With Republican Senator Jon Kyl announcing that he would retire at the end of his current term, Democrats on Thursday discussed Gabrielle Giffords as a potential candidate for the seat, according to Politico. Giffords is said to have been interested in running for Senate before she was shot last month, and would certainly be a front runner for the job. Obviously, Giffords' recovery is the first priority, and no one can be sure if she'll be fully recovered by then, or if she'll even want to run.

Mayor Mike said yesterday that the NYPD won't be used to enforce the city's new ban on smoking at public beaches and in parks. So who will be monitoring the air quality of New York's public spaces? The concerned citizens of New York, that's who!

In the coming weeks and months everyone will be debating the future of Egypt and asking, "what does the revolution mean?" There is a long, difficult road ahead but for today at least, Egyptians are celebrating. Here are some pictures from Tahrir Square today. [Images via AP]

The city is currently seized by the glamorous thrall of New York Fashion Week. Here are some of the best images from the day, like this model being tortured by some strange beauty ritual at Farah Angsana. [Image via Getty]

Egypt has finally dumped its arrogant, paternalistic dictator of three decades in the largest country in the Arab world. That's quite an achievement for a suppressive police state after only two to three weeks of protests that weren't very organized to begin with. But what comes next? Will pure democracy just kind of "appear"? Or does an impossible process of constitutional negotiations between the people, the army, the Muslim Brotherhood, business leaders, and foreign powers need to take place over the next year before anything even approaching a stable and responsive political system emerges? Unfortunately it's that second scenario, the "impossible process of constitutional negotiation" one, that's realistic.

Faltering book chain Borders, which has been on a financial death watch for weeks, will file for bankruptcy next week, after failing to get a lifesaving loan. "Borders initially plans to close about 200 of its 674 stores." Initially. [WSJ]

The story in Egypt has taken another hairpin turn—but for the better this time. The protesters have finally kicked out their old man, (ex-)President Hosni Mubarak. He's stepped down and retreated to his estate at Sharm el-Sheik, on the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula.

Ha, check out this zinger unleashed by short billionaire Michael "Mike" Bloomberg:

We will all die eventually, yes, but now we know what will kill us: Aging pipelines! Well, not the pipelines specifically, so much as the explosions that will occur when natural gas leaks from those aging pipelines and then sparks and blows up, as happened in Allentown, Pa. on Thursday, killing six. There is, according to The Wall Street Journal, a "growing consensus that the U.S. has a problem with aging infrastructure," also, "federal investigators... are concerned about the accuracy of utility records on pipelines they operate"; a bill has been proposed to improve pipeline safety but it's unclear whether Republicans will support it. Of course. Look: Just don't light any matches for a while, okay? [WSJ via TDB]

[New York Fashion Week kicked off at Lincoln Center today. Rather than look at the clothes, here are some of the fabulous images of what happened backstage, like these models mugging for the cameras before the Vena Cava show. Image via Getty]

The white "Glavis" dress that Lindsay Lohan wore for her latest court date yesterday (yes, the one that looked like a doily that shrunk in the crotch) was so popular that it is completely sold out, according to designer Kimberly Ovitz. Let's see if she'll have the same effect on orange jump suits in a month.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak just finished his long-delayed speech to the country and, to everyone's surprise, he had no change of plans to announce. He's not stepping down tonight, or tomorrow.

Mitt Romney wants to be president so badly, but he just can't get anyone to elect him. Don't laugh, okay? He must struggle to get out of bed each and every morning knowing that he'll have to spend the entire day being Mitt Romney, the shiny plastic humanoid who'll never figure out what Republican voters want.

In your crippled Thursday media column: Magic Johnson saves Vibe, some jokers think AOL's brand can be "tainted," another departure from the NY Daily News, schadenfreude at CBS News, and News Corp's kitchen furniture police are out in full force.

Various reports are swirling around about Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak planning to step down from power in the very near future. NBC News' Richard Engel hears from two independent Egyptian government officials that Mubarak would leave tonight, under an agreement with Army leaders.

This Saturday, Manchester City will play Manchester United, in soccer. Total combined cost that both teams paid for all their players: $850 million. Most expensive ballgame in history. And Manchester is not even a big (or attractive) city. [WSJ]

National Journal's Mark Ambinder reports that President Obama's budget proposal—which hits the streets Monday—would cut federal heating assistance to the poor in half for the 2012 fiscal year. I know! Tragic! That's only $2.5 billion in cuts! We'll never teach our citizens about budget discipline at this rate! Luckily, there is an alternative: The Republican spending plan, unveiled on Wednesday, which would "practically eliminate the program's contingency fund" immediately. Hear, hear! I don't understand why anyone lives in Massachusetts in the first place. [National Journal; image via AP]

More great news from the wonderful world of Wikileaks: Saudi Arabia is running out of oil! According to a former top Saudi oil executive, as recorded in State Department cables between 2007 and 2009, "Peak Oil" — the pinch point at which global petroleum production reaches its maximum capacity — is a very real problem that we're rapidly approaching.

Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who's doing rehab in Texas after being shot in the head last month, asked for toast this morning! And while these weren't her first words, her office confirms that she's been speaking more often frequently.

Ever since the Egyptian protests began two weeks ago, the conservative movement has been struggling to spread a lockstep message through its top spokespeople.