All Articles Tagged "michael bloomberg"
One Of These Names Is Not Like The Other…A Look At TIME’s Interesting ‘Most Influential People’ Picks
TIME magazine just released its annual list of the Most Influential People in the World, and as these things go every year, there are some people who unquestionably should be on this list and others who we’re scratching our head over. After a lively and heated debate in the office this morning, I’ve come to the conclusion that influence means different things to different people — and perhaps TIME should revise this list to be called the most influential people of the week, month, or quarter, as some of these pop culture choices appear to be hot right now — as in April 18, 2013 right now — but hardly for the entire year.
But before we debate, let’s shout out the black folks who made the list:
- Jay-Z : Not only did the Jigga man make the list, he snagged one of the mag’s covers and New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, no less, wrote his profile. #Winning
- Valerie Jarrett
- Beyoncé
- Shonda Rhimes
- Lebron James
- Barack Obama
- Omotola Jalade Ekeinde
- Michelle Obama
- Joyce Banda
- Miguel
- Frank Ocean
- Joaquim Barbosa
- Mario Balotelli
And now for the interesting/confusing ones:
- Christina Aguilera: In the world? Perhaps the singing competition world, and I’m not even sure that assessment would be completely accurate. This seems like a wild card, we need one more influencer who’s female addition. Can we say reaching?
- Jennifer Lawrence: Is it just me or is Jennifer Lawrence just the different white girl flavor of the year? You know the innocent, aloof blue-eyed girl who acts like she doesn’t really want to be famous but doesn’t mind hitting every red carpet to pick up an award. I’ve yet to understand her mass appeal…but I also haven’t seen ”Silver Linings Playbook” yet, maybe I’d understand her magnificence afterward.
- Justin Timberlake: I know Justin’s album just sold a bazillion copies and I have noticed a couple of big band, rat pack redux copy cats since he came back…OK so maybe he is influential. But the boy just came back after a 10-year hiatus. Can we see how much of the attention is based on consistently hot music as opposed to his hyped up return to music. This just seems a bit premature.
- Miguel: I’m not denying Miguel’s artistic prowess, but the reality is on a mass level people just don’t know who he is. Remember Kelly Clarkson at the Grammys? Plus Miguel just said so himself on The Breakfast Club, acknowledging not enough people are hip to who he is yet. I feel like someone who just got word of who Miguel is last month thought, “yeah, let’s add this guy.” At the end of the day this is still a great look for him though.
Who’s missing?
- Hello, Hillary Clinton! The former U.S. Secretary of State hasn’t sat down since leaving her latest post, and everyone knows she’s gearing up to run for president in 2013. She’s got a heavy influence right now.
- Rihanna: I’m not really mad she wasn’t on the list, but with all the accolades the great people of Europe have just bestowed upon her (the new Princess Diana?), TIME might be slipping by not acknowledging her global influence.
Check out the full list of influential people here. Who would you add or remove?
Melissa Harris-Perry Blasts Mayor Bloomberg For Controversial Teen Pregnancy Campaign
Last Monday, the Mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg unveiled a rather controversial teen pregnancy ad campaign. The ads have since popped up in subways and bus shelters around New York City. Depicted in the advertisements are photos of toddlers, accompanied by different messages and statistics that are intended to discourage teen pregnancy. According to the campaign’s press release, the Mayor announced the campaign and discussed its initiatives during one of his weekly Sunday radio addresses.
“This campaign makes very clear to young people that there’s a lot at stake when it comes to deciding to raise a child. We’ve already seen important progress in our effort to help more teens delay pregnancy – teen pregnancy has steadily declined in New York City – but there is more work still to be done. We aim to build on our success by asking teens to take an honest look at some of the realities of parenthood they may not have considered. By focusing on responsibility and the importance of education, employment, and family in providing children with the emotional and financial support they need, we’ll let thousands of young New Yorkers know that waiting to becoming a parent could be the best decision they ever make”, said Mayor Bloomberg of the campaign.
Since its unveiling, the Mayor and his administration have received much backlash over the controversial ads, as many found them to be offensive and shaming to teen parents and their children. Sexual and reproductive health organization, Planned Parenthood wasted no time speaking out against the campaign, reports the New York Daily News.
“The latest NYC ad campaign creates stigma, hostility and negative public opinions about teen pregnancy and parenthood rather than offering alternative aspirations for young people,” expressed Haydee Morales, V.P. of Planned Parenthood of New York City in an issued statement.
