WHEELER 6, ALLISON N. WYATT 6  'We know lots of things that we shouldn't know': Kids, parents talk shooting (NBC)

 

Mother shared her gun obsession with school shooter Adam Lanza(NYP) * A Mother, a Gun Enthusiast and the First Victim(NYT) * Gunman reportedly visited shooting ranges with mother(Fox 5)

School gunman was troubled and shy, neighbors and classmates say(NYP) * No Motive Known in Gunman’s Massacre of 20 Schoolchildren(NYT) * A Gunman, Recalled as Intelligent and Shy, Who Left Few Footprints in Life(NYT) * Details Emerge About Family of Suspected Gunman(WSJ) RT Superintendent of schools on Today Show says Nancy Lanza did NOT work at Sandy Hook Elem, was not in their database
* Mr. President, time to lead on gun control (Daily Beast)
* Suspect Adam Lanza was obscurein life, now is infamous in death(Wash Post)  
FIRST PHOTO: 'Warm and affectionate' mother shot dead by her own son — who then used her guns to unleash a national nightmare* Who was Adam Lanza? Clues emerge, along with disturbing photo of Lanza as a child:(Slate) * Who was Adam Lanza?(Buzz Feed) *Police: Suspect in Newtown, Conn., shooting 'forced his way' into school    * Lanza's mom was a gun enthusiast, friends say, and all the weapons apparently were bought legally.(NYT) * UPDATE: Adam Lanza reportedly had an "altercation" with four staff members at Sandy Hook the day before the massacre(Slate)* Video Game Blamed For Connecticut Shooting  *Killer’s Mother, His First Victim, Was a Gun Enthusiast, Friends Say(NYT)  * Peter Lanza, the father of Newtown shooter Adam Lanza, gives statement: 'We are in a state of disbelief' * Newtown School Shooting Motive Puzzles Investigators (Huff Post) * Gunman attended school where he killed 26, governor says: An explanation still hasn't emerged for why(NBC)
* Newtown School Killer’s Mother’s Family: We Share Your (WCBS) *Nancy Lanza Feared She Was ‘Losing’ Her Son, Said He Was ‘Getting Worse,’ ‘Burning Himself With A Lighter’
 


Newtown gunman's mom took son to shooting ranges as police ID victims, uncover 'very good evidence' of his motives(NYP)* ABC now reporting that Nancy Lanza "had once been a classroom aide at the Sandy Hook school." Source of that is Nancy's ex-sister-in-law* Chief medical examiner: All Newtown shooting victims "hit more than once."(CNN)  * BREAKING: Medical examiner confirms Connecticut shooter killed his own mother  * Of 20 children killed in , 12 were girls & 8 were boys. All 6 adults were women. /via per   * Most of the victims killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting were 6 or 7 years old:(NYDN) *  This Is a .223-Caliber Rifle (The Atlantic) * Sandy Hook Shooting Victims' Names Released(Huff Post) * Examiner Speaks of ‘Devastating’ Scene in Connecticut(NYT) 

Father Fights Back Tears Reflecting On Slain Daughter(Huff Post) * "This probably is the worst I have seen -- or the worst that I know of any of my colleagues having seen" (NY1) * Connecticut victims ID'd as police uncover 'very good evidence' of shooter's motives(NYP)* Newtown Dad Remembers Daughter(Daily Beast) *Tearful Parents Bid Goodbye To Slain Daughter In CT: ‘This World Is A Better Place’ Because She Was In It
 



THE HEROS OF SANDY HOOK
* Sandy Hook Teacher Vicki Soto Dies While Protecting Students
* Heroic teachers made the ultimate sacrifice for kids(NYP)

She threw herself in front of the gunman to save herstudents: Astonishing story of the brave teacher who died protecting childrenfrom 'deeply disturbed' killer (Daily Mail) * The Heroic Principal(Newsweek)
* Sandy Hook hero: Custodian ran through hall, verifying doors locked
* Brave Sandy Hook principal Dawn Hochsprung died lunging at the gunman. . profiles the heroic woman.
* School psychologist died trying to protect others (USA Today)
* School Leaders Died Trying to Save Students’ Lives, Superintendent Says(NYT)
* Library clerk at Sandy Hook school saves 18 kids(NYDN)
* A Methodical Massacre: Horror And Heroics(Hardfrod Courant)
* Sandy Hook Teacher Remembered For Heroics To Save Students At Vigil 

 


How do we find ourselves asking kids and teachers  to be more courageous in the face of a gunman than politicians are in the face of the gun lobby?

Sunday Update
Obama, GOP pressured to act on gun control(NYP) * Debate on Gun Control Is Revived, Amid a Trend Toward Less Regulation * Dem Rep explains what Congress could do right now on gun control(Huff Post) *  Obama's planned visit to Connecticut Sunday(Politico)






Anti Gun Rally At WH


Emotional Obama on school shooting: Child victims 'had their entire lives ahead of them'((NYP) * During his first term, and throughout the 2012 campaign, Obama has generally avoided the issue of gun control – even after the Aurora cinema shooting and the Arizona shooting in which ex-Rep. Gabby Giffords was shot in the head.* Obama to meet with school shooting victims' families ”(NBC) * President Obama to attend interfaith memorial in Newtown, Conn. Sunday night(Wash Post)

Gun control petitions flood White House website * Nadler urges Obama to call the "the mass murderers they are" *Connecticut school shooting: Activists rally for gun control at W.H. (Politico) * Obama’s Cautious Call for Action Sets the Stage for a Gun Debate(NYT) * Nation’s Pain Is Renewed, and Difficult Questions Are Asked Once More(NYT) * Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, whose husband died in mass shooting: “I’m not going to be shy anymore.” (NYT) * White House gun control petition passes 50k signatures * Obama should treat gun control like LBJ did civil rights | The Great Debate *Bam: Too many gun atrocities(NYP) * Nation Reels as Shooting Details Emerge(NYT) * Difficult Questions and Pain Are Renewed for Nation Once More * In Public ‘Conversation’ on Guns, a Rhetorical Shift(538) * Obama’s Cautious Call Sets Stage for Debate(NYT) * Obama Brings Gun Debate to Fore(WSJ)
* What Obama Must Do About Guns(New Yorker) * The Brady Campaign's report on Obama's first year in office makes for depressing reading:  (pdf)*
Obama plays healer-in-chief again (Wash Post) * Number of people killed by guns in U.S. since JFK and MLK: over 1 million.
 Carolyn McCarthy Democratic Congresswoman: I Will 'Embarrass' Obama Into Stronger Gun Laws

Obama Should Look to LBJ The Killing of President Kennedy, Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King Gave Lyndon Johnson the Political Capital to Pass the the 1968 Gun Control Act*  Gun Control Lessons from LBJ
Lyndon Johnson Remarks Upon Signing the Gun Control Act of1968. *  September 15, 1966 : LBJ Appeals for Gun Control Six weeks earlier, on August 1, Charles Whitman had killed 14 people and wounded 32 others during a shooting rampage on and around the University of Texas at Austin's campus Gun Control Act of 1968 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia *  Nixon wanted to ban handguns...and other little-known facts about Repubs and gun control(Daily Kos) * The used to champion gun control - now it works to overturn the laws it spearheaded (Newsday)

