I am going on record as saying that my favorite NY newspaper is The Daily News. I read it I've never been too keen on Michael Goodwin. I am more of a EC Schipp kind of gal; although I also enjoy Michael Daly, Juan Gonzalez, Stanley Crouch, Errol Louis along with ... gasp! ... Gatecrasher. I mean, who doesn't love their gossip, right?

So Bob Fertik's email about boycotting New York City's newspaper of record came as a surprise. Here's what I got from Democrats.com :

You won't have to miss 24 to catch Chris Owens’ TV show. At least for now.

Owens, a former Democratic Congressional Candidate and son of former Congressman Major Owens, is the host and executive producer of Inside the Congressional Black Caucus (iCBC, the lower case "i" is intentional and part of the show's logo) which was originally to premiere at 9 PM on Monday April 30 on the Black Family (BFC). That's the same time slot as 24, that addictive TV show that glorifies torture.

However, BFC is now being acquired by the Gospel Music Network and will cease programming next week.

But iCBC won't be homeless long. Owens is close to a deal with a cable property owned by one of the world's largest media companies.

Stay tuned for more info.

mole333 mentioned Chris Owens's TV show, Inside the Congressional Black Caucus (iCBC, the lower case "i" is part of the logo and intentional), in a December blog, but the launch was delayed until now.

iCBC airs Mondays 9 PM and Midnight Eastern Standard Time on the Black Family Channel (152 on Time Warner in NYC, see your local listings elsewhere). iCBC is scheduled to premiere on April 30 with footage of California Congressperson Maxine Waters and Michigan representative John Conyers and an interview with the Rev Jesse Jackson.

Chris Owens, the Harvard and Princeton educated son of former Brooklyn, NY Congressperson Major Owens and a 2006 Congressional Candidate himself in the frequently discussed in the Daily Gotham 11th CD race, is the co-host and executive producer. Chris isn't the only Owens with a TV career, brother Geoffrey played Elvin on the Cosby show.

iCBC is a joint production effort of the Black Educational Network (BEN, Which he co-founded) through iCBC Productions LLC and historically black college University of the District of Columbia, UDC). UDC is also provides production facilities for Washington DC Cable Channel 98.

Chris is also negotiating with ION Television, the new name for the Pax Network, and CoLoursTV to broadcast the show.

[Ed. note: The following is a letter from U.S. Senator Barack Obama, D-IL. Bumped.].

Dear Friend,

Today, we sadly find ourselves at the very point in Iraq I feared most when I opposed giving the President the open-ended authority to wage this war in 2002 – an occupation of undetermined length, at undetermined cost, with undetermined consequences in the midst of a country torn by civil war.

We have waited and we have been patient. We have given chance after chance for a resolution that has not come, and, more importantly, watched with horror and grief the tragic loss of thousands of brave young Americans.

The time for waiting in Iraq is over. The days of our open-ended commitment must come to a close. And the need to bring this war to an end is here.

That is why today, I’m introducing the Iraq War De-escalation Act of 2007. This plan would not only place a cap on the number of troops in Iraq and stop the escalation, it would begin a phased redeployment of U.S. forces with the goal of removing of all U.S. combat forces from Iraq by March 31st, 2008 – consistent with the recommendations of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group that the President ignored.

The redeployment of troops to the United States , Afghanistan , and elsewhere in the region would begin no later than May 1st of this year, toward the end of the timeframe I first proposed in a speech more than two months ago. In a civil war where no military solution exists, this redeployment remains our best leverage to pressure the Iraqi government to achieve the political settlement between its warring factions that can slow the bloodshed and promote stability.

Mayor Bloomberg and Senator Schumer have teamed up to release a report urging changes in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which set stringent new standards for corporate governance and transparency in the wake of the Enron scandal.

The study suggests exempting some non-U.S. companies from the Sarbanes-Oxley corporate-governance regulations. [...]

``Unless we take corrective steps, and soon, we're going to see America's leadership in global financial transactions dwindle, putting a chill on the nation's economy,'' Bloomberg said today during a press conference held at City Hall in New York. The report calls for ``greater clarity and balance to what is now a burdensome and inflexible system of government regulation and enforcement,'' he said. [...]

Bloomberg, a Republican, and Schumer, a Democrat from New York, said efforts to make Sarbanes-Oxley less onerous should go beyond recent changes recommended by the SEC. The New York politicians suggested small companies be permitted to ``opt out'' of provisions of the law as long as they disclose it to shareholders and foreign firms be exempt from certain Sarbanes- Oxley requirements.

The report comes as part of broad wave of attacks on SOX, from corporations, conservative think-tanks, and some politicians (see, for instance, this article by Stephen Bainbridge, a prominent SOX critic). A particularly New York angle is that, supposedly, New York will suffer economically as more and more companies either go private or flee to less-regulated foreign capital markets.

The attempt to blame SOX for companies going private, though, may be completely misguided. And, as this Times editorial points out, companies seek out foreign capital markets for all kinds of reasons - not least of them the fact that underwriting fees in London, for instance, are roughly half the size they are in New York. Moreover, SOX may help American markets maintain a reputation for transparency and investor confidence that will serve them well when Enron-type scandals start to pop up in dodgy foreign markets. [More: Spitzer on SOX]

DEM, IND, WOR
Hillary Clinton,
US Senator
Campaign Website: http://www.hillaryclinton.com

REP, CON
John Spencer
Former mayor of Yonkers
Campaign Website: http://www.joinspencer.com

GRE
Howie Hawkins

LBT
Jeff Russell (Libertarian)
Campaign Website: http://www.russellforsenate.org

SEP
Bill Van Auken (Socialist)

[via YouTube - Jonathan Tasini condemning NY1 for Censorship]

There. I said it.