In the wake of Keith Olbermann's dismissal from Current TV, The Daily Beast's Howard Kurtz has obtained email correspondence between Olbermann's camp and the network's staff. Though there are no mentions of California Condor-egg omelets, Kurtz finds that shortly after Olbermann was hired last summer, his manager sent a list of 40 "deficiencies" that needed "immediate attention." more ›

We've spent the better part of today curled in a ball, surrounded by our hardcover copies of Pitchforks and Torches, wondering where it all went wrong. How could Current TV do this to Keith "Just a Regular Guy" Olbermann? Based on various reports, it sounds as if Keith didn't feel like working for a low-budget TV network—and that low-budget TV network, headed up by Al Gore and Joel Hyatt, were tired of putting up with a high-maintenance talking head. more ›

Keith Olbermann returned to cable television last night with his Current TV version of Countdown with Keith Olbermann. The former ESPN anchor-turned-vocal libtard left MSNBC in January and announced his move to Al Gore's network in April. His show is pretty much the same as before, if only on a different channel, and he's still "madder than hell." His first "Worst Persons In The World" segment featured everyone's favorite "very well-educated" Metro-North rider, Hermon Raju (see video below), but to some MSNBC viewers, Olbermann is a Worst Person for running four minutes in the 9 p.m. Rachel Maddow hour! more ›

[UPDATE BELOW] Former MSNBC news host Keith Olbermann will announce his next move in just a few minutes. (There's a countdown clock here for all you Olberfanns.) But Media Decoder already knows the gist of what he's going to say: Olbermann is going to have a show on Current TV, the editorially progressive network founded by former Vice President Al Gore in 2005. Compared to 85 million MSNBC viewers, Current, um, currently has about 60 million, and unlike MSNBC, it doesn't come with basic cable. So if a liberal bloviates in the forest and only treehuggers are there to hear him, does really he make a sound? more ›

Directly commenting on Star Magazine's "exclusive" that Al Gore has been having an affair with Larry David's ex-wife for the past two years, Laurie David told the Huffington Post the rumors are "completely untrue. It's a total fabrication. I adore both Al and Tipper. I look at them both as family. And I have happily been in a serious relationship since my divorce." Laurie David, a trustee of the Natural Resources Defense Council and a co-producer of An Inconvenient Truth, divorced husband Larry David in 2007 amid rumors she was having an affair with a gardener at their Martha's Vineyard home. more ›

This might be more drama than we ever thought Al Gore capable of. According to Star Magazine, the former Vice President has been having an affair with Larry David's ex-wife for the past two years. Larry David split with wife Laurie back in 2007 amid reports that she was having an affair with the gardener of their home in Martha's Vineyard. Hmm, gardener...environmental activist...the truth was hiding in plain sight all along! Al Gore and wife Tipper separated at the beginning of the month, saying, "This is very much a mutual and mutually supportive decision that we have made together following a process of long and careful consideration." more ›

Politico broke the news that former Vice President and presidential candidate Al Gore and his wife Tipper are separating after 40 years of marriage: "In an 'Email from Al and Tipper Gore,' the couple said: 'We are announcing today that after a great deal of thought and discussion, we have decided to separate. This is very much a mutual and mutually supportive decision that we have made together following a process of long and careful consideration. We ask for respect for our privacy and that of our family, and we do not intend to comment further.'" The couple shared a memorable kiss (video) during the 2000 campaign; in recent years, Gore was the subject of a documentary about climate change, shared the Nobel Peace Prize, and is chairman of Current TV. more ›

Yesterday, Al Gore fired back at those who point to the Snowmageddons, Snowpocalypes and Snowicanes as proof there's no climate change. In his NY Times op-ed, he wrote, "The heavy snowfalls this month have been used as fodder for ridicule by those who argue that global warming is a myth, yet scientists have long pointed out that warmer global temperatures have been increasing the rate of evaporation from the oceans, putting significantly more moisture into the atmosphere — thus causing heavier downfalls of both rain and snow in particular regions, including the Northeastern United States. Just as it’s important not to miss the forest for the trees, neither should we miss the climate for the snowstorm." more ›

The NYPD has not revealed any more details about a man who was charged over the weekend with ten felony counts of using Manhattan pay phones to make "terroristic threats" to kill Mayor Bloomberg. Jeffrey Fisher of Philadelphia (not Robert Morgenthau of New York) is accused of calling 911 to make statements such as, "There are bullets now aimed at the mayor’s head everywhere." NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly and his family were also threatened. more ›

Former Vice President Al Gore joined Mayor Bloomberg in Long Island City today for a photo op to promote an environmental initiative to paint rooftops white. In response to a question, Gore almost but not quite endorsed Bloomberg's campaign, telling reporters he endorsed Hizzoner's "leadership." Gore, who's never been as uptight as the media portrayed him, added, "I am a recovering politician. I'm on about step nine, so I try to stay out of the partisan races." Here's more detail on today's green roof event, which took place in the same neighborhood as Con Ed's green roof. more ›

At a rally in Michigan, Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama picked up an endorsement from Al Gore, the former Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate. Gore said, "Looking back over the last eight years, I can tell you that we have already learned one important fact since the year 2000. Take it from me, elections matter. If you think the next appointments to the Supreme Court are important, you know that elections matter.” more ›

Doug Schoen, the pollster who has worked with Bill Clinton on his 1996 reelection and Mayor Bloomberg, is stirring the Bloomberg for President pot again. He tells the Sun that Ralph Nader's decision to enter the 2008 presidential race could help Bloomberg. more ›

Ralph Nader will be making another third-party bid for the Presidency in the 2008 election. The consumer advocate - and bane of many Democrats - made the announcement this morning on Meet the Press.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: an injured police officer at Floyd Bennet Field in Brooklyn, a gas leak on South 8th St. and Wythe Ave. in Brooklyn, and a bank robbery at the North Fork branch on 87th St. and Broadway in Manhattan.
  