 True News and Now the Daily News
Obama Should Stop Leading From Behind on Gun Control
In the weeks after he took the oath of office upon the assassination of John F. Kennedy, President Lyndon Baines Johnson contemplated launching a battle for landmark civil rights legislation. His advisers told Johnson to forget it. They said he would alienate powerful Southern lawmakers who would be crucial to the rest of his agenda, and one told Johnson that there was no point in pursuing a seemingly lost cause — even one whose rightness was beyond question. Johnson answered: “Well, what the hell’s the presidency for?”  Fifty years later, that question, recounted in Robert Caro’s masterful Johnson biography, “The Passage of Power,” stands as the fundamental challenge facing President Obama in the aftermath of the Newtown children’s massacre. * His purpose at this crossroads must be to secure passage of gun control measures that will stem the bloodshed hemorrhaging from America in all-too-frequent mass killings as well as in individual murders thanks to the overavailability and underpolicing of firearms.



President John F. Kennedy’s 
Role in Community Mental Health Care 50 Years Ago
Congress Never Provided the Funds For Kennedy's Program
Plus Americans Do Not Want Emotionally Disturbed Half Way Houses in Their Neighborhood. Which have left those with problems on their own as we closed the out dated institutions that used to house the mentally Ill
In 1963, John F. Kennedy envisioned a system of care that would allow individuals to seek mental health treatment in their very own communities rather than an institutional setting. With 530,000 Americans living in mental institutions, President Kennedy called for a “bold new approach” to caring for those with mental illness.  President Kennedy requested that Congress enact legislation that would restructure the mental health system to include community-based care. President Kennedy signed Public Law 88-164, which authorized federal funds for the development of community mental health centers.50 - Special Message to the Congress on Mental Illness and Mental Retardation. February 5, 1963 * JFK and People with Intellectual Disabilities
* Mass Shootings: Maybe What We Need Is a Better Mental-Health Policy(Mother Jones)


Vote for Brady Was A Career Death Sentence For Many in 1994
The NRA Took Credit for Taking Back Congress in 1994 After the 1993 Brady Act Passed
The Brady Bill, 1993 In the aftermath of John Hinckley's assassination attempt on President Reagan in March 1981, authorities discovered that he had purchased the revolver by providing a fake address and identification. Sarah Brady — wife of Jim Brady, the Reagan press secretary who was paralyzed after being shot in the head — began a campaign to require a simple background check on anyone wishing to purchase a gun. * Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act In 1990s 38 House Republicans backed assault ban and nearly 60 backed the Brady bill. Most represented upscale suburbs. Now nearly all House Republicans oppose gun control


NRA Targeted Dem Who Voted for Brady and They Beat A Lot of Them 
1994 Republican Congressional Revolution
THE 1994 CAMPAIGN: THE AD CAMPAIGN; Answering the N.R.A. ...

Since the Assault Weapons Expired in 2004 Congress Ignored the Killer Weapon Until 20 Children Were Killed Friday
Federal ban on assault weapons expires * Assault-weapons ban: What happened to 12 attempts to reinstate it ...* Expired Assault Weapons Ban Would Have Covered Rifle Used In Shooting * 12 facts about guns and mass shootings(Wash Post) * Attack Used a Rifle Popular Among Gunowners(NYT) * You can buy a Bushmaster from Walmart. The pitch: "will always shoot straight and aim true."  * Gun Shops See Big Sales Weekend After Shooting * The design of the gun that Lanza used can be traced to the M-16 weapon developed for U.S. troops in Vietnam:



Lincoln Speaks On National Sorrow

“In this sad world of ours sorrow comes to all and it often comes with bitter agony. Perfect relief is not possible except with time. You cannot now believe that you will ever feel better. But this is not true. You are sure to be happy again. Knowing this, truly believing it will make you less miserable now. I have had enough experience to make this statement.” President Abe Lincoln





 
About 30,000 Americans alive right now won't make to 2014 because of gun violence.


Whatever Bloomberg's flaws, his views on our gun insanity are not among them. Eminently sensible on 'Meet the Press" this a.m. Bloomberg: Obama Should Make Gun Control “His Number One Agenda”(Buzz Feed)
Bloomberg and Cuomo Stop Guns Now
Bloomberg: Gun control should be Obama's "number one agenda" (Wash Post) "His job is not just to be well-meaning." "His job is to perform and protect the American people." -Mayor Bloomberg on Obama and guns 
Mayor Bloomberg said he won four out of seven races in which he funneled money to stop NRA. He called his $10-plus m contribution "small."
Bloomberg to Obama: Offering Condolences ‘Is Not Enough’(NYO)
Bloomberg: ‘Stop This Madness’(YNN)
For Now, Bloomberg Measures Response on Newtown(NY Mag)
Bloomberg Calls on Obama to Act Against Gun Violence (WSJ)
How to Break NRA’s Grip on Politics: Michael R. Bloomberg 
Cuomo: We Must ‘Crack Down on the Guns’ in Wake of Connecticut Shooting(NYO)
Cuomo: Shooting A ‘Wake-Up Call’ On Guns (YNN) 

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the author of the lapsed 1994 ban on assault weapons, says she's bringing another measure to the floor of the Senate.
Bloomberg super PAC used smart tactics to boost gun control candidates, bigger role likely. My latest
. says the NRA is feared because they will go after any politician who speaks out against them  * Connecticut governor wants tougher federal laws(CNN) * .@MikeBloomberhg on : “It’s time for the presI... 2 stand up & lead & tell this country what we should do – not go 2Congress." *  When Harris Wofford voted for the assault weapons ban in '94, gun clubs in PA printed up target sheets with his name  * Bloomberg Urges Obama to Take Action on Gun Control (NYT) * Bloomberg Calls on President to Take Action(NYT) * Bloomberg Details NRA’s Mythical Influence, Urges Politicians To Take On Impotent Gun Lobby

 
Is anyone else angry with NYC Mayor admonishing the President, 4 months after he hosted a Wall St gala for the Gun Lobby #1 guy Scott Brown?


 
If only the first victim, Adam Lanza's mother, had been a gun owner, she could have stopped this before it started.


