Eideard

Singer Lady Gaga and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg kiss each other during celebrations at the New Year Eve ball in Times Square in New York, January 1, 2012.

Actually – if I lived in NYC, I’d probably vote for either one of ‘em.

I am not a Democrat, because I have no idea what their economic policies are; And I am not a Republican, because I know precisely what their economic policies are.

Barry Ritholtz – on Surveillance, Bloomberg Radio, this morning with Tom Keene.

Jonathan Mintz, Mayor Bloomberg presiding, marries John Feinblatt
Daylife/Reuters Pictures used by permission

Hundreds of gay and lesbian couples, from retirees in Woodstock to college students in Manhattan, rushed to tiny town halls and big city clerks’ offices across New York to wed in the first hours of legal same-sex marriage on Sunday, turning a slumbering summer day into an emotional celebration.

They arrived by subway cars and stretch limousines, with children and with grandparents, in matching sequined ties and pinstriped suits, to utter words that once seemed unimaginable: I do.

Even those who had been together for decades, watching same-sex marriage become legal in surrounding states but suffer rejection in New York, said there was something unexpectedly moving and affirming about having their unions recognized by the state in which they live.

“We feel a little more human today,” Ray Durand, 68, said moments after marrying his partner, Dale Shield, 79, whom he met 42 years ago by a jukebox in a West Village bar.

The start of same-sex marriage in New York instantly doubled the number of Americans who live in states where gay and lesbian couples can wed. Gay-rights advocates, energized by their victory in New York — the sixth and largest state where it is legal — are turning their attention next to Maryland, but they face long odds in much of the country, where there are tougher legal and political obstacles…

Despite demonstrations, long lines and bureaucratic glitches, a spirit of patience and good humor pervaded. In Lower Manhattan, brides and grooms defiantly opened dozens of rainbow-colored umbrellas to block the protesters from view.

There were scenes, too, of striking public embrace. Outside marriage bureaus, police officers offered unsolicited congratulations, passers-by honked their horns and strangers tossed hand-made confetti at the newlyweds.

After a bruising multiyear legislative battle that ended when the State Senate approved same-sex marriage last month by a narrow margin, some of the state’s top elected officials seemed determined on Sunday to demonstrate public support for the new law.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo hosted a party for same-sex marriage advocates in Manhattan, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg presided at a wedding in the backyard of Gracie Mansion, and the City Council speaker, Christine C. Quinn, visited the marriage bureaus in all five boroughs.

The bulk of the day’s marriages took place in New York City…Most were New York residents, but 107 of those who married in the city had arrived from states where same-sex marriage is not legal.

But even far from Manhattan, city and town offices opened their doors, sometimes just for a handful of weddings, on a day when they would ordinarily have been closed.

In Shandaken, a town of 3,100 in the Catskills, the town clerk issued just one marriage license, to a New Jersey couple: Katie Morgan, 37, a freelance television producer, and Brooke Barnett, 30, a wine consultant, who have a weekend home in Shandaken.

Three communities — Niagara Falls, Albany and Hudson — were so eager to marry gays and lesbians that they opened their doors shortly before midnight.

Ain’t nothing as American as civil rights proclaiming the all citizens may be married. Too bad the nation ain’t there, yet. But, then, that’s why Black Folks in Texas get to celebrate Juneteenth. Reactionaries and bigots will always try to keep the good news from spreading, change from happening.

Women’s earnings will recover faster than men’s as the U.S. economy rebounds, which means companies that market to females may perform well, according to a Bank of America Corp. research note to clients…

Women will rebound from the U.S. recession before men because females didn’t lose as many jobs as males did during the recession, the report said. Some of the industries most affected by the economy, such as manufacturing and construction, had more male than female workers. The unemployment rate for women, 8.9 percent, compared with 10.6 percent for men, is the widest it’s ever been, the report said…

Females make up the majority of the workforce in 9 of the 10 occupations that the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts will add the most jobs over the next 8 years, the note said…

More women are also graduating from college, with more than 50 percent of the bachelor’s degrees in the last decade awarded to women, according to the report. Additional education generally means higher earnings, Harris said.

There’s still a gender wage gap because of discrimination and interrupted work lives for children, according to Harris. Women working at least 35 hours a week in the first quarter of 2010 received 79 percent of the wages earned by men, according to the Labor Department.

The gap is narrowing, with the real median income for women rising at about a 1 percent annualized rate compared with contraction of 1.5 percent for men over the past five years, the note said.

Overdue.

Truly one of New York’s finest
Daylife/AP Photo used by permission

A New York police officer getting her hair done over the weekend thwarted a would-be robber in a beauty salon, shooting the weapon from the gunman’s hands, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said in awarding the officer a promotion.

Kelly praised the actions of newly promoted Det. Feris Jones Tuesday, saying she “showed the steely courage and professionalism that epitomizes the finest traditions of the New York City Police Department.”

“Well done and congratulations,” the commissioner said as he pinned a gold detective shield to Jones’ uniform…

Kelly said Jones was a customer in a salon Saturday when a man walked in with a gun. “‘This is no joke, this is a robbery. I will kill you,”‘ Kelly quoted the gunman as saying.

After the man ordered the customers and employees into the bathroom, Jones reemerged with her weapon drawn, identified herself as a police officer, and told the man not to move, Kelly said.

The suspect fired four shots at Jones, narrowly missing her head with one, the commissioner recounted. She fired five shots back — emptying her service revolver and marking the first time she’d ever fired her weapon in the line of duty — and hit both of the man’s hands, causing him to drop his 44-caliber gun.

Her shots also knocked the handle off the door of the salon, briefly trapping the man as he tried to escape, Kelly said. He eventually broke the window in the door and fled on foot…

The accused gunman was arrested Monday, police said. Winston Cox, 19, is charged with attempted murder, attempted aggravated robbery, and criminal possession of a weapon.

Rock on, Jonesy!

Daylife/Reuters Pictures used by permission

With Republicans hoping to recapture a number of statehouses in November, the media conglomerate headed by Rupert Murdoch is inserting itself into the races in bold fashion with a $1 million donation to the Republican Governors Association.

The contribution from Mr. Murdoch’s News Corporation, which owns Fox News, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Post and other news outlets, is one of the biggest ever given by a media organization, campaign finance experts said.

Democrats seized on the donation as evidence of the News Corporation’s conservative leanings, with Media Matters for America, a liberal group that has tangled often with the company, calling it “an appendage of the Republican Party…”

Jack Horner, NewsCorp spokesman [can you believe that's his name?], said that the company’s corporate side made the donation with no involvement by its news operation and that the gift would not have any impact on newsgathering operations. “There is a strict wall between business and editorial,” he added.

Officials at the governors’ association did not respond to requests for comment. The contribution, first reported by Bloomberg News, was made in June and is included in the Republican group’s most recent second-quarter filings…

The News Corporation and its political action committee, News America Holdings, have given donations over the years to both Democratic and Republican candidates and causes, but never in the amount approaching the June donation, records show…

Of course, the sleaziest end of the pool of American corporate scumbags always distributes largesse to a range of political lackeys. That’s how they’re paid to practice their lackeydom.

The donation generated significant buzz in Washington on Tuesday. Much of it focused on Fox News, whose stable of highly rated, conservative hosts have made it the frequent target of liberals [and anyone else who stands up for a Free Press], who accuse the network of blurring the line between news and opinion.