Brooklyn Museum Presents SPEAK OUT! Women's Visions For the Nation: What's it Going to Take? March 21, 2009, from 2 to 4 p.m.

Brooklyn Museum Presents SPEAK OUT!
Women's Visions For the Nation: What's it Going to Take?
March 21, 2009, from 2 to 4 p.m.
In celebration of the second anniversary of the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art, the Brooklyn Museum will present
SPEAK OUT! Women's Visions For the Nation: What's it Going to Take? on Saturday, March 21, from 2 to 4 p.m. in the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Auditorium.

The event features a keynote address by C. Nicole Mason, Women of Color Policy Network, NYU Wagner School, titled "Now is the Time: Activating Women Leaders for Collective Change;" an audience speak-out moderated by GRITtv host Laura Flanders with respondents Ana L. Oliveira, New York Women's Foundation, and Ai-jen Poo, Domestic Workers United; a performance by award-winning musical artist Toni Blackman; and closing remarks by Liz J. Abzug of The Bella Abzug Leadership Institute.  read more »

At the YDA conference last week, Sheldon Silver encouraging people to join the revolution.

I swear, people just have no awareness of their surroundings.

When good things happen to good people, it's time to rejoice. You may recall that, in the late fall, threatened with layoffs, union workers at Republic Windows and Doors sat-in at the Chicago factory . They won wages and severance but the factory closed.

After months of negotiations, a new owner has bought the place and will reopen it as a union shop. How sweet it is! Oh me of little faith. In this climate of job loss, I never thought they'd win so complete a victory! (The union press release is here. )  read more »

St. Patrick's Parade & Irish Fair of Queens, NY

Sunday, March 1st, 2009
1:30pm
Starting Point: 43rd St and Skillman Ave. in Sunnyside Queens

The "big, huge, Manhattan-based St. Patrick's Day parade" doesn't allow everyone to march. (Specifically, they don't like LGBT organizations.) The "St. Pat's for All Parade" is all-inclusive. March with your choice of many different elected officials, candidates and groups.

The good news about the internet is, as we've all discovered, the bad news. Cheap, more or less instant, emails from people we love, respect or want to get close to call us to sign petitions, write mass emails to save the seals, the polar bears, the carriage horses....(fill in your cause here). I try to respond until my wrist gets tired, never to send an appeal on to my friends ...but.

Please consider signing on the the current campaign of a group which I like (but not because I like it). The Campaign For Peace & Democracy asked me -- and I ask you -- to sign a petition to Iranian authorities to safeguard human rights, women's rights activist, 2003 Nobel Peace Laureate Shirin Ebadi .

Why bother? Will the Ayatollahs listen to me, you and any number of other US leftists? I don't know. But I do know the sense of isolation which oppresses people like Shirin Ebadi. Besieged by a hostile and oppressive government, this petition is a lifeline. Invisibility is death; visibility can save lives and promote freedom where it is at risk. Click here or read the statement in full after the jump  read more »

The latest drivel from anti-Science Global Warming Deniers is this:

Global warming stopped in 1998 and it has been cooling since then.

I am hearing this all over the place. What they then do is carefully pick the temperatures from individual years and compare them with other individual years to try and show a pattern that suggests cooling. There are three problems with this.

First, the possibility of cooling trends, locally or temporary, is quite likely within a general warming trend. Climate does not change linearly, but will vary up and down from year to year. This is why, as I will say again below, individual years are not significant. An individual year can include anomalies like El Nino or La Nina conditions. In addition, things like volcanic eruptions can cause temporary cooling (something deniers like Rush Limbaugh seemed to ignore when they used to claim, in the 1990's, that global warming was caused by Mt. Pinatubo). An initial cooling over Antarctica was predicted by the global warming models. This Antarctic cooling has been used by some deniers, who either don't realize or ignore that temporary cooling of Antarctica was predicted by the models, as "evidence" that global warming wasn't happening. Well, as predicted, that cooling trend has ended even in Antarctica. The only deviation from what was predicted by the models was the temporary cooling didn't last as long as predicted.