NY Times: Lanza's rifle 'similar to weapon used by soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan'
20 kids among 27 dead after psycho opens fire in Conn.; gunman Adam Lanza targeted mom's class(NYP) * 27 DEAD IN SHOOTING; 20 CHILDREN(NYT) * Gunman Kills Himself at School(NYT) * White House Press Secretary Jay Carney: 'Today Is Not That Day' To Discuss Gun Laws *Obama Tears Up, Calls For ‘Meaningful Action’ In Emotional Response To CT School Shooting * WATCH: 3rd-Grader's Witness Account Of Shooting * Teacher Hides Kids In Closet During Shooting(Huff Post) * Gunman's rampage took only minutes, cop radio calls reveal(NYP) * Killer Also Dies in Connecticut, Leaving a Toll of 28(NYT)

UPDATE: The 2 guns used in the shooting were legally purchased and registered to gunman's mom. * U.S. has long recent history of mass shootings(NYDN) * SHOCKING AUDIO: Gunman's rampage took only minutes, cop (NYP) * Advice on speaking to children about tragedy(Fox 5)* Four adults and 18 children spent 45 minutes locked in a closet. A SWAT team escorted them out(NYT) 

Rupert Murdoch On CT Shooting: 'When Will Politicians Find Courage To Ban Automatic Weapons?'  * No Motive Known as Trail of 28 Dead Is Left in Connecticut(NYT) * A Gunman Who Left Few Footprints in Life(NYT) * ‘Who Would Do This to Our Poor Little Babies’(NYT) * How Twitter Responded to the Newtown Massacre(NY Mag) * Guns Used By CT Shooter Were Registered To His Mother, According To Reports * Hospital Prepared For Massive School Shooting Casualties, Received Few(Huff Post) * What reporters gained interviewing little children in Connecticut (Huff Post)

1 guy tries to use a shoe bomb=Everyone @ the airport takes their shoes off. 31 school shootings since Columbine=no change

After Newtown Shooting, Running and Hoping to Find a Child Safe (NYT) * After 19 Mass Shootings In Five Years, Still No Answers: On Friday, Dec. 14, a gunman entered Sandy Hook Elementary... 
* Nation Mourns After Rampage in Conn.(WSJ)

 
Just 18 hrs ago, those Republicans in the Michigan House rammed thru a bill making it LEGAL to carry a gun into a school or day care center. * The short term solution? A law immediately banning semi-automatic weapons & mega-clips. Must have license to own gun. Must pass mental exam.
 
Terrible news today. When will politicians find courage to ban automatic weapons? As in Oz after similar tragedy.

20h
If not now, when? “: White House Press Secretary Jay Carney: 'Today Is Not That Day' To Discuss Gun Laws

In 1996, Australia banned semi-automatics. In the 18 years before, there were 13 mass shootings. Since then, none 

Worldwide Reaction
Afghanistan *  Argentina * Austria * Belgium * Brazil * Canada * Chile * China * Colombia * Czech Republic * Denmark * Germany * Greece * Hungary * India * Ireland * Italy * Jamaica * Kuwait * Lebanon * Malta * Mexico * Netherlands * Nicaragua * Oman* Pakistan *Panama * Peru * Poland * Portugal * Puerto Rico * Saudi Arabia * Spain * Sweden * Turkey * UK *  United Arab Emirates *   Uruguay * Venezuela * Virgin Islands  * America’s Credibility Abroad(New Yorker) It takes a lot to make China’s government look good, by comparison, in the eyes of its people these days. But, by not acting on gun control, the U.S. has done it…


Dead Babies
‘Who Would Do This to Our Poor Little Babies’(NYT) * After Shootings, Running and Hoping to Find a Child Safe(NYT) * Connecticut victims ID'd as police uncover 'very good evidence' of shooter's motives(NYP)




Toll Includes 20 Children; Gunman Dead(WSJ) * Principal Hailed as Hero and a Friend to All(WSJ) * Principal Hailed as Hero and a Friend to All(WSJ) * Hope Turns to Sorrow as Families Wait for Word  * How to talk to your kids about Conn. mass shooting(WSJ)
* Schools eye plans, calm parents after Conn. attack(WSJ) * Newtown, Conn., Remains In Shock, Horror After Elementary(WABC) * Newtown Memorial Fund taking donations(WABC) * St. Rose Church holds vigil for shooting victims(WABC) * Experts: Talk with kids about school shooting(WABC) * School official: Get guns away from the mentally disturbed (via ) *Gun Buy Back Programs Held In Brooklyn In Wake Of School Shooting(NY1) * A history of US gun control laws (Video via ) *Brooklyn churches invite gun owners to trade in weapons for $200 bank cards(NYP) * Justice Dept. Studied and Shelved Ideas to Bolster Gun Database (NYt) * What would 'meaningful action' on gun control look like? (Wash Post) * Local Politicians Call For More Gun Control In Wake Of Connecticut Shooting(NY1)

Powerful front page from PA.* Powerful piece by about being from Newtown  * Some in Newtown Bristle at Media Attention(NY Mag) * In a Town of Traditions, Grief Engulfs Holiday Joy(NYT) * Vigils Across Brooklyn as Families Mourn Newtown Tragedy(DNAINFO) * Vigils Across Brooklyn as Families Mourn Newtown Tragedy(DNAINFO) * America’s Culture of Violence(New Yorker) * Newspaper features huge gun ad next to Sandy Hook shooting story(Huff Post) * Anti-Gun Groups See Huge Spike In Donations After School Shooting(Huff Post) * At Brooklyn Gun Buyback, Shooting Is Not Far From the Minds of Participants* so, Justice Dept. recommended closing the gun show loophole?  * NYPD gun buyback affected by Connecticut mass murders(NYP) * Gun Buy Back Programs Held In Brooklyn In Wake Of School Shooting(NY1)*  Quiet Conn. community rocked by unthinkable(NYP) * Another quiet town living a nightmare(NYP)





 





'Evil has visited this community'Connecticut Gov Dan Malloy

SHOCKING AUDIO: Gunman's rampage took only minutes, cop radio calls reveal(NYP)
A scene of blood, horror and heroism at tragic Sandy Hook school(NYP) * The Sandy Hook horror(NYP Ed)


Unimaginable grief of Sandy Hook parents who either find kids or learn of their horrific loss(NYP)
* Tragedy touches NYPD and Puerto Rico(NYP)




Public Housing Leaders Party While Tenants Suffer
NYCHA throws holiday bash as tenants languish in Sandy-damaged (NYDN)


 



True News Sunday

The Boyland Crime Family
The flimflam family (NYP) Folks were puzzled Thursday when state and federal officials raided the offices of a housing charity run by an upright upstate priest just outside Albany.
William Boyland Sr. spent two decades in the Assembly before bequeathing his seat to his son, William Jr., in 2003.Over the years, the Brooklyn duo sent $1.2 million in member items (taxpayer-funded pork) to Albany’s Altamont Program. Wouldn’t you know it, when Senior left office he got himself a job as a “housing coordinator” at one of Altamont’s Brooklyn shelters — even as the taxpayer money kept pouring in, an upstate newspaper reports.