MSNBC host Melissa Harris-Perry also had a few choice words for Bloomberg regarding his latest campaign. In a recent episode of Melissa Harris-Perry the political commentator expressed that she certainly agreed that teens having children could make life rather difficult, but went on to read a letter addressed to the Mayor. In the letter she critiqued him for spending $400,000 of the city’s money on such a campaign at a time when teen pregnancy rates are at a historic low. She also addressed why his campaign is shaming to teen parents. An excerpt of that letter reads:
Dear Mayor Michael Bloomberg,“It’s me, Melissa. What happened? You have an enviable track record of supporting reproductive rights and advocating for common sense proven strategies that reduce unwanted and unplanned teen pregnancy… And the city’s teen pregnancy rate has declined more than 27% in the last decade. Good job. But this week, these troubling posters began appearing all around the city. Each one featuring a well-fed, gorgeous, but obviously distressed toddler who is spewing questionably interpreted data and plenty of social shame to his or her mythical parent…”
She went on to blast the ads individually. She criticized one for piggybacking onto society’s message that Black women are disposable and unwanted. Perry also expressed that the misleading statistics utilized in the campaign have the potential to lead many to unfairly blame teen mothers for America’s poverty crisis and that the ads have left her speechless.
Check out footage of Melissa Harris-Perry reading her letter in its entirety on the next page. What do you think of Mayor Bloomberg’s campaign?
Will Government Portion Control on Sodas We Drink REALLY Help Obesity?
Source: nationalreview.com
The government doesn’t sleep, but I’ll settle for them having a stadium full of seats. Mayor Michael Bloomberg can be the first in line. The NYC politician wants to place a ban on sodas larger than 16 ounces. Apparently, that’s the biggest problem facing New York and not the 8.1% unemployment rate or the rampant homelessness. Bloomberg has decided that this is the cause for him to put his cape on and fly into action.
His intentions are solid. Obesity is a serious epidemic in this country. While it should be addressed, it should not be legislated to these lengths. He is an elected official, not anyone’s parent or nanny. If he really wanted to stick his nose where it didn’t belong, Bloomberg could use some of the millions if not billions at his disposal and pay off my student loans. He’d get my vote on that. Until then, I need him to get himself all the way together. How can you be against soda but support National Donut Day? I’ll wait.
Not only is this proposed law a government overreach dictating what a person can buy with their own money, but it also falls flat when you really think about it. Sure, you can ban the sale of oversized sodas and try and control portions, but I can just as easily buy two small sizes. Or three. Or four. I’ll chug on a bottle of Pepsi and cheer to the friggin’ weekend while protestors side eye me with pickets raised high in the air. In my best Rihanna voice, “No1Currr!”
Diabetes, obesity and other health related dangers that high sugar intake can cause is very real. It shouldn’t be taken lightly. However, Big Brother needs to fall back on trying to limit choices just because they wouldn’t make the same ones. Bloomberg is not going to get a medal or ticker tape parade for attempting to mandate good health practices. He’ll likely have a riot. The government can’t even balance the federal budget and put suffering Americans back to work, yet they want to occupy vending machines and fast food joints? Are cupcakes, pretzels and candy next on the most wanted list? I’ve got a birth certificate that says I’m old enough to decide for myself what I want to drink and at what size I want to drink it. I’m not the only grown person insulted by the government’s interference as to what I’m supposed to be quenching my thirst with.
While he might have good intentions, don’t fool yourselves into thinking that these good measures won’t pave the way for more laws for the “common good.” Some women choose to put that creamy crack into their hair every 4 to 6 weeks. I do. I’m too lazy to find another way to get my hair layed quick, so does that mean folks might decide that the chemicals in perms might mess me up and will determine how I use one? Uncle Sam might even decide next to ban tampons because it might lead to toxic shock syndrome. Think all that sounds ridiculous? So is putting the blame on soda for obesity and trying to place a Band-Aid on an issue that will not solve the problem.
I love my neighbors and I want what’s best for them. I want every person to be healthy, but it just can’t be done by force. It needs to be of a person’s free will to lead a healthy lifestyle. So until then, please pass the Pepsi.
You won’t be able to get a super-sized soda but you can buy Newports by the carton?! Where they do that at? Oh, that’s right. They want to start in New York.
Follow Stephanie Guerilus @qsteph
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Ban, Calories, controversy, drinking, Essay, large, madamenoire, mayor, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, michael bloomberg, NYC, obesity, pepsi, Rihanna, size, soda, sugar intake, supersized, weightBloomberg’s Plans for Minority Business Flop
(Wall Street Journal) — A Bloomberg administration initiative intended to help minority- and women-owned companies secure more public contracts has steered little money to black-owned firms, according to city data. In the last year and a half, about three-quarters of city dollars paid to contractors participating in the program went to companies owned by either Asian Americans or white women. Businesses run by Latinos received 15% of that pool of money. The smallest share, 7%, went to black-run firms. ”It’s a shockingly paltry amount,” said city Comptroller John Liu, a first-term Democrat. The program has been a magnet for criticism since Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the City Council approved a law in 2005 that set voluntary goals for awarding a certain percentage of contracts to businesses registered as owned by minorities or women.
