Free Republic

Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been tapped to be U.N. special envoy for cities and climate change, sources familiar with the situation said on Thursday. Barring any last minute changes, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon - who is seeking to re-energize the global climate change debate and boost the United Nations' role - could make the announcement as early as Friday, the sources said on the condition of anonymity. Bloomberg, a billionaire philanthropist who left office last month, made combating climate change a key focus during his 12 years leading the United States most populous city. He also...

Would you rather sip on unpasteurized milk or a cold glass of soda? Do you prefer Saturday lunch at a fast food joint or a farmers market? Regardless of your choices, your food freedom -- your right to grow, raise, produce, buy, sell, share, cook, eat, and drink the foods you want -- is under attack. Here are ten food freedom issues to keep an eye on in 2014. 1: FDA May Ban or Restrict a Growing Number of Food Ingredients. The FDA has proposed banning oils containing trans fats, an ingredient found in foods like coffee creamers and muffins....

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s inaugural was filled with “backward-looking speeches both graceless and smug” The The New York Times said in a scathing editorial Friday. The paper’s editorial board called out three inauguration participants for their demagoguery and defended former Mayor Michael Bloomberg from the speakers’ jabs at his tenure. “Worst among them, but hardly alone, was the new public advocate, Letitia James, who used her moment for her own head-on attack: on the 12 years of Mayor Michael Bloomberg,” read the Times editorial. James, who now holds the office formerly held by de Blasio, brought a...

Michael Bloomberg leaves office tomorrow after 12 years as New York City's mayor. No mayor in recent memory has added so much to a city. Or taken so much away. To remember him properly, here's a list of everything Bloomberg banned during his time in office. •Smoking in commercial establishments like bars and restaurants (2003) •Smoking in public spaces (2011) •Cigarette sales to those under 21 (2013) •Sales of "flavored" tobacco products (2009) •Smoking e-cigarettes in public spaces (2013) •Cigarette in-store displays (2013) •Cars in Times Square (2009) •Cars from driving in newly created bike lanes (2007-2013) •Cars causing congestion...

Even though Mayor Michael Bloomberg has championed the micro-unit, some experts are concerned that living in 250 to 370 feet spaces could be risky. “Sure, these micro-apartments may be fantastic for young professionals in their 20’s,” Dak Kopec, director of design for human health at Boston Architectural College, told The Atlantic. “But they definitely can be unhealthy for older people, say in their 30’s and 40’s, who face different stress factors that can make tight living conditions a problem.” According to Mr. Kopec, the space-saving trend of tiny apartments can lead to increased claustrophobia, domestic abuse, and alcoholism.

Michael Bloomberg steered New York City through economic recession, a catastrophic hurricane and the aftermath of 9/11, but he may always be remembered, accurately or not, as the mayor who wanted to ban the Big Gulp. After 12 years, Bloomberg leaves office Dec. 31 with a unique record as a public health crusader who attacked cigarettes, artery-clogging fats and big sugary drinks with as much zeal as most mayors go after crack dens and graffiti. And while Bloomberg’s audacious initiatives weren’t uniformly successful, often leading to court challenges and criticisms he was turning New York into a “nanny state,” experts...

President Obama has pushed hard for gun control this year and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has spent millions of dollars on ads, but the administration’s promise to coordinate “a November lobbying effort and plan events to commemorate the first anniversary of the Newtown, Connecticut” has gotten little traction. Last year the Newtown shooting, with it horrific slaughter, lead to an immediate national movement for gun control. But that was short-lived, and opposition to gun control is currently very strong. Indeed, it appears to be the strongest in decades. A recent CNN poll finds the highest level of opposition to...

Autism advocates are set to protest tomorrow against a quiet effort by Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s administration to require annual flu vaccinations for all New York City schoolchildren.On Wednesday, with just three weeks to go until he leaves office, Mr. Bloomberg’s controversial Board of Health is set to vote on new rules that would force children as young as six months old to be immunized each year before December 31 if they attend licensed day care or pre-school programs.“Young children have a high risk of developing severe complications from influenza. One-third of children under five in New York City do not...

The final numbers are in for the 2013 ballot initiatives and, surprise!, the pro-Amendment 66 campaign spent a ridiculous amount of money. But, they raised less than what they hoped as some cited $12 million as a target. They raised (and presumably spent nearly all) $11,079,408 to garner only 496,151 votes or 35% of the votes. That’s $22.33 per vote, which is more than either of the presidential candidates in the 2012 election. Not shocking, but the largest contributors to the effort were the Colorado Education Association and the National Education Association (aka the teachers unions). Each contributed two million...

he New York City Police Department is taking aim at owners of shotguns and rifles capable of holding more than five rounds, demanding such guns be surrendered, altered or taken out of the city. The demand came in the form of some 500 letters mailed out to owners of registered long guns that are in violation of a 2010 city ordinance. The first option for the letter's recipient is to, "Immediately surrender your Rifle and/or Shotgun to your local police precinct, and notify this office of the invoice number. The firearm may be sold or permanently removed from the City...