Exiting pols lavish raises on staffers(NYP)



NYP Dreams Up A Political Detente Between Waring Williamsburg Hasids Based On the BS of Two Political Consultants
Hasid détente in Gropez ruin(NYP)“I don’t see any evidence of this happening,” said one elected official. But Rabbi David Niederman, who oversees the huge social-services network run by the Zalies, said practicality has always been at the heart of the community’s relationship with politicians who come looking for endorsements. “We don’t work on political decisions,” he said. “We work on meat and potatoes.” Niederman also disputed the notion that Lopez — his longtime ally — was a factor. “Vito, what does he have to do with the two sides?” he asked. *
Brooklyn – Rabbi Niederman Tells Paper He Works ‘On Meat and Potatoes;’ Not Politics


NY Post Reports of Storobin’s Pay-Raise to Pinny Ringel
The NY Post Reports: Lame-duck state legislators showered loyal staffers with fat raises after their defeats, a Post analysis of state-payroll records found… David Storobin lost a contentious campaign against Democrat Simcha Felder. Storobin served as a state senator for only six months after winning a special election in May to replace Carl Kruger, who was jailed after conviction in a corruption case.

David Weprin on the hook for more than $350K(Queens Crap)

From the Times Ledger:

State Assemblyman David Weprin (D-Little Neck) personally owes more than $28,000 in penalties while his former campaign committee must repay $325,561 in public funds after the city Campaign Finance Board reported several violations from his 2009 run for city comptroller. According to the CFB, Weprin was personally responsible for paying $28,184 in total penalties resulting from 11 violations ranging from accepting contributions from unregistered political committees to failing to prove that some spending was connected to his campaign. The assemblyman has promised to repay the money, according to Weprin spokeswoman Jennifer Berkley, who was not affiliated with the 2009 campaign committee, which has long since dissolved. Berkley said Weprin accepted the violations as legitimate fines and believes in the city’s campaign finance program. “He will figure out a way to pay that back over the course of time,” Berkley said. “David really commends this program and thinks it is great for the city and should be a model for statewide candidates, potentially.” The violations that Weprin was found guilty of included accepting corporate contributions in the 2009 election, making improper post-election expenditures and accepting contributions over the $4,950 limit. The CFB found a total of 11 violations, which tallied up to the more than $28,000 Weprin faces in penalties. The CFB said Weprin’s campaign accepted corporate contributions for which refunds were reported from Standard Realty Associates ($100); T&H Store Fixtures ($750); Orlow, Orlow and Orlow PC ($200); the Baylor Premier Agency ($1,000); and P&M Contracting Co. ($250).

 Car renter denies link to shooting(NYDN)
Senate Dem Leadership Battle Brewing(YNN)
Sampson vs Stewart-Cousins

Education
State education officials brace for test-score drop due to tougher standards(NYP) * B'klyn teacher nets $20K for kids by wooing Web donors


Cuomo: $150M In Federal Funds To Aid NYU Langone Recovery * Schumer Visits VA Hospital Damaged By Sandy * Schumer Visits VA Hospital Damaged By Sandy(NY1) * Cuomo: $150M In Federal Funds To Aid NYU Langone Recove (NY1) * Cuomo Hopes Sandy Relief Package Will Help NYU Hospital 

 

Nanny Mayor is Back Pushing
Mayor’s ‘secret war’ on smoking inside your apartment(NYP)

 

 




I Bid Farewell between parties, vendettas, and newcandidates El Diario NY






12 Years After Bloomberg Paid A Cult Party the Daily News Notices
In 2009 the Daily News Supported Changing Term Limits to Allow the Independence Party Candidate Bloomberg to Run for A 3rd Term 

 Built on deception, the Independence Party boosted Michael Bloomberg into office in three elections
Mayor used money to strengthen ties with the party and its leaders The News criticizes Mayor Bloomberg for his cozy relationship with the deceitful Independence Party, which helped him get elected by putting him on their ballot line and boosting his fundraising: 

True News 
Reported On December 2

The Dysfunctional Road to City Hal - A New True News Feature

Thanks to A 2006 Court Decision A Cult that Masquerades As A Political Party May Pick the Next Mayor(True News)

Must has been written over the last 25 years how the Fred Newman and Lenora Fulani wing of the Independence Party. Little has changed over the years.  Newman has died but his cult groups and party continue in his foot steps. The Fulani faction is a major player in NYC because of a court decision that gave them the sole power to grant Wilson Pakula's to NYC citywide candidates.  In 2009 Bloomberg already had a non profit they created to provide jobs to their members on both the city and private payrolls .Mr. Bloomberg supported the Independence Party’s goal of nonpartisan municipal elections and gave the party more than $650,000 of his own money. His administration arranged millions of dollars in bond financing in 2002 and 2006 for a building for Mr. Newman’s nonprofit All Stars Project, which uses the performing arts to help low-income children. The nonprofit group that received $9.5 million in tax-free bonds from the city with Bloomberg's support after his 2001 election.  Bloomberg also payed off Fulani's opponents in the party led by Frank Mackey.  Mackey party pocketed 100,000 from the same deal that sent Haggerty to jail.*Kelly, cop critic Fulani seal deal with kiss - New York Daily News
 

The Battle for the Stop Walmart Vote
Quinn's Endorsement by the United Food and Commercial Workers Under Cuts de Blasio's Who Was Expecting the Anti-Walmart Vote
NYP Says Quinn Got UFCW Union Endorsement for Opposing Walmart

It is About Union Support Not Public Opinion
Quinn’s Christmas bauble (NYP Ed) In other pander-to-the-power news this week, City Council Speaker Chris Quinn got an early Christmas present — one that she worked hard for, too. Quinn has stood in the marketplace door for years, brazenly excluding Walmart from the five boroughs, and on Wednesday she got her reward: a mayoral endorsement from the city’s grocery union, United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1500. Sweet for her. Not so sweet for the two-thirds of New Yorkers who tell pollsters, time and again, that they want Walmart in the city.  Council Speaker Christine Quinn‘s first union endorsement arrived in the form of the UFCW, and although they also backed Mayor Michael Bloomberg‘s reelection bid, they form an important segment of the Working Families Party. Notching the WFP or at least blocking the labor-backed party’s endorsement of Public Advocate Bill de Blasio would be a very nice ultimate outcome for Ms. Quinn. Politics!


More NYT Attempts to Help Quinn By Showing She is Not A 100% Puppet of Bloomberg
Even the Best City Hall Partnership Ever Can Have Differences(NYT)







State Senate: The Winds of A Continued War
State Senator Liz Krueger used some fightin’ words to describe why she wrote an op-ed touting Democratic accomplishments during their brief time in the majority after Governor Andrew Cuomo pooh-poohed them. “I’m frustrated by it, which is why I wrote the op-ed,” she said on Capital Tonight. “I don’t know why. Perhaps he wasn’t the governor then and he wasn’t paying that much attention to the actual bills that passed in Democratic-controlled years versus Republican-controlled years….I really think the governor might need a fact-checker on staff.” 

Is Rev. Norris Angry At Smith for the Role He is Credited in Playing in the Huntly Incitement?
* Rev. Chuck Norris, an influential pastor in southeastern Queens, blasted Senator Malcolm Smith for partisan disloyalty ant other things, declaring, “I think Malcolm is a traitor to this borough, and really, should be fired.” Mr. Norris, who strongly backed neighboring Senator Shirley Huntley immediately after her criminal indictment, seemed to subsequently cool down in regards to Mr. Smith, however.* Costly Toll for Republicans Who Voted for Gay Marriage(NYT)Stephen Saland became the latest Republican senator to vote for same-sex marriage to lose his seat after conceding defeat in his election, casting a light on the politics of what amounts to a risky vote for Republican legislators.   

