My family's union support go back some time. Not sure if it began with my grandmother, an original FDR Democrat, or before. But a defining event was probably my great-grandfather, who lost fingers and an eye in an industrial accident. He had been a craftsman in the old country, making furniture. In the US he worked in a factory, with the usual results that happened in pre-union days.

I never knew him so I don't know if this incident led him to support unionization, but I do know my grandmother was a solid union supporter and Democrat until the day she died and she passed this on to my mother and through her to my brother and me. In her wilder days my grandmother even had a brief marriage to a communist. My mother focused her radicalism on feminism in the days of the ERA.

My son seems to be picking up the same radical tendencies of my grandmother, brother and mother. By comparison I am a moderate.

It started with Woodie Guthrie. My son fell in love with "This Land is my Land," particularly the Woodie Guthrie version, though I think the first version he heard was the Bruce Springsteen version sung at a rally for Barack Obama. As I was, at his request, looking for other Woodie Guthrie songs we came across Billy Bragg and others singing "I'm Sticking to the Union" at the 90th birthday of Pete Seeger. My son is now playing it over and over and singing the first several lines (the ones sung by Billy Bragg). Here it is:

There considerable resonance in this to me. My mother used to sing union songs (in a bad voice, but what the hell). She introduced me to the songs of Pete Seeger and the Weavers, a blacklisted group from the good days of Folk Music when Woodie Guthrie's working class music wasn't yet replaced by the later, more self-important and strident versions I can't stand even when sung by a voice as wonderful as Joan Baez'. And Billy Bragg is someone I was largely unaware of until hearing him on the IFC program my distant cousin, Henry Rollins, hosted. Here is Billy Bragg on Henry Rollins' show and my introduction to his music:

Somehow it feels right hearing my son belt out: "There once was a union maid, who never was afraid, Of goons and ginks and company finks and the deputy sheriffs who made the raid..." along with Billy Bragg.

Just goes to show, my family's liberal to the core. And damned proud of it.

My wife, from a similar old-Jewish radical background of course, had a role as well. After all, she's the one who taught him that Dick Cheney and Henry Kissinger were "supervillians."

26-year incumbent New York State Senator George Onorato is a very nice person. He has also gotten out of touch with the community he is supposed to represent.

Most recently, Onorato was one of eight Democrats to vote against marriage equality. Over the course of the year, Onorato was approached by many people in the district, not all of whom are homosexual, who pleaded with him to change his vote. In the end, however, Onorato failed to listen to his constituents.

This should come as no surprise to those who are involved in the civic life of the 12th State Senate district. Onorato is almost nowhere to be seen, and doesn’t even send a representative to most functions – even some by organizations he helps fund through member items.

The New York State Senate has been called the most dysfunctional legislature in the country. This past summer, during the 31-day “coup,” that dysfunction was highlighted. Despite being one of the most senior Democrats in the Senate, Onorato was not involved in the negotiations to bring the standoff to an end. There is an old saying, “If you aren’t part of the solution, you’re part of the problem.” Clearly, Onorato is not part of the solution.

How to fix this situation? Read on...  read more »

In the recent issue of Nature is an article reporting the most earth-like planet yet discovered outside our solar system and, importantly, one that is very likely to be watery...perhaps as much as 50% water.

From the News and Views in this week's Nature:

The hunt for Earth-like worlds has taken a major step forward with the discovery of a planet only 2.7 times larger than Earth. Its mass and size are just as theorists would expect for a water-rich super-Earth...

