Showing posts with label Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 04, 2010
THE GUARDIAN: Bill Gates's and Warren Buffett's campaign draws in top names including George Lucas and Michael Bloomberg
The world of philanthropy got a huge financial boost today as more than 30 American billionaires pledged to give away at least half of their fortunes to charitable causes, signing up to a campaign launched by Warren Buffett and Bill Gates.
In an unprecedented mass commitment, top figures including New York's mayor Michael Bloomberg, the hotel heir Barron Hilton, CNN media mogul Ted Turner, and the Star Wars director George Lucas lent their names to the "giving pledge", an initiative founded last month to encourage America's richest families to commit money to "society's most pressing problems".
The pledge is not a legally binding contract but is described as a moral commitment. Buffett, the legendary Nebraska-based financier known as the "sage of Omaha", welcomed the influx of support: "At its core, the giving pledge is about asking wealthy families to have important conversations about their wealth and how it will be used. We're delighted that so many people are doing that." >>> Andrew Clark in New York | Wednesday, August 04, 2010
Picture Gallery: US billionaires to give away fortunes to charity: Forty of the richest families and individuals in the US have committed to give the majority of their wealth to charitable causes by taking the 'giving pledge', a campaign launched by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett >>> | Wednesday, August 04, 2010
Friday, July 23, 2010
MAIL ONLINE: Social networking site Facebook has apologised after a post by U.S. Republican politician Sarah Palin was deleted.
Facebook admitted that the 'note' by Palin - voicing her opposition to the building of a mosque near the World Trade Center site in New York - had been deleted by an automated system.
Facebook spokesman Andrew Noyes said in the statement: 'The note in question did not violate our content standards but was removed by an automated system. We're always working to improve our processes and we apologise for any inconvenience this caused.'
After the original post was deleted, Mrs Palin re-posted the note Thursday morning.
The 46-year-old former Alaskan governor's stance against the mosque became an international farce last week when she used a made-up word 'refudiate' to voice her opposition.
The media picked up on her apparent ignorance of the English language, likening her to gaffe-prone former president and fellow Republican George Bush.
But it was the sentiments of her message that has now drawn the greatest criticism.
Mrs Palin wrote on Twitter: 'Ground Zero Mosque supporters: doesn't it stab you in the heart, as it does ours throughout the heartland? Peaceful Muslims, pls refudiate.'
Her comments were attacked by Republican-turned-independent New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has called efforts to derail the mosque un-American.He said: 'Sarah Palin has a right to her opinions, but I could not disagree more. Everything the United States stands for, New York stands for, is tolerance and openness.'
Mrs Palin hit back - this time from her Facebook page - saying her opposition to the mosque had nothing to do with tolerance, adding: 'It's just common decency.' Continue reading and comment >>> Mail Foreign Service | Friday, July 23, 2010
Bloomberg thinks that America stands for “tolerance and openness”; but tolerance and openness to people who want to destroy you? Please! That’s taking tolerance and openness to ridiculous limits. In my opinion, Bloomberg can be described in one way only: As a traiterous fool! – © Mark
Wednesday, November 04, 2009
THE TELEGRAPH: Michael Bloomberg has narrowly won a third term as Mayor of New York after spending a record $100 million (£60 million) on his campaign.
Mr Bloomberg, the owner of the Bloomberg news agency, spent 13 times as much as his Democrat rival Bill Thompson and won by 51 per cent to 46 per cent.
His victory was much narrower than predicted. A poll the day before the election had put him 12 points ahead.
Mr Bloomberg, 67, who has an estimated fortune of $16 billion (£9.7 billion) and is the richest man in New York, had succeeded in getting the city's mayoral term limits changed which allowed him to run for a third time.
He had originally supported a ban on three-term mayors. >>> Nick Allen | Wednesday, November 04, 2009
Thursday, July 02, 2009
FOX NEWS: The New York City Council overwhelmingly passed a resolution Tuesday calling for two Muslim holidays to be added to the school calendar, despite mayoral objections.
The New York City Council is at odds with Mayor Michael Bloomberg over a resolution calling for the school system to observe two Muslim holidays.
The council overwhelmingly passed the resolution Tuesday, citing the city's growing Muslim population and the fact that the system observes comparable Jewish and Christian holidays.
But Bloomberg has spoken out against the measure, saying the school year will get too short if the calendar includes too many holidays.
Now it's unclear whether the proposal will become policy, as the council does not have direct authority over the school year -- yet Bloomberg just relinquished control of the school system to a newly appointed board of education.
"Right now the degree of control the mayor has over the education system is completely unclear," said Councilman G. Oliver Koppell, the only council member to vote against the resolution Tuesday.
Bloomberg could still block the measure. Though the city just reappointed its board of education, the state Senate could take action soon to hand Bloomberg back the reins.
Bloomberg predicted as much Wednesday, saying the new board would "serve until Albany rectifies its inaction and reauthorizes mayoral control."
And the new city school board is considered to be largely aligned with Bloomberg anyway.
Koppell, who sides with Bloomberg, said he's concerned that the calendar change would only benefit a relatively small fraction of the student body at the expense of the school year.
"If we accommodate every group's wishes to have off on religious days, we'll have a huge number of days on which kids are off from school," he said. "This is a slippery slope which we'll be going down. ... In my view, the school year's too short as it is." >>> FoxNews.com | Wednesday, July 01, 2009
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