Second, there is a major error made by the deniers: you do NOT judge science based on selected data points. Only using a complete data set. The deniers cherry pick individual years to make their point. Scientists use entire data sets. When you do that, THIS is what you see:

And THIS:

 read more »

Our Billionaire Mayor Michael Bloomberg is part of the problem and so far, even the advice of progressive thinker Andrea Batista Schlesinger (who started work for the Bloomberg campaign this past week) has not helped him think about becoming part of the solution. Will falling poll numbers wake him?

Earlier this week Mr. Bloomberg -- in a move that marks him as a principled, not just an opportunistic, disciple of Mr. Bush -- refused to allow 13-14,000 (in my book a large number) of very low income New Yorkers access to food stamps unless they were enrolled in a NYC-run work experience project In my opinion, keeping food from these people is not just cruel (and it is cruel), it's dumb. See, this NY Times editorial in Wednesday's (2-25-09)

As reported in Julie Bosman's excellent NY Times article:

While cities and states are allowed under the stimulus provision to require participation in such workfare programs, advocates for the poor decried the policy as unwise and counterproductive, particularly as the recession swells the ranks of the jobless who need help buying groceries.  read more »

Still working out the kinks but we're back up. If you find any bugs or roaches on the site, please hit us up with a note by using our contact form.

Thanks!

Rally For New york. Devastating budget cuts threaten our communities, our jobs, our neighbors and our families.

Sponsored by UFT,SEIU 1199, DC 37 (AFSCME), Alliance for Quality Education, Working Families Party, One New York Coalition ...,

Call 718-246-7900 ex 272 for more info or to help.

At Our Lady Of Sorrows Church, Pitt & Stanton.

Help fight proposed budget cuts. Help increase income taxes on higher earning New Yorkers. Lower East Side community groups speak out and take action.

Refreshments

Sponsored by: CODA, Connecting To Advantages, Cooper Square Committee, Cooper Square Mutual Housing Association, Greater Chinatown Community Association, Housing Works, University Settlement as Part of One NY Fighting For Fairness.

The fiscal and political issues surrounding NYC & NYS’s budget deficits and personal income tax structure are complex, boring and crucial to all of us. Over the last eight months or so, I have been too close to the issues to write about them with clarity. As the debacles caused by the housing bubble, the foreclosure crises, the stock-market and finance industry collapse have all led to declining state and city revenues, I have been working with a coalition of more than 200 social & health agencies, community organizations, labor unions. Our object has been to resist the human services budget cuts planned and proposed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Governor David Paterson.

That coalition, One New York: Fighting For Fairness has been doing grass-roots lobbying, organizing letter-writing campaigns and visiting the offices of legislators. You can (and I think you should) review the Coalition’s principles and membership roster after the jump. Ask your organization to join. I’m inspired by the Coalition because it represents a huge spectrum of New Yorkers. Large unions, tiny social service agencies, community groups all of which have many opportunities for conflict, have figured out how to get along some. Billy Easton, of the Alliance For Quality Education – and one of the smoother, least rattled organizers around – gets credit steering the Coalition carefully.

Our efforts have focused now on two tasks: preventing irrational and harmful cuts to the educational, health, human and social service needs of New Yorkers and trying to force New York State and City to address their budget crises by – in part – taxing higher income New Yorkers more. The Fair Share Tax Reform bill, S2021, just introduced by Senator by Eric Schneiderman embodies the revenue proposals favored by the Coalition. Get our view of the problem and our proposed solutions.  read more »

GOP Leaders Use Ballot Access to Fight for Patronage and Power

It is not only challengers to local offices who are held hostage, even billionaire mayors must contend with Tammany Hall’s control of New York's Ballot Box. The dance in the media about some Republican county leaders who are unhappy with the mayor is really the result of a behind the scenes, closed-door battle on who gets to be Number 1 with the current mayor: Giuliani, Pataki or the county leaders themselves. What the Republican county leaders are saying is: we don’t want the former mayor and governor acting as our middle men with the mayor. The buzz is that Bloomberg is demanding that Pataki and Giuliani deliver the Republican leaders before their meeting on February 25th.