Hassell-Thomson "told The Post she thinks she can bring the dissidents back and head a Democratic majority." *  After Sen. Steve Saland’s concession to Senator-elect Terry Gipson, Sen. Mark Grisanti is the lone Republican who voted “yes” on same-sex marriage last summer who will be returning to Albany in January. NY1 Online: Senator Klien Defends New Bipartisan Coalition *  Roughly half of the disputed ballots in the election battle between State Senate candidates Republican Assemblyman George Amedore and Democrat Cecilia Tkaczyk will be opened Friday morning, the Times-Union writes: * In the Times-Union, Democratic State Senate candidate Cecilia Tkaczyk highlights the need for Fair Elections reform that would include a public financing system to reduce the influence of special interests in election cycles * With Gipson’s win in the bag, the Democrats officially won the majority in the Nov. 6 elections. Yet, thanks to the IDC and Senator-elect Simcha Felder, they still don’t control the chamber.  * Gipson says his top priorities are: “Reducing the cost of living, changing the way we fund education and job creation.”* Campaign finance reform will be a significant focus of the 2013 legislative session.*  GOP Senate candidate George Amedore started out this morning with a 111-vote lead over Democrat Cecilia Tkacyzk in the 46th Senate District race, but that’s now down to 47 votes.* Amedore will likely hang on to that lead unless ballot challenge rulings are reversed by the higher courts.

 The Boyland's Pay to Play A Family Affair
Boyland Sr. was put on the payroll of Albany-area nonprofit after Boyland Jr. arranged $1.2M in Assembly grants.(TU)






Making Moves to Become the Next Council Speaker
Angling to Be Speaker All eyes are on the mayor's race, but behind closed doors a campaign is taking shape to succeed City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, holder of the second most powerful post in New York City government. With City Council Speaker Christine Quinn running for mayor, several Council members are angling behind the scenes to become the next speaker, the second most powerful post in city government


Campaign 2013 Upper East Side Councilwoman Jessica Lappin will kick off  her campaign for Manhattan Borough President today.* John Catsimatidis Explains Why Taxing the Rich Is Like Nazism and More(NYO) * State GOP Chairman Ed Cox hasn’t given up hope of a 2013 mayoral run by NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly.* Jessica Lappin Snags East Side Endorsements for Borough President Run(DNAINFO) * Asked if he would support for mayor laughed. "I am not registered to vote in the city of NY. How convenient is that?"


Hiding The Truth About 911 Failures From the Public
The Bloomberg administration and New York City firefighter unions are waging a battle in court over the city’s refusal to release a full draft of a comprehensive report on the city’s 911 emergency dispatch system
City Criticized Over 911 System Report(WSJ)  By refusing to release the unexpurgated drafts of a highly critical report assessing New York City's 911 emergency-dispatch system, Mayor Michael Bloomberg's administration continues to "flout judicial authority," the city's firefighter unions charged in court papers filed on Thursday. * NYC criticized over 911 system report(Fox 5) * New York City criticized over 911 system report.(NBC)

Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is moving ahead with an inquiry into several non-profit organizations that operated like Super PACs, spending millions of dollars in the last election cycle, the Times-Union reports:


Liu Tries to Smash Mayor's Taxi of Tomorrow
Showboater’ Liu set to nix new hackmobile(NYP) City Comptroller John Liu is announcing today that he is rejecting the contract for the Taxi of Tomorrow, sources told The Post. But the move is merely showboating, since Mayor Bloomberg isn’t bound by Liu’s assessment and can easily overrule it — which Hizzoner plans to do, the sources said. * Comptroller Is Expected to Try to Upset Deal for New Taxis * Bloomberg says Liu's bid to block a standardized taxi 'doesn't matter'  * Comptroller Liu Wants To Block Contract For New Taxis
* A Mike-Liu ‘hail’ storm(NYP)* NYC Controller Liu rejects Bloomberg's 'Taxi of Tomorro (NYDN)




Tax-e! App to grab a cab (& pay, too)(NYP) * Coming to a Curb Near You: Yellow Cabs Summoned With Smartphones(NYT)





 Mayor Bloomberg officially signed off on a bill that would protect tourists from price gouging by pedicab drivers in New York City, a day after initially balking at approving it, the Post reports:
 
After a Review, Mayor Approves Pedicab Bill(WSJ)
* After a One-Day Wait, Bloomberg Signs Pedicab Bill(WSJ)
Mayor Bloomberg now says he will back pedicab bill(NYDN)
* Bloomberg signs law restricting pedicab fares(WABC)

Bloomberg Signs Bill To Regulate Pedicab Fares(NY1)


Another Non Profit Rip Off
Bronx charity director is accused of using state grants for personal expenses (NYP) She’s gone from hero to zero. A beloved Bronx woman, once honored by Volvo as “America’s Greatest Hometown Hero” for her work with troubled teens, submitted $250,400 worth of “inappropriate or undocumented expenses” for her taxpayer-funded* A Bronx woman once honored by Volvo as “America’s Greatest Hometown Hero” for her work with troubled teens, submitted $250,400 worth of “inappropriate or undocumented expenses” for her taxpayer-funded nonprofit, according to an audit by state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli.


Construction lab boss headed to jail for faking concrete test results(NYP)



MTA Boss Lays Out Plan for Higher Fares, Tolls (WSJ)* MTA closer to raising subway fares(NYDN)


 'H' line apparel is hot(NYDN) * MTA Chair Makes Proposal For Fare Hikes(NY1) * MTA Chair Proposes Fare Hikes For Riders And Drivers(NY1) * MTA Transit Museum Has Made $30,000 From "H" Line Apparel(NY1) * The preliminary agenda for next Thursday’s Thruway Authority Board meeting does not include the 45 percent toll hike. More here.



New York's ObamaCare health exchange approved(NYP)


Marty Markowitz fights to lure pro soccer team to Brooklyn(NYP)

Education
Eva Moskowitz charter school moving into Crown Heights building (NYDN)
* Salaries for teachers and administrators in New York increased slightly on average between the past two years, and there were more than 5,500 classroom positions cut, state records show. * Cuomo has approved the UAlbany’s SUNY 2020 grant proposal, freeing up an initial $35 million in funds to kick-start various large-scale projects at the campus, including a $165 million Emerging Technology and Entrepreneurship Complex intended to serve as a matchmaker between cutting-edge research and investment.* City Class Sizes Continue to Grow, DOE Report Shows(DNAINFO)

 
Yeshiva University president apologizes for 1970s and '80s (NYDN)* Report of ’80s Sexual Abuse Rattles Yeshiva Campus(NYT) “If it was an open-and-shut case,” the head of Yeshiva University was quoted by The Jewish Daily Forward as saying, he would just let the staff member “go quietly.”