• The FDNY will be stationing a battalion chief at the Deutsche Bank building until it is fully dismantled.
  
• Someone in the Clinton campaign said that there's a 5% chance that in the event of a deadlock between Obama and Clinton at the Democrats' national convention, Al Gore may arise as a compromise candidate.
  
• Plans for a Veselka on the Bowery may be on the rocks, as a liquor license for the Avalon building location looks unlikely.
  
• The 69-year-old man, who was killed after being sideswiped by a cab and then run over by a bus on West 57th St. yesterday, was on his way to deliver candy to Oprah's best pal Gayle King.
  
• A 500 lb. man is suing the FDNY for $5 million after ten firefighters, who were trying to take him to the hospital using a pulley-and-platform rig to get the man out the building, dropped him down a flight of stairs.
  
• Patty Hearst's French bulldog won Best of Opposite Sex in the breed's category (a male won Best of Breed) at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.
  
• City Council Speaker Christine Quinn proposed a citywide network of water-borne mass transit, where boats could ferry New Yorkers from stop to stop all over the city's five boroughs.
  

Is this the first election season where you’ve supported one of the candidates? Sort of. This is the first time I’ve supported someone during the primaries, which carries a lot of weight with people who were already going to vote for Obama. In 4th grade I campaigned for Reagan (it worked), and in 2004 I did a bunch of fundraisers for John Kerry (Sorry, America, I failed). Basically, after Bush beat Al Gore and tried to ruin America, I decided to be more politically involved. But not too much! I want to remain “cool.” more ›

People have been wondering about former mayor Rudy Giuliani's campaign for a long time (his presidential campaign plan notebook went missing last January! he pays more attention to his friends' advice versus that of election consultants). Now, with the Florida primary on the horizon, it seems his New York-based supporters are starting to worry. more ›

The NY Times reports on Mr. New Jersey's ties with the political elite. With it being common practice for high-ranking politicians to attend his concerts, it's seems it's a two way street, with Bon Jovi also showing his support at their functions.

He calls her “Mrs. C.” And she calls on him to add a little celebrity gloss to her presidential campaign. more ›

A day after the NY Post served up a Thanksgiving day front page cover of Knicks president and coach Isiah Thomas as a turkey, the embattled Thomas proclaimed he would stay in his job, saying, "I don't foresee there being any changes this year." Which the Post calls "LOAD OF BULL?" But really, if there's one thing that the Post and Daily News must have been thankful for, it's having such a spectacularly poorly managed... more ›

Waiting for the 1, by jschumacher on Flickr more ›

A look at some noteworthy television this week: more ›

Former vice president Al Gore and the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize today. The Nobel committee said the shared award is "for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change." more ›

Fred Thompson was never an actual Manhattan District Attorney, he just played one TV. He used the same medium to announce that he was running for President by pursuing the Republican nomination Wednesday night on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Unlike California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who announced his gubernatorial candidacy by appearing on The Tonight Show in person, Thompson made his announcement via a taped message that Leno aired. Speculation about the possibility of Thompson's imminent announcement has been growing recently. more ›

Freegans have been around for a while now, most recently The Times caught them dumpster diving in the NYU area just as school let out. A freegan goldmine! Now a blogger for Newsweek is getting knee deep in rubbish for a month in order to fully understand these "waste reclaimers". more ›

Jen Kirkman does it all. Hilarious stand up, talented improviser, and a terrific writer. She's in town to do some stand up and to perform at UCB's 9th Annual Del Close Marathon and Gothamist sat down with this triple threat from LA to discuss growing up on a golf course, the pursuit of fame, and sassing customers. more ›

MOVIE: Audrey Hepburn, a doll filled with heroin, Alan Arkin and the West Village in the 60s. What more could you ask for? Come check out Wait Until Dark tonight, but don't wait until dark to get there - the lawn fills up fast! more ›

COMEDY: Check out The 7:00 Workout tonight at UCB, where God's Pottery test out some new material on you. The show is listed as being at 6:30pm, which is just confusing - so, get there early? We interviewed the Christian duo last month, where they told us they'd only leave this fine city "if the Al Gore flooding movie is correct." So catch 'em while you can! more ›

Holy smokes! Giant fish on the MTA, Paris Hilton in jail, then out, then in again, Al Gore, goatses, blumpkins, Matt Damon, and baby art critics! It's been a busy week across the Ist-A-Verse, and here's a smattering of what's been going on. more ›

Senator Hillary Clinton is asking the public for some advice on what may very well be the most important part of her campaign: The Song. more ›