Mayor Boosts Other Mayors
(Wall Street Journal) — Mayor Michael Bloomberg has decided to expand his empire beyond New York City Hall—he’s now bankrolling initiatives at five city halls across the nation. Bloomberg Philanthropies, the mayor’s charitable organization, will donate $24 million over three years to help mayors in Atlanta, Chicago, Louisville, Memphis and New Orleans tackle challenges facing their communities. Chicago will get $6 million; Louisville and Memphis, $4.8 million each; and Atlanta and New Orleans, $4.2 million each.
Mayor, Teixeira Launch East Harlem Project
(Wall Street Journal) — Calling the new development a “real grand slam for the people of East Harlem,” Mayor Michael Bloomberg joined Yankee first baseman Mark Teixeira on Monday to outline plans to build an $85 million, 13-story building that will house a charter school and affordable-housing units. The 150,000-square-foot building—on East 104th Street between Second and Third avenues—will become the new home of the DREAM Charter School, which is currently located at P.S. 38 on 102nd Street. The school now has an enrollment of 200 students and is expected to grow to 450 students. The building will also include roughly 90 low-income housing units and serve as the headquarters for Harlem RBI, an organization that provides athletic and academic programs for inner-city youth.
Protesters Send Messages to Mayor
(Wall Street Journal) — Thousands of chanting protesters flooded the streets of Lower Manhattan Thursday afternoon, marching from City Hall to Wall Street to denounce Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s proposal to lay off 4,100 teachers and calling on him to halt tax breaks for big banks. The protesters chanted, “Hey, hey, ho, ho, Bloomberg’s got to go” and “Tax the rich, not the poor” as they headed down Broadway in a demonstration designed to send a message to the mayor and the City Council about the upcoming city budget. Last week, Mr. Bloomberg officially proposed eliminating more than 6,100 teaching positions, with the majority through layoffs and the rest via attrition. The mayor also recommended axing another 4,000 positions elsewhere in the city as part of his executive budget proposal for the fiscal year beginning July 1. The budget must be negotiated with the City Council during the next six weeks. ”When one has a surplus, we do not take it out on children, we do not take it out on teachers,” said Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers and immediate past president of the teachers union in New York City. “This is ridiculous, Mr. Mayor. There should not even be a discussion about layoffs.”
Budget Plan Protects Day-Care Slots
(Wall Street Journal) — After proposing to slash more than 16,000 government-funded child-care slots, Mayor Michael Bloomberg will release a new budget proposal Friday reversing those plans. The mayor is also expected to show that the city anticipates business-tax revenue in the next fiscal year to exceed levels prior to the global financial meltdown. But parents and educators hoping for good news on plans to lay off thousands of teachers may be disappointed: The new budget proposal is essentially the same on that front as a preliminary proposal the mayor released in February, a person familiar with the matter said Thursday. The mayor’s presentation comes one day later than expected because of President Barack Obama’s trip Thursday to the site of the World Trade Center terrorist attacks. The final budget, due June 30, must be negotiated with the City Council.
Parents Sue Bloomberg Over Black
(Amsterdam News) — Advocates for Justice filed initial papers this week for a civil lawsuit against Mayor Michael Bloomberg on behalf of all New York City public school parents. The group is charging the mayor is with “misfeasance of office” in his appointment of Cathie Black as schools chancellor, claiming that her appointment damaged the education of public school children. Fourteen claimant parents, along with the newly formed New York City Parents Union, are requesting $100 million in compensatory damages from Bloomberg personally, as he is the individual held accountable under New York State’s education law for the performance of the public education system. They are also demanding a public apology from the mayor for his handling of Black’s appointment and her brief tenure in office.
City Shelves a Plan to Legalize Hailing Livery Cabs
(New York Times) — An ambitious attempt by the Bloomberg administration to legalize hailing livery cabs on streets outside of Manhattan has been shelved after criticism from the taxi industry and lukewarm support from key lawmakers. Instead, the city is weighing a proposal to create a class of yellow cabs that would be prohibited from picking up passengers in most of Manhattan, the taxicabs’ traditional territory, but would be able to do so in other parts of the city, according to three people familiar with the discussions. Under the plan, which is being made final, new medallions would be issued for the restricted cabs. The medallions would be sold for a small fee, or, in one version of the plan, at no cost. Regular medallions, which bestow the right to pick up passengers on any city street, are typically sold at auction and can be worth nearly $1 million. Officials say the revised proposal would achieve their goal of providing better regulated, more equitable taxi service to the wide section of New York City that is perpetually underserved by yellow cabs, which congregate in denser parts of Manhattan where they are more likely to find fares.