Even A Dead Party Has Power in NYC  read more »

I think trying to tie the recession with "Octomom" was a bit of a stretch. Still, am comforted by the fact that a "Lady Who Lunches" like Peggy Noonan is feeling the recession in the Upper East Side like this lady who barely lunches here in the East Village :

If you want to feel the bruise of what's happened, pick a neighborhood full of shops and go up and down the street. Here's Second Avenue in the 80s. A jewelry and consignment store on 84th has a new sign on the window: "We Buy Gold." Paul is at the counter, spraying the tarnish off a silver chain. How's business? "No buyin', no sellin', no nothin'. It's a joke. People scared. They're in shock." Nearby, an empty storefront, a bar that had been in business only 10 months. The sign on the window—you see it all over Manhattan now—says, "Retail Space Available." Next door, in a small beauty salon, the owner says "We're trying to survive." In September business plummeted. It's down "at least 30%," she says. July and August had been surprisingly good; her clients didn't go away on vacation. In the fall they were fired. "They lost the job, so they don't need to cut and color so much."

In a liquor store just off 82nd, the owner, from India, says volume is still high but profits are down. "In business, if you have a product under $15, is good. People used to spend $70, $80 on a bottle of wine, all the bankers, the young kids. Nothing moving more than $15."

On 81st, the kosher restaurant has closed. On 79th, the Talbots is gone. "Left a few months ago," says the doorman next door.  read more »

'Tis a sad day in Buffalo with the crash of Flight 3407:

'MANY' BUFFALO RESIDENTS AMONG THOSE KILLED IN CRASH

The 50 dead included four on-duty crew members on the Continental plane, one off-duty crew member, as well as 44 people traveling toward Buffalo on business and pleasure trips.

Among the crash victims was Beverly Eckert, the widow of Sean Rooney, who was killed in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Eckert was traveling to Buffalo for a family celebration of what would have been her husband's 58th birthday.

Family members and friends identified two people believed to be on the plane as Ellyce Kausner, a graduate of Clarence High School and Canisius College, and Maddy Loftus, a Buffalo State College graduate who lives in New Jersey.

The crew members were identified as Capt. Marvin Renslow, pilot of the plane; Rebecca Shaw, first officer of the flight; and flight attendants Matilda Quintero and Donna Prisco.

Another employee of the airline, Capt. Joseph Zuffoletto, a Jamestown resident who was off-duty at the time, was also killed.

My heart goes out to the families' of the victims.  read more »

Seriously, I got this yesterday and today and am curious enough to actually want to go down there and check this out :

WHEN/WHERE: FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2009
· 8:00am-10:00am - Corner of 48th St. & Avenue of Americas
· 12:00pm-1:00pm - Jacques Torres Hudson Store (350 Hudson at King St.)

"Sweet Dreams" models & Jacques Torres handing out complimentary overnight stays and Jacques Torres Chocolate.

WHAT:
· Just in time for the Valentine's Day, Harrah's Resort Atlantic City is giving away 5,000 free guest rooms in New York City on lucky Friday the 13th as part of Harrah's Resort Atlantic City's remarkable $1 million room giveaway.

· Harrah's Resort Atlantic City "Sweet Dreams" models will kick off this extraordinary promotion, handing out complimentary overnight stays to the Waterfront Tower at Harrah's Resort. All lucky key recipients will be invited to enjoy Harrah's Resort Atlantic City's thrilling new non-gaming and entertainment offerings, including The Pool, an ultra-chic indoor tropical oasis.