About 100 security guards at JFK International Airport voted on Thursday to go on strike next week during the holidays to demand better training and equipment, the Associated Press reports:

Liu Clinton Get Teacher Pensions $$$ for Post-Sandy Reconstruction
Liu’s dubious deal (NYP Ed)Union bigs and City Comptroller John Liu, a likely mayoral candidate, teamed up with ex-President Bill Clinton yesterday to announce a deal to use $1 billion in teacher-pension-fund money for “post-Sandy reconstruction and other critical infrastructure” projects.* Clinton Announces $1 Billion Pledge From City Teachers Pension Fund For Sandy Recovery(NY1)
. sounds skeptical of teacher pension fund infrastructure investment: “Pension funds have to be run to maximize the return.”

 Saturday Sandy Update
Obama Sandy aid bill filled with holiday goodies unrelated to storm damage(NYP) * Hudson River Park Still Without Power Weeks After Storm Damaged Equipment(NYT)

Return Favor, Donors Tell Republicans(WSJ) Some of the city's major Republican donors are hoping their checks will give them influence with the GOP as the region's congressional delegation tries to win passage of a $60.4 billion package to pay for the rebuilding following superstorm Sandy.
Will the House Vote for the Sandy Funds?
The governors of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut as well as 125 CEOs of powerful businesses urge Congress to pass the $60 billion federal disaster aid package for damage caused to those states by Hurricane Sandy, the News reports:
Rock ’n’ rollin’ in dough, yo! (NYP) The money poured in.  So many people opened their hearts — and wallets — for the epic 121212 Concert for Sandy Relief that its fund-raisers won’t even know how much was hauled in until next week.

3 govs to Congress: So pay up!(NYP) * Hurricane Sandy’s Effects Leave Some Municipal Workers as Refugees, Too(NYT) * Down the Shore, the Lost and the Found(NYT) * Disaster Loan Rate Is Lower After Sandy(WSJ) * In Essays, Storm Tales Flow(WSJ) * Senate Takes Up Sandy Bill, House Path Unclear (WSJ) * Obama Official Says It May Not Make Sense To Rebuild All Areas Hit By Sandy(NY1) * Campaign To Recover Coney Island Kicks Off(NY1) * Gerritsen Beach Homeowner Frustrated With Insurance Process(NY1) * Education Secretary Visits Sandy-Impacted Staten Island Schools(NY1) * State To Install Additional Air Monitors In Sandy-Impacted Areas(NY1) * House GOP Could Consider Smaller Number For Sandy Aid(NY1) * Sandy-Impacted Small Businesses Ask U.S. Senate For Help(NY1)
* No extra food stamps dough for Sandy-hit New Yorkers, city (NYDN)* HUD secretary: parts of city may not be rebuilt(NYDN) * House Republicans Refusing To Approve White House-Requested (NYDN) * Governors plead with Congress for Sandy storm aid(WABC) *
Gerritsen Beach Homeowner Frustrated With Insurance Pro (NY1) * The News writes that Congress must act immediately to pass the $60 billion federal disaster aid package for the tri-state area: * Bloomberg administration officials are refusing to give extra help to storm-battered New Yorkers who need food stamps, saying they’re trying to show Washington that they’re responsible with federal funds. * The New York Public Service Commission has approved requests from Consolidated Edison, Orange and Rockland Utilities, National Grid and New York State Electric and Gas to give credits for lost days of electric or gas service on customer bills.* Gov. Cuomo is calling on Congress to give NY some Sandy relief aid. NY1 will be taking his press... * Coming Back: Red Hook Lobster Pound: Red Hook Lobster Pound Sees Opportunity in Rebuilding After Hurricane *DiNapoli: Bill Helps Towns Devastated By Sandy(YNN) *  Mayor says Congress should question $60B request for Sandy funds(NYP) * State Leaders Say Federal Sandy Aid Bill Faces Tough Battle In Congress(NY1)* Sen. Charles Schumer said Monday will be “our D-Day” to determine if Congress will approve $60.4 billion in disaster aid for three states pummeled by superstorm Sandy.* Company Transports Donated Food For Food Bank For NYC * Tailor Helps Staten Island Sandy Victims Suit Up(DNAINFO) * Intrepid Museum to Reopen After Sandy Damage(DNAINFO) * Slow pace of flood repairs a concern in NYC(Fox 5) * State Sampling air quality in Staten Island's battered Midland (SI Advance) * Merchants’ Quandary: Rebuild Quickly, or Improve?(NYT) * Hudson River Park Still Without Power Weeks After Storm Damaged Equipment(NYT) * Social Media Strategy Was Crucial as Transit Agencies Coped With Hurricane(NYT) *FEMA To Extend Time Sandy Victims Can Stay In Hotels(NY1) * Bronx Business Owner Gives Back To Community Despite Sandy Losses(NY1) * Customers sue LIPA for $9.72 over service fee during blackout(NYP) *
Jobs Expo In Flushing Offers Work ForSandy Victims(NY1) * 27 Disaster Recovery Centers remain open to help Sandy victims *Mobile Disaster Relief Center Launched In Rockaways (NY1) * Suffering Rockaways residents pack community meeting(NYDN) * Queens kids want houses, not toys for Christmas(NYDN) * Staten Island Advance to publish book that chronicles Hurricane (SI Advance)* The New York State Bar Association has scheduled a seminar on legal issues stemming from Sandy(NBC)
* Hurricane Sandy victims in Far Rockaway call on city to fix the mold before it gets cold 100 (NYDN) residents march in storm-ravaged neighborhood. About 11,000 residents there still lack heat, hot water and electricity *The Toll Superstorm Sandy Took On Survivors' Mental Health(Huff Post)  * Nurses to picket mayor over Sandy response | Crain's New York Business



No date for reopening Statue of Liberty(NYDN)







The state Court of Appeals ruled unanimously that pension officials had to award more lucrative disability pensions to police officers that got cancer after working at Ground Zero after 9/11, the News writes: 


'Tis the season to be tipsy! Sloshed Santas storm the Big Apple for yearly pub crawl(NYDN)





Name That Island Long before Roosevelt Island got its name, it was called Blackwell’s Island, where the city operated a prison, a lunatic asylum and other Dickensian horrors.






Hearings End on New York's Challenge to Indian Point(WSJ)
 

 

 

 

State Health Exchange Gets Federal Approval(WSJ)

 

 

 

 

Fuel oil spill reported in water off Staten Island(WSJ) *
Oil Spill Threatens Bird Sanctuary Off Staten Island (NYT) * Barge Carrying 147,000 Gallons Of Fuel Has Oil Spill Of Staten Island (NY1)
* Fuel spill in Staten Island waters confined: Coast Guar(NYP)



What Killed New York's Literary Nightlife?(NY Mag)


Retro Rockettes(Vanity Fair) The leggy ladies of Radio City are celebrating their 85th—though they don’t look a day over 23 to us. Their costumes, rehearsals, and high kicks through every decade.