Charbonneau's team1 has found that the small, faint star GJ 1214 undergoes repeated dimming of 1.3% for 52 minutes every 1.6 days. The only plausible interpretation is that a planet orbits the star with an orbital period of 1.6 days and that it has a radius that is 12% that of the star. Good estimates of the star's radius (21% that of the Sun) put the planet's radius at only 2.7 Earth radii. Such a small planet orbiting a star other than the Sun is an extraordinary find. With the tools currently available, only one other extrasolar planet has been reported that is thought to be close in size to Earth, namely CoRoT-7b, at 1.7 Earth radii. The new planet, which is only about 13 parsecs away, is named GJ 1214b. Importantly, it pulls gravitationally on its host star, causing the star to move with a speed of 12 m s−1, which the team has detected through measurements of wavelength shifts in the star's light (the Doppler effect). The planet's inferred mass is a mere 6.6 Earth masses, which, when combined with its radius, leads to a density of 1.9 g cm−3. By contrast, Earth's average density is much higher, at 5.5 g cm−3. Because water has a low density of about 1 g cm−3, the chemical composition of the new planet is probably some admixture of rock and water, with perhaps a small atmosphere of hydrogen and helium...

That solid material forms the building blocks of large planets such as Saturn and Neptune, and perhaps smaller planets as well, such as the new one1. But the density of 1.9 g cm−3 for this new planet imposes a constraint on the relative amounts of each constituent. To keep the planet's density that low requires that it contains large amounts of water. If the planet were pure Fe and silicates, its density would be similar to Earth's. It must contain a huge amount of water, roughly 50% by mass.  read more »

I think it is particularly important to remember this incident from 2007 given the recent comments about "Going Muslim" made by a particularly ignorant NYU professor that I discussed recently (here and here).

Back in 2007 a Muslim came to the rescue of some Jews being attacked by Christian extremists. Funny how we forget incidents like this but remember incidents that make Muslims look bad.  read more »

An amazing study just came out in the journal Nature where people studied violent conflicts statistically and found that such conflicts all follow very similar patterns. And those patterns are very similar to how financial markets (also based on human behavior) function. Here is the abstract of the article:

Many collective human activities, including violence, have been shown to exhibit universal patterns. The size distributions of casualties both in whole wars from 1816 to 1980 and terrorist attacks have separately been shown to follow approximate power-law distributions. However, the possibility of universal patterns ranging across wars in the size distribution or timing of within-conflict events has barely been explored. Here we show that the sizes and timing of violent events within different insurgent conflicts exhibit remarkable similarities. We propose a unified model of human insurgency that reproduces these commonalities, and explains conflict-specific variations quantitatively in terms of underlying rules of engagement. Our model treats each insurgent population as an ecology of dynamically evolving, self-organized groups following common decision-making processes. Our model is consistent with several recent hypotheses about modern insurgency18, 19, 20, is robust to many generalizations, and establishes a quantitative connection between human insurgency, global terrorism and ecology. Its similarity to financial market models provides a surprising link between violent and non-violent forms of human behaviour  read more »

From HuffPo:

Based on a CDC data study with 1.3 million people, two researchers have compiled a happiness index ranking residents of the fifty states from happiest to least so.

Ranking No. 1 in happiness was Louisiana, home of Dixieland music and Cajun/Creole cooking.

snip.

Rounding out the happy five were Hawaii, Florida, Tennessee and Arizona.

At the other end of the scale, last in happiness – is New York state.

As if to illustrate the problem, residents attending a meeting Wednesday in rural Queensbury unleashed their anger and cynicism at a state government they described as corrupt, self-dealing and too quick to increase taxes. It was a tirade that had one lifelong resident saying he was ready to flee "this stinkin' state."

I don't think it's a coincidence that New York also comes in dead last among the fifty as the state afflicted with the most dysfunctional government. Or that an entire swath of the state, pretty much everything north of the City, is bleeding population year over year. Unhappy people, robbed of futures for themselves and their families, really can't be blamed for pulling up the stakes and pitching their tents elsewhere, can they?

In especially as the corrupt Albany system may change frontmen occasionally, but remains essentially unchanged and impervious to change. Unless, that is, the people make it change, and turn their anger to where it belongs: Albany's bi-partisan incumbent duopoly.

Do something: join us at ReBootNY.org.

I got a fair amount of crap from people about my coverage of the Working Families Party scandal, wherein WFP was caught red handed violating campaign finance laws. Several people told me to lay off them because they are progressives. To me, though, corruption by people I agree with on policy is worse than corruption by Republicans, who I expect it from. So I covered the WFP scandal despite attacks from fellow progressives.