WHY:
· $1 million room giveaway to celebrate the grand opening (Sunday, February 15 at 2pm) of Temptations Fine Chocolate and Coffee at Harrah's Resort Atlantic City, featuring coffee from illycafe and confectionary creations from Jacques Torres Chocolates.

· In celebration of this "sweet" relationship, Torres and Harrah's Resort will kick-off the Valentine's Day weekend and store opening by offering New Yorkers the "Sweet Dreams" promotion.

· Harrah's Resort Atlantic City is the perfect staycation with its central location and easy drive time and with the new 44-story, 960-room Waterfront Tower and The Pool, Harrah's Resort is where summer spends its winter. After all, The Pool is an ideal tropical paradise, 82 degrees, 365-days a year.

That's a lot of free rooms they're giving away, no?  read more »

By now, many people have heard the story of Henrietta Hughes, the homeless woman in Ft. Myers, Florida, who begged President Obama to help her find a home for herself and her son. She got a little bit of luck, as she and her son will now be staying at an empty house owned by Chene Thompson, whose husband Nicholas is a state representative. The Thompsons can't live in the house because it is outside the district Mr. Thompson represents. They can't sell it, because nobody is buying. By allowing Ms. Hughes and her son stay there, the house won't get run down.

It's a win-win situation. It is also the kernel of a great idea.  read more »

I owed Con Ed money, so I went to their website (www.coned.com) to pay.

After going to "my account," I signed in with my account number, and chose the "pay my bill" option. I filled in the boxes to pay directly from my checking account (because if I pay by credit card they charge me an extra $4.75). Then I got a screen saying "Unable to accept Pay Online request." This happened three days in a row. I took a screenshot to prove Con Ed's refusal to accept payment.

Here's the fun part:

I have now made a serious, good-faith effort to pay my bill, and they repeatedly refused to accept my payment. It seems to me that, legally, I no longer owe them the money. After all, if I go to a restaurant and order food, then when I try to pay they tell me it's on the house, they can't come after me later and demand that I pay for my dinner.

Con Ed is once again asking for a major rate increase, on top of the increase they got just last year. Perhaps they need to raise their rates because more and more people are trying to pay online and Con Ed isn't getting their money.

This past weekend, I and some friends went to see a standing-room-only performance of Marc Blitzstein’s 1937 lefty-classic The Cradle Will Rock . It was written in heavy-handed Left-speak. Blitzstein music is always interesting to me and I thought the singers were great (See the New York Times review here .)

The reason I bring all this up is that "Cradle" raises the interesting question about how people are bought off by the bosses. Artists, writers, professors, doctors, ministers sign onto the play's anti-union crusade essentially for cold cash. Crude and untextured, it brought to mind, by contrast, last week’s teapot tempest of the hire by Mr. Mister Bloomberg of DMI Director Andrea Batista Shlesinger . Ms. Schlesigner’s real-life track record is stellar. It’s hard for those of us who’ve seen her from a middle distance to believe she’s lured just by the cash.

Our billionaire Mayor has significant public support, if polls accurately reflect public opinion . Some suggest influencing him was a Schlesinger-motive, since, some say, he’s likely winner (As 13 months ago, Ms. Clinton was so seen) In this context I think it’s important to look at Mr. B’s record on various issues to try to understand why they impact so little on his favorable polling numbers.

The first of the issues I want to direct attention to is Mayor Bloomberg’s “Stop and Frisk” police procedures.  read more »

This is comedy:

[New York Senate Democrats] recently realized there are some 75 employees working at the Senate’s own printing plant, a plain brick building on the outskirts of Albany. On Long Island, they found a small television studio, which had been set up — all with public money, with two press aides on hand to help operate it — for the exclusive use of Republican senators to record cable TV shows.

Democrats also came across what they are calling the “Brunomobile,” a $50,000 specially outfitted GMC van, with six leather captain’s chairs (some swiveling), a navigation system, rearview camera and meeting table. Joseph L. Bruno, the former Senate majority leader who was recently indicted on corruption charges, traveled in the van after his use of state helicopters sparked a feud with the Spitzer administration.