Remember that third recall effort out in Colorado, targeting two-term Democrat Evie Hudak? It is now moot. State Sen. Evie Hudak has decided to resign rather than risk facing a recall election that, should she lose, would flip control of the senate to Republicans, FOX31 Denver was first to report Wednesday. Later Wednesday morning, Hudak made her resignation letter public. “In the interest of preserving the progress made over the last year, I am resigning as State Senator for District 19, effective immediately,” Hudak wrote. By resigning before the signatures are turned in, she assures that a Democratic vacancy committee...

Perhaps because he wants to divert attention from the slow-motion train wreck of Obamacare, the President is signalling that he will renew his efforts to throw more people into the unemployment line. Needless to say, that’s not how the White House would describe the President’s proposal to increase the minimum wage, but that’s one of the main results when the government criminalizes certain employment contracts between consenting adults. To be blunt, if a worker happens to have poor work skills, a less-than-impressive employment record, or some other indicator of low productivity that makes them worth, say, $7.50 per hour, then...

On Tuesday a ballot measure to raise income taxes on Coloradans to raise funds for increased education spending failed. In fact, the measure, Amendment 66, didn’t just fail–it went down in flames. The measure was defeated by a 32 percent margin. This major defeat was in spite of the fact that the measure’s backers outspent the opponents by a large margin, raising $10 million to support the initiative, including a $1 million each from New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Bill and Melinda Gates. Amendment 66 would have eliminated Colorado’s flat rate income tax of 4.63 percent in favor of...

The new mayor of New York City is a Red Sox fan. According to the rules of the New York I grew up in, I'd expect to see the Hudson turn into a river of blood and Zabar's to close due to a locust infestation before that happened. But if De Blasio's remarkable rise proves anything, it's that the rules can change. A liberal's crazy liberal, De Blasio still waxes nostalgic about the noble struggle of the Nicaraguan Sandinistas, for whom he raised money in the 1980s. He violated the ban on travel to Cuba for his honeymoon with his...

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg wants Colorado as his personal plutocracy and is willing to spend. If he succeeds, Coloradans will be subject to laws and politicians bought and controlled by an outside demagogue. Bloomberg, the man who tried to control how his constituents consume soft drinks and salt, has never received a vote in Colorado. He has never lived here. Yet, he's paying for ads that tell Coloradans to spend their hard-earned wages on the Amendment 66 tax increase - a deceptive attempt to channel more than $1 billion a year to state government under the guise of helping...

DENVER - In the final week before voters decide on Amendment 66, the campaign supporting the education tax increase received $2 million in donations from Melinda Gates and a charity run by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. "It is a testament to the breadth and depth of our reforms that Colorado has attracted the attention of business leaders across the country," Gov. John Hickenlooper said of the donations. The donations from out-of-state, wealthy and politically-connected Democrats drew criticism from conservatives opposed to the tax increase. "Billionaire New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg should have realized by now that he can't buy...

Twofer: MAIG Mayors going to prison (Don’t drop the soap, boys) October 15, 2013 It’s been a busy week for Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his Mayors Against Illegal Guns (MAIG) group of gun-grabbing mayors. First up, Filthy Filner, the San Diego Mayor who had a reputation for sexually harassing lots of lots of ladies, pled guilty to some reduced charges. Rumor had it his plea was to avoid convictions with the word “sexual” in them.

<p>The city is launching a new offensive to monitor tanning salons and warn customers of the dangers of skin cancer from overexposure to UV radiation, The Post has learned.</p> <p>In what could be the Bloomberg’s Administration’s final health crusade, the anti-tanorexic plan will be submitted to the Board of Health on Tuesday,. The board — all appointees of Mayor Bloomberg — is expected to adopt the new rules, which would take effect in the spring following public hearings.</p>

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been hit with two suits this week, one demanding information on his anti-gun campaign, and the other targeting his soda and fat bans. Both are Freedom of Information lawsuits from Washington groups that charge the mayor's office with delaying release of critical information about his efforts to start a national campaign to limit guns and boost the health value of food sold in cities. The public watchdog group Judicial Watch on Thursday filed their suit demanding emails between Bloomberg's office, his group Mayors Against Illegal Guns and Vice President Biden. The group charges that...

By now, you really would have thought Michael Bloomberg would have learned his lesson. The out-of-touch New York City mayor has lately made it his business to be in everyone else’s business – whether that means trying to decide for New York residents what they are allowed to eat or drink, or trying to tell people from other states what to think of their elected officials. More often than not, however, Mayor Bloomberg’s overreaches have been repelled. The courts struck down Bloomberg’s ban on large sodas. Notable Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer, from Bloomberg’s home state, is on the record as...