Well, now WFP and one of their star candidates, Developer Shill Bill de Blasio, have been subpoenaed by the U.S. Attorney's Office. So folks, it isn't just me who thinks WFP, Developer Money, and Bill de Blasio are rotten to the core despite their progressive rhetoric. From the New York Observer:

The Working Families Party has received a subpoena from the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District seeking information in connection with its efforts in the 2009 elections, a spokesman for the labor-backed party confirmed...  read more »

Chanukah is the festival of lights,
One day of presents?
Hell NO!
We get eight crazy nights.

Not gonna lie: If I weren't such a little atheist heathen, I'd totally throw myself a bat mitzvah just so I could sing this song every year at the table

Ok ... now that I think about it, fuck it! Am officially adding it to the repertory of december holiday songs --'cause, you know, Christ was indeed a Jew.

So let's partake in more kosher goodness:

 read more »

I went looking for anything they may have written about Spitzer running for State Comptroller and find myself with a a whole section devoted to Tiger Woods' dick. To say there are no words is to put it mildly.

I mean, look  at that! It's mindboggling.

And newspaper people wonder why nobody cares that the media is dying

Liz Benjamin's blog has a piece saying that Assemblymember and candidate for state Senate José Peralta is accusing Hiram Monserrate of being a "liar and an abuser."

Here's the problem -- Peralta may be as corrupt as Monserrate. According to a Daily News article, Peralta has received half a million bucks in state and federal member items for a nonprofit that, for all practical purposes, doesn't exist.

It appears that before we throw the rascals out we need to take a good, hard look at the new rascals who are coming in.

On a side note, the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) requires that an artistic entity be around for three years, and prove their activities are worthy, before they can even be considered for a grant; perhaps all state money given to nonprofits should have similar requirements.

Joe Bruno's recent conviction points up the need for serious change in the laws covering our legislators' behavior. Three years ago I wrote the following piece; it turns out to have been ahead of its time.

Read on ... but first, if you want to make a difference, go to ReBootNY and make a contribution.  read more »

From a press release forwarded by Facebook's Defeat New York State Senator Carl Kruger in 2010.

“Throughout my fifteen years in the Senate I have supported and advocated passionately for legislation that furthers the cause of human rights and fairness for all.

[Blah Blah Blah].

“Our American government was crafted to function as a representative government. Fifteen years ago, when I voted in support of the death penalty, I was mindful of this fact. We are elected to serve the voters -- those who entrusted us with the mission of advocating for their best interests. It is my belief that the overriding sentiment of the district must merit my utmost attention and respect.

“Therefore, I voted no to the same-sex marriage bill.”

We don't elect leaders to rubber-stamp whatever prejudices we happen to hold at a given moment in history. We elect them to lead.

To some elected officials, a win is a win, is a win, is a win: no matter how close. And then they move on to their next term in office, learning very little from victory and arrogantly paying no heed to the warning signs. Ostensibly, lame duck councilmember Dr. Kendall Stewart (#45), fell victim to this political mentality recently (more on that later).

It appears however, that NYC council member Darlene Mealy is somewhat different. She recently overcame spirited challenges from former councilwoman Tracey Boyland, Tulani Kinard (endorsed by both Al Sharpton and Charles Barron), and activist Anthony Herbert. For the sake of full disclosure, let me also state that Mrs. Kinard was also endorsed here by yours truly. I have known both Tulani and her husband (Stan) for many years now, and have worked with them on many political initiatives. They are both educators and activists (political and cultural) who have paid lots of dues in the continuing struggles of colored folks.  read more »

This week was the 25th anniversary of the Bhopal disaster. And, 25 years later, the disaster continues.

On Dec. 2nd and 3rd, 1984, the criminal negligence killed some 20,000 people and left over 100,000 affected. And corporate America, responsible for this disaster, has done almost nothing to clean up the mess and take responsibility in the past 25 years.

