Brooklyn-Queens NOW PAC has released its endorsements for the September 15th Primary election. Here they are:

Council District 23: (Hollis Hills, Queens Village, Little Neck, Douglaston, Bayside, Bellerose, Floral Park, Glen Oaks, New Hyde Park, Hollis, Hollis Park Gardens, Holliswood, Fresh Meadows). MARK WEPRIN currently serves as a NYS Assemblymember. His votes in the Assembly speak volumes. Contact information for Mark Weprin: www.markweprin.com; Office: 73-20 Bell Boulevard Oakland Gardens, phone: 718-468-4208.

Council District 29: (Forest Hills, Rego Park, Kew Gardens; parts of Maspeth, Richmond, Elmhurst) - Michael Cohen, Karen Koslowitz, and Heidi Harrison Chain. All were excellent on our issues. We voted to endorse KAREN KOSLOWITZ, a proven fighter and previous Council Member. Contact information for Karen Koslowitz: www.karenforcouncil09.com. Address: 72-50 Austin Street, 2nd Floor, Room B, Forest Hills NY 11375. Phone: 347-722-6923. Fax: 718-268-7363.

Council District 33: (Brooklyn Heights, Greenpoint; parts of Williamsburg, Park Slope, Boerum Hill) - Ken Diamondstone and Jo Anne Simon. Both were excellent on our issues. We voted to endorse JO ANNE SIMON, a longtime advocate for disability rights and civil rights. Contact information for Jo Anne Simon: www.joanneforcouncil.com. Address: 75-B Hoyt Street Brooklyn, NY 11201. Phone: 718-852-8183.

Council District 39: (Park Slope, Carroll Gardens, Prospect Park). Candidate JOSH SKALLER is running for the seat vacated by Bill DiBlasio. Unlike his opponents, Skaller accepts no money from developers and is upfront about his support for our issues. Contact information for Josh Skaller: http://skaller09.com; phone:(718) 568-9699; email: community@skaller09.com.

Council District 49: (North Shore Staten Island). DEBI ROSE is running against Kenneth Mitchell. Mitchell, in his short stint (since February) in the council, has already disappointed on healthcare, voting against a bill to protect women from being harassed during visits to reproductive health clinics. Contact information for Debi Rose: www.votedebirose2009.com. Address: 552 Richmond Rd, Staten Island, NY 10304. Phone: 347-855-2968. Email: info@votedebirose2009.com.

Council District 51: (South Shore, Staten Island). JANINE MATERNA has only Republican incumbent, Vincent Ignizio to face. His allegiances are not to our issues. Materna is excellent on repro rights, education and domestic violence. In her district, it's not easy to be outspoken on women's rights, but she is. Contact information for Janine Materna: www.janinematernaforcitycouncil.com. Address: PO Box 90673 Staten Island, NY 10309. Phone: 718 408-1420. Email: janine.maternal@gmail.com.

All our endorsed candidates support NOW issues and have, in their interviews and statements, demonstrated a comprehensive knowledge of repro rights, civil rights, economic impact, marital and healthcare issues. We encourage you to get involved in their campaigns. Canvassing, phonebanking, hosting fundraisers, and contributions are most needed. Primary Day is September 15th. ***VOTE! ***VOTE!*** VOTE!***

According to their website:

The Brooklyn-Queens Chapter has its own Political Action Committee (PAC) which allows us to endorse candidates for local offices.

We examine their positions carefully and interview them to make sure that they actively promote legislation which furthers the goals of women's equality.

From the President of NARAL-ProChoice New York:

Yesterday the New York City Council voted by an overwhelming majority to pass the Clinic Access Bill (Prop. Int. 826), which provides much needed protections for women’s access to reproductive health clinics across the city.

Even New York City is not immune to anti-choice protests. There are women who visit reproductive health care clinics in our own community who are regularly confronted by protestors who band together to harass, intimidate, and block access to basic reproductive health care services. New Yorkers won’t stand for such barriers to access—and now, we don’t have to.

Yesterday’s vote was the culmination of work that began a few years ago when NARAL Pro-Choice New York recognized the need to strengthen the law protecting access to clinics across the city. We have worked hand in hand with the City Council ever since and were proud to stand with Speaker Christine Quinn and our other allies in the City Council yesterday as they passed this important law.

The Clinic Access Bill passed 40-8, with Councilmembers Tony Avella, Simcha Felder, Vincent Ignizio, Kenneth Mitchell, Eric Ulrich, James Vacca, Peter Vallone, and James Oddo voting against it. We urge you to take this opportunity to either thank your Councilmember for supporting this bill or to express your disappointment that he or she voted against it. Find your Councilmember’s contact info here.

Thank you for standing with us throughout this process, and here’s to more pro-choice victories to come!

For Choice,
Kelli Conlin
President  read more »

Bumped. MB

As Sarah Palin enjoys being able to weather the affects of the financial crisis through shopping sprees that are large enough to be considered economic stimuli in themselves, many women (who still on average only make 79 cents for every 1 dollar their male counterparts earn) are suffering. This issue is not a rant, its not a movement, it is a disparity in our country that still has not been dealt with. People should be rewarded for their work not their gender. Its not just the $150,000 dollar wardrobe, the fact that she bases her foreign policy on being able to see a foreign nation from her window or that she couldn’t name any of the major newspapers that she reads. Instead the biggest problem is that she was selected by the McCain camp in a rushed attempt to secure potential dissenting Democrat women who saw their dreams of President Hillary Clinton vanish after the primary elections. Bad move. They banked on exploiting the female vote without really taking a stance on issues important to women.  read more »

I have brought up the Pretty Bird Woman House Woman's Shelter on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation when I discussed the horrific Amnesty International report on the high incidence of rapes of Native American women by outsiders who seldom get procecuted. This shelter's sad story has continued. It was vandalized and is not being sold off. This will leave many women on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation with no support system. On Daily Kos a fundraiser is being held to raise enough money to buy the property and set it up to be a safe and secure women's shelter again.

I am asking you to help out. I donated $100. Some are donating as much as $500. This is pure, old fashioned good works in keeping with the holiday season.

From Daily Kos:  read more »