As Time Goes By, What's This Piano Worth?(NYT) It only appeared on film for 70 seconds or so, but the movie happens to be “Casablanca,’' so the piano that was used in a memorable scene could command over $1 million when it is auctioned off.* 'Casablanca' piano goes for more than $600,000 at auction(NYP) * ‘Casablanca’ Piano Is Sold for $602,500 at Auction(NYT) * Pay it, Sam! ‘Casablanca’ piano sold(NYP)


Fields and Picnic Area Open in Brooklyn Park(NYT) Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony as Brooklyn Bridge Park took a significant step toward completion.






Some Await Bronx Golf Course; Some Don't(WSJ) Despite some lingering concerns, a golf course being built in Ferry Point Park in the Throgs Neck section of the Bronx is generally popular with homeowners in the area.

 

Washington
Sunday Update
History Between Obama and Boehner Hampers Talks(NYT)
Reports: Boehner Gives In On Taxes For The Wealthy -- But Demands Steep Entitlement Cuts(Huff Post)
Long Island politician whose husband was murdered in 1993 mass shooting says now IS the time to talk gun control(NYDN)


New Details, Few Answers in Newton - Vogel, Horwitz & Fahrenthold, WP
Beloved Daughter, Taken by a Monster - Andrea Peyser, New York Post
Don't Tell the Kids a Damn Thing - Mark Oppenheimer, The New Republic
Obama's Trickle-Down Economics - Conn Carroll, Washington Examiner
Life on the Edge of the Cliff - Maureen Dowd, New York Times
Short List for Defense & State Way Too Short - Yochi Dreazen, Wash Post
The Martyrdom of St. Susan - Michael Goowin, New York Post
After Defeat, GOP Reevalutes Itself - Karen Tumulty, Washington Post
Tea Party at a Crossroads - Salena Zito, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

An Inspiration and a Warning From Michigan - Vernuccio & Lehman, WSJ
Egypt: The Next India or Pakistan? - Thomas Friedman, New York Times
The Woes of an American Drone Operator - Nicola Abé, Der Spiegel
The Lesson of "Zero Dark Thirty" - Kyle Smith, New York Post
The Decline of Evangelical America - John S. Dickerson, New York Times
We Must Celebrate Religious Diversity - Ralph Reed, Washington Times
4 Awful Reactions to the Sandy Hook Massacre - Nick Gillespie, Reason
Remember to Tell Your Kids "I Love You" - Laura Vanderkam, USA Today
The Innocents of Newtown - Chicago Tribune
Unimaginable Sorrow - Hartford Courant
Time to Talk About Gun Control - Washington Post
Is Fed Cruising Toward a Monetary Cliff? - Investor's Business Daily

TV SoundOff: Sunday Talking Heads(Huff Post)

New York Times — “Justice Dept. Shelved Ideas to Improve Gun Background Checks”
Washington Post — “Some Tax Hikes, Spending Cuts Now Seen as Inevitable in January
Wall Street Journal — “Boehner Proposes Tax-Rate Rise”
Associated Press — “High Court Fight Looms Over Right to Carry a Gun”
Politico — “Boehner Pitches Millionaire Tax Hike”
The Hill — “Obama Looks for Women to Fill Cabinet Posts in Second Term”
History Between Obama and Boehner Hampers Talks(NYT)
Boehner’s New Offer on Taxes Could Help Reach a Fiscal Deal (NYT)
: Boehner offers to lift debt limit for one year(Wash Post)
Boehner Is Breaking in the Cliff Talks (The Atlantic)
Report: offers to take debt-limit of the table in talks



Saturday
 John Kerry to Be Nominated to Be Secretary of State, Sources Say (ABC)
 How Maps Helped Republicans Keep an Edge in the House(NYT)
Obama has chosen John Kerry as Secretary of State - Chicago Sun-Times -
A Political Brawler, Now Going to Battle for Microsoft(NYP)
Nation Reels After Gunman Massacres 20 Kids - James Barron, NY Times
Stillness Shattered in Quiet Town - Cromidas & Mann, Wall Street Journal
If Not Now, When Will We Talk About Guns? - Gary Younge, The Guardian
Confronting the Face of Evil - Erick Erickson, Red State
The Michigan Watershed on Right-to-Work - George Will, Washington Post
We'll All Miss Unions When They're Gone - Michael Kazin, New Republic
Most Governors Refuse to Set Up Health Exchanges - Robert Pear, NYT
Health Care Law Is Still Fighting For Its Life - Scott Rasmussen, RasReports
Stop Drinking the Deficit-Reduction Kool-Aid - Robert Reich, Am Prospect
Printing Our Way Out of Debt - Irwin Stelzer, The Weekly Standard
John Boehner's Backbencher Problem - Dana Milbank, Washington Post
The Coming Regulatory Black Hole - Rick Moran, PJ Media
How Gay Marriage Won at the Polls - Molly Ball, The Atlantic
Obama Walks a Fine Line With Egypt's President - David Kirkpatrick, NYT
Blasphemy and Islam - Andrew McCarthy, National Review
Americans, United in Horror for a Moment - Ted Anthony, Associated Press
Running and Hoping to Find a Child Safe - Jim Dwyer, New York Times

The Innocents of Newtown - Chicago Tribune
Unimaginable Sorrow - Hartford Courant
Time to Talk About Gun Control - Washington Post
Newtown, U.S.A. - Wall Street Journa
lHillary Clinton faints, sustains concussion(NYP)
Hillary Clinton faints, suffers concussion 

HIllary Clinton concussion to prevent testimony before Congress on | (Bloomberg News)
Three common sense gun bills that can't pass Congress. In wake of monstrous tragedy--if not now, when?(Nation)
Boehner pitches millionaire tax hike(Politico)
How will Rupert Murdoch's Fox News handle gun control? 
Final Tally Shows Election Wasn't Even Close


Friday 
Rice is cooked in Hill job bid(NYP) * Rice’s Blunt Style Endeared Her to Obama, but Not All(NYT) * Rice Ends Bid Amid GOP Criticism(WSJ) * Susan Rice explains in a WaPo OpEd why she withdrew her name from consideration to succeed Hillary Clinton as US secretary of state: “These are the issues that deserve our focus, not a controversy about me.”