From an article on BBC News this last week:

In Bhopal no-one uses the term "accident" to describe the calamity that took place here in the early hours of 3 December 1984.

For "accident" implies blamelessness. And in Bhopal the hunger for justice among those who suffered seems undiminished.

Those who survived remember the terrible randomness of it.

Eyewitnesses saw a dense cloud of poisonous gas settle on the slum areas that crowded the Union Carbide pesticide plant...

The Chingari Rehabilitation Centre is a small charitable organisation - a drop-in day centre for children born with severe disabilities, whose parents were exposed to the gas.

"These are the second generation affected," says Tarun Thomas, who runs Chingari.  read more »

Well, perhaps not verbatim, but per Liz, Joe Bruno's favorite Democrat didn't manage to slink away quickly enough to escape teh gays.

After voting "no" on the gay marriage bill yesterday, Sen. Carl Kruger exited the Senate chamber and walked straight into the buzzsaw that was Allen Roskoff and Corey Johnson.

The two outspoken gay advocates stunned onlookers by heckling the Brooklyn Democrat, publicly calling his sexuality into question and threatening to support a primary candidate against him in 2010.

You know, this fills me with compassion. Not because of any fondness for Kruger, but because coming out can be tough. God alone knows how long it took me, not to mention all the self-loathing, misery and loneliness that go with the territory before your own screaming sorrow over your wasted life pushes you out that door and into the first leather bar you can find. So I propose a trial by fire: The Eagle.

You're welcome.

The "evil eight" --plus 30.

I am quoting verbatim our own Dan Jacobi who had to say this in the comment section of HOMOPHOBIC New York Senate votes against marriage equality:

All 30 Republicans voted no on marriage equality, as did eight Democrats: Addabbo, Aubertine, Diaz, Huntley, Kruger, Monserrate, Onorato, and Stachowski.

Now we know who the targets are next year.

Indeed.

I am absolutely irate and devastated that marriage equality was shot down in New York state by a 38-24 margin. I want Rubén Díaz and every single homophobe who voted against it out of the NY State Senate now more than ever.

This will not stand. I will help Tom Duane, my state senator, to do anything that needs to be done for this to happen. This is my promise to him.

You can find more information about the bill at OpenSenate.

Here's the "Statement of Support", which is basically summarizes the purpose of this bill:

The "freedom to marry" is, in the words of the United States Supreme Court, "one of the vital personal rights essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness by free people ."1 In New York, however, certain couples who seek to exercise this freedom, and partake of its rights and responsibilities by mutual consent, may not do so solely because they are of the same sex. The bar against same-sex marriages exists regardless of how long the individuals have lived together, or whether they are raising children through legally recognized joint custody arrangements. This bill removes the barriers in New York law that deprive individuals of the equal right to marry the person of their
choice, by granting the same legal recognition to all civil marriages regardless of whether those who enter into them are of the same, or of a different, sex.

Partners unable to enter into a civil marriage - and their children - lack basic legal protections taken for granted by married couples. In such areas as property ownership, inheritance, health care, hospital visitation, taxation, insurance coverage, child custody, pension benefits and testimonial privileges, married couples receive important safeguards against the loss or injury of a spouse, and crucial assurances against legal intrusion into their marital privacy. As important, unions lacking the State's recognition are denoted, by force of law, as somehow not equal to other comparable relationships.

Civil marriage is the means by which the State defines a couple's
place in society. Those who are excluded from its rubric are told by the institutions of the State, in essence; that their solemn
commitment to one another has no legal weight.

Just as the right to marry confers important benefits on individuals, the institution of marriage produces incalculable benefits for society, by fostering stable familial relationships. Same-sex couples who wish to marry are not simply looking to obtain additional rights, they are seeking out substantial responsibilities as well: to undertake significant and binding obligations to one another, and to lives of "shared intimacy and mutual financial and emotional support."2 Granting legal recognition to these relationships can only strengthen New York's families, by extending the ability to participate in this crucial social institution to all New Yorkers.