Then there are the parking spots, always at a premium near the Capitol. Democrats had been given roughly one spot per senator — there were 30 Democrats last year — and guessed there were perhaps double or even triple that controlled by the majority. Instead, they have learned, there are more than 800.

We all knew, more by intuition than evidence, that Bruno's gang treated itself well, certainly much better than they treated the then-minority Democrats.

But eight hundred parking spaces? Come on.

We think of progressive taxation, if we think of it at all, as a ten-dollar term for making the rich pay more of their fair share. But Thursday at Noon NYC Council Speaker Christine Quinn Member David Yassky, advised by the Drum Major Institute, give it a newer twist: let lower income New Yorkers pay less . Is Ms. Quinn finally turning from the darkside of the Bloomberg Empire?

There are, as it turns out, almost 225,00 very low wage households in New York City in which workers are paying NYC income taxes even though they’re exempt from NY State and Federal tax (because they fall below the State and Federal, but not the NYC, tax minimum.)

Speaker Quinn will propose today to eliminate the income tax on NYC’s lowest income workers at the fairly modest cost to the City of $72 million. This will put, I am told, $321/year on average into the hands of families. That money will be spent immediately, creating a mini-stimulus, and easing the daily life of the most hard-pressed workers.

DMI explains:  read more »

Darwin's theory of evolution has been one of the most robust theories in science. With some modifications, it is still the basis of our understanding of most of biology. Every Feb 12th (Darwin's Birthday) I post an article or series of articles discussing evolution and the evidence for Darwin's theory.  read more »

Feb. 12th is a big day for me. Not only is it my birthday, but it is the birthday of two of the towering figures of the 19th century, born on the same day, same year: Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln. 2009 is the 200th anniversary of their births.

I want to focus on Lincoln in this article. Recently I was, coincidentally, reading some old reference books I have and some things about the Civil War struck me. First off, one thing is clear: Abraham Lincoln, though a great man in his own right, would have been a minor figure in history and a minor, probably one-term, President had it not been for the Civil War. By seceding, the Southern States catapulted Lincoln into history. Lincoln won below 40% of the popular vote. Lincoln's Republican Party won a majority in neither House of Congress. According to The Presidents, edited by Henry Graff, Stephen Douglas felt that had the Southern States not seceded, Lincoln would have been powerless:

...an object of pity and commiseration rather than of fear and apprehension by a brave and chivalrous people.  read more »

Using the Courts and the CFB Rules to Win Elections

Every year in an annual ritual, scores of candidates, many running for the first time are denied a chance to compete in the electoral process or have their campaign efforts severely harmed by the obstacles of ballot access. New York’s election law is among the most stringent in the nation. It poisons the democratic process and is kept in place by incumbents and a political machine which gain advantage by those that it harms. Sometimes more than half of a challenger’s time and resources (for those that make it through the petitioning process), are used up to get through the obstacles put in place to deny them ballot access. Many races are decided in the courts or by Campaign Finance Board (CFB) rules, not the ballot box. It not just the petitions system that machine-backed candidates use to block ballot access, the CFB rule which allows a candidate who challenges his opponent(s) petitions to receive matching funds, but not the candidate(s) he is challenging, has become a weapon to gravely weaken ones challenge(s).  read more »

crossposted to Daily Kos and MyDD and Albany State Project

My friends at Wake-Up Wal-Mart and I have seen something remarkable:

In what we might presume to be the most bone-headed, most egregious iteration yet of the right-wing media's effort to convince us all itself that Wal-Mart = America, and that those who fault the company are in fact terrist sympathizers who no doubt also hate baseball and apple pie, this weekend the New York Post provided us with a nearly three thousand-word manifesto on Wal-Mart's unassailable decency, penned by intrepid regurgitator Charles Platt.  read more »