Budget Cuts in Washington Pose Threat as States Rebound(NYT) * Editorial: Pain Behind the Budget Cuts(NYT Ed) * Obama: I've got 'bigger fish to fry' than pot smokers(Wash Post)
Obama agenda: Cabinet shuffle coming soon
50th anniversary of JFK NY Economic Club speech. Important still for supply siders.
Too Big to Jail: Our Latest Disgrace - Neil Barofsky, The New Republic
The Working Class Epidemic of Demoralization - Matt Lewis, The Week
After Romney Defeat, Republicans Need to Talk - Peggy Noonan, WSJ
Ready to Jump Off the Cliff - Eugene Robinson, Washington Post
Amid Talks, Obama Uses Polls as Pry Bar - Simendinger & Huey-Burns, RCP
Let's Return to Clinton Spending Levels - Veronique de Rugy, DC Examiner
Republicans' Existential Crisis - Paul Krugman, New York Times
Who Are the Real Extremists? - William Voegeli, Claremont Review of Books
After Benghazi, Rice's Days Were Numbered - Eli Lake, The Daily Beast
Why I Made the Right Call - Susan Rice, Washington Post
Deterring Harry Reid and the Nuclear Option - Sen. Rand Paul, Politico
The Coming Trauma of ObamaCare - Byron York, Washington Examiner
Workers' Paradise Lost - Thomas Sugrue, New York Times
Why Michigan Picked This Fight - Charles Krauthammer, Washington Post
The Liberal Case Against Right-to-Work Laws - Michael Kinsley, Bloomberg
Yucca Mountain: A Post-Mortem - Adam White, The New Atlantis
RG3 Questioned Over Having "a White Fiancee" - Jeff Poor, Daily Caller

Democrats Losing Their "Balance" - Washington Post
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad ObamaCare - Wall Street Journal
Christie and Corbett Wrong to Reject Health Exchanges - Philly Inquirer
Where Will Right-to-Work Surface Next? - Chicago Tribune 


Top Obama advisor David Axelrod on the Clinton-for-president push: “I think the reality of a woman getting elected the president of the United States may be an even more powerful incentive in 2016.”

Promise vs. Reality in Newark on Mayor’s Watch(NYT) * Cory Booker Called a Bogus Superhero(NY Mag)






BBC considering publishing transcripts of Pollard report. Given Mark Thompson's sophistry over Savile, could be interesting

The Daily's farewell video is great.

Roosevelt Avenue underworld(Queens Crap)

From the Times Ledger: Trafficking happens all around the city and the country, but the Queens neighborhoods of Jackson Heights, Corona and Flushing have been identified as key centers for the crime. City Councilwoman Julissa Ferreras (D-East Elmhurst) said with the cleanup of Times Square in the 1980s and 1990s, the criminal element moved down the No. 7 line into Queens. In these neighborhoods, johns have access to prostituted women not only from houses set up for the purpose, but from the back of vans and at bars that advertise $2 dances.

In recent years, Queens lawmakers have pushed legislation and conducted campaigns to combat sex trafficking. When asked, advocates do not have numbers for how prevalent it is in the borough, but Ferreras said she has heard often from constituents at Council hearings, at community meetings and in her daily life of sex trafficking going on in her district, especially around Roosevelt Avenue. She said girls can be trafficked from as young as 12 and boys from as young as 10. “It’s here. It’s a problem,” she said in an interview. “I think it happens behind closed doors. It happens in small areas of the community.” Leticia Brown, of Girls Education and Mentoring Services, an organization aimed at helping victims, said during a panel at the Long Island University-C.W. Post in Brookville, L.I., earlier this year that the girls who are trafficked are often minorities and low-income, if not homeless or runaways.

“The girls, women I work with are deemed ‘less than’ in our society,” Brown said. People are trafficked into the city both domestically and internationally, with victims coming into Queens from as close by as Brooklyn to as far away as Latin America and Asia via John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia airports. Advocates say the pimps offer their victims the promise of a better life: an opportunity for work, a green card, a boyfriend. Nassau County Police Detective John Birbiglia said pimps often set themselves up as a girl’s father, giving them gifts of clothes and jewelry or dinner before demanding they earn these gifts by sleeping with men for money of which they never see a dime. Once the pimps have the girls, they can keep them intimidated either through rape, physical abuse or threats to themselves or their families. Some women who have been trapped in the lifestyle for years also grow up to become “top girls” who run prostitution rings, Ferreras said. “You think this must be the movies,” Ferreras said. “This is someone’s reality.”



 Law and Order


Helping Decide Guilt or Innocence(NYT) Two scientists invented a controversial software program that can analyze a mixture of DNA from a crime scene and determine the probability that it could include a suspect’s profile.





WIFE called in bomb hoax to Newark Airport after fight with husband: police(NYP)
Midtown murder victim’s role as drug courier eyed as motive in slaying: sources(NYP) * Detectives ‘Found Nothing’ in Search of Shooting Victim’s California Home, Mother Says(NYT) * Police following new leads in Midtown murder(WABC)* Mom: NYC police 'found nothing' in son's LA condo(Fox 5) *
Police Probe Drug Connection in Midtown Shooting(NBC)
'Dating Game Killer' confesses to two more slays (NYP) He killed the heiress. And he killed the flight attendant, too. Serial sex killer Rodney Alcala took a surprise guilty plea in Manhattan this afternoon to taking the life of two women, both age 23, from 1971 and 1977.* Suspect Pleads Guilty To Two 1970s NYC Killings(NBC) * Convicted Killer Pleads Guilty to 2 New York Murders(NYT)
* ‘Dating Game killer’ Alcala pleads guilty to two murders(NYP) *Guilty Pleas in 1970s Murders(WSJ) * Rodney Alcala Admits to Killing 2 in New York in the ’7 …(NYT) * Suspect Pleads Guilty To Two 1970s NYC Killings(NY1) * Dating Game Killer Pleads Guilty to Seventies Murders(NY Mag)




 Alleged Bad Barbies gangleader aided gunmen(NYDN)




Man accused of bleach assault on activist surrenders(NYDN)

\Bridge driver’s slay rap (NYP) A man who turned down a six-month plea deal after cops said he drunkenly drove his car off a Queensboro Bridge ramp — killing a pedestrian and destroying two businesses — now faces up to 25 years in jail.

Woman Allegedly Sexually Assaulted in Central Park(DNAINFO)

  Police Look For Men Wanted In Connection WitH Brooklyn Assault (NY1)

NY teen charged in stabbing at house party(Fox 5)

 'Seven-Second Bandit' Jack Mannino says theft was choice(NYDN)
FDNY firefighter tears up while being aquitted of stragulation charges against pre-op transsexual gal pal(NYP) * FDNY hothead not guilty of strangulation, still faces 4 (NYDN)

 Queens Residents Fighting Back Against Tandem Robbery T(WCBS)
* Parks co-worker slay rap(NYP)
Brooklyn Robber Fled With Livery Cab: Police(NBC)
Man Shot on Lower East Side(NBC)

A Career Criminal Started Young, but ‘Never Got Away With Anything’(NYT)

State troopers in Rotterdam found a hand-drawn picture of Justin Bieber that is now being used as evidence in a multi-agency investigation into an alleged plot by two New Mexico men to assassinate the popular singer.

The Cost of Solitary Confinement(NYT Ed) New York’s policy on isolation is inhumane. The prison system needs clearer guidelines from the State Legislature as to when isolation can and cannot be used.
Two Off-Duty Correction Officers Killed In Brooklyn Car Crash (NY1)

Terrorism
Terrorist lackey gets only 40 months in prison(NYDN) *

Man Sentenced for Role in Plot to Blow Up Subways(NYT)