The history of this country for more than two centuries has been the story of once excluded individuals and groups gaining gradual access to equal rights under law. New York State, in particular, has played a proud and honorable part in that history, from hosting the foundational women's rights convention at Seneca Falls in 1848, to breaking baseball's color barrier, to witnessing the seminal event of the modem gay rights movement in New York City four decades ago. New York legislators and other political leaders, of both parties and of all viewpoints, have had an important role in this process, and in the gradual extension of equal treatment to gays and lesbians in particular. In 1983, Governor Mario Cuomo first banned discrimination in state employment by Executive Order. In 2002, Governor Pataki
extended the same principle to the private sector by signing into law the Sexual Orientation Non-Discrimination Act. That year, the State gave its first legal recognition to same-sex relationships when the Legislature unanimously passed - and the Governor signed - a bill extending workers' compensation benefits to all those who lost a partner on 9/11. Yet the institution of marriage remains closed to loving same-sex couples who seek only to be able to show their mutual commitment as other individuals do. Passage of this bill would remedy that flaw, and represent yet another important and historic step in the process by which all citizens of New York State are granted full and equal rights.

Individuals on both sides of the questions raised by this bill hold
deep-seated views that arise from a host of ethical and religious
considerations. To ensure that the bill does not improperly intrude
into matters of conscience or religious belief, the bill affirms that no member of the clergy can be compelled to solemnize any marriage.

In short, this bill grants equal access to the government-created
legal institution of civil marriage, while leaving the religious
institution of marriage to its own separate, and fully autonomous,
sphere.

The whole bill after the jump.
###  read more »

Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity. Hate destroys a man's sense of values and his objectivity. It causes him to describe the beautiful as ugly and the ugly as beautiful, and to confuse the true with the false and the false with the true.

Martin Luther King, Jr., Strength To Love, 1963.

There is dismay tonight in the Empire State. The resounding defeat of a bill in the Senate to grant - what a curious term, grant - the simple right to get married, to finally be equal in the eyes of the law, to gay and lesbian New Yorkers is yet another setback for the only group of Americans that can still be openly discriminated against. And no, I don't give a flying fuck what you think your god says is right or wrong, Senator Diaz, you cretinous hypocrite. Go officiate at Hiram Monserrate's wedding, buddy.

We as gays and lesbians are used to this. It was ever thus. We are easy to hate, and not because there is anything in us that makes hatred intrinsically possible, but because of bigotry borne in silence. We have always hidden in the shadows.

No longer. We have a long way to walk yet, but know this: history will yet spit on the grave of Ruben Diaz's bigotry. The day will dawn.  read more »

Looks like DC beat New York State to the gay-marriage punch on a technicality : D.C. Council votes to legalize same-sex marriage - washingtonpost.com

After months of debate, the council passed the bill 11 to 2. It still must take a second vote in two weeks before the measure can go to Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D), who has said he will sign it.

If the bill survives a required congressional review period, the District will join New Hampshire, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont and Massachusetts in allowing same-sex marriage.

There was a rumor floating around this morning that the New York State Senate was poised to vote on their version of the same-sex marriage bill that was passed by the Assembly earlier this year. What may end up holding the vote hostage? The DRP or Deficit Reduction Plan the NYSenate has been squabbling about for what seems now like an eternity.
 read more »

(Note: Cross-posted on my website.)

In the hours leading up to President Obama’s formal announcement of his plan for how to deal with Afghanistan, I have decided that it is possible that he could convince me that his escalation of American involvement in that civil war is a good idea. Possible – but highly unlikely.

I understand the need to stop Al Qaeda from attacking us again, and the desire to establish stable, American-friendly governments in both Afghanistan and Pakistan. The problem is that the area known as Afghanistan has never had a stable, American-friendly government; even though we helped put the Taliban in power in 1995 they didn’t like us very much. And while Pakistan is a nuclear power, so the need for at least a responsible government is even more urgent, it need not be American-friendly, so long as they have no desire to use their nuclear weapons against us.  read more »