Cat reaches under bathroom door to steal bathroom rug

A wacky cat, being a usual wacky cat, reaches under the a bathroom door and digs its front claws into a recycled rag bathroom mat, and the cat tugs at the rug until the cat pulls the entire rug under the bathroom door. Laugh Out Loud funny.

Hunger Games : Bill de Blasio NYC Andrew Cuomo NYS Budget Realness

Expanding pre-kinder, making good on union backpay demands, and fighting income inequality will be paid for by how ?

Bill de Blasio will be sworn into office as the next mayor of New York City on Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2014, a frigid day of painful New Year's Eve hang-overs and desperate resolutions that this will finally be the year when we make real change come true.

Hold your horses.

"The biggest challenge Mr. de Blasio will face in the first few months of his administration is negotiating contracts with nearly all of the city’s municipal unions," The New York Times reported, noting that, "The unions have been working under expired contracts for several years and are asking for some $7 billion in retroactive pay."

• RELATED : Watching the Political Chess Pieces Move on the $10 billion New York State Medicaid Waiver

This potential $7 billion backpay price tag comes on top of a campaign proposal central to de Blasio's political win : a plan to expand pre-kinder to every child in New York City, a plan that is estimated to cost several hundred million dollars, WNYC has reported.

According to Mr. de Blasio's campaign Web site, he "called for an increase in taxes for New Yorkers earning $500,000 or more to dramatically expand after-school programs for all middle schools students, and to create truly universal pre-K programs."

To raise other money, Mr. de Blasio plans to also raise property taxes on empty lots, in order to spur more real estate development. "The goal is to spur development of affordable housing — the theory being that lot owners would rather sell to developers than face dramatically higher taxes," CBS reported. It's not known, as usual with desperate campaign promises, how the tax rate hike on vacant lots will exactly only create "affordable housing" and what will govern just how "affordable" the new housing will be. But there is a great need for affordable housing. By City Council Speaker Christine Quinn's own account, New York City has lost 300,000 affordable housing units in the past few years alone.

The mayor-elect's campaign promises are set to clash with a neoliberal governor set on window dressing the state budget as a springboard to a presidential run in 2016.

With so much pressing need, how can social, legal, and economic reforms be paid for ?

• Since 2006, a total of 10 New York City hospitals have either closed or downsized, and several more hospitals have been identified for possible closure. Some astute political observers have said privately that they believe that Governor Andrew Cuomo is trying to make large, indiscriminate healthcare cuts by closing entire hospitals in a desperate effort to window dress the state budget in preparation for a run for the Democratic nomination in the 2016 presidential race. (Activists take protest to save hospitals to governor’s office * WestView News)

Economic realities will fracture Democratic unity : Pension IOU vouchers and hospital closings that will pay for the $2 billion election year tax cut gimmicks of Andrew Cuomo

Gov. Cuomo faces an election year campaign that overlaps with mayor-elect de Blasio's first year in office. Gov. Cuomo is already out of the gate with an expensive $2 billion tax cut proposal to endear himself with big business interests as he eyes a presidential run in 2016.

"New York’s corporate tax rate would be cut to its lowest level since 1968 as part of reductions in property and business levies called for by a commission appointed by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo," reported Bloomberg News.

Former New York Lt. Gov. Richard Ravitch has blasted Gov. Cuomo's tax cuts on NY1's program The Road to City Hall :

"I think he's going to look for additional help, and I think the problem is the state is likely to put very severe caps on the growth of healthcare spending and education spending, which will have a terrible effect on New York City," Mr. Ravitch said, adding, "Based on what we read, the governor wants to cut taxes at at time when his social needs are growing, and that will be an interesting political battle. I think we are going to see a very, very interesting dilemma given Bill de Blasio's genuinely-held social commitments," noting that Gov. Cuomo's tax plan was "frankly … nonsense : The cities in New York state and the largest counties in New York State are in serious trouble."

Mr. Ravitch identified several counties, which are having to borrow money, in order to pay for operating deficits. "That's why New York City almost went bankrupt in 1975. Nobody learned the lessons of the past," Mr. Ravitch said.

"Chicago, Philadelphia, New York, Phoenix and Jacksonville, Florida, are among large cities that had 60 percent or less of what they need in their retirement systems to cover promised benefits, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. At least 29 public plans in 16 states are less than two-thirds funded, according to Boston College’s Center for Retirement Research," reported Bloomberg News. While city, county, and state governments continue to wallow in a fiscal mess exacerbated by the 2007-2008 global financial crisis and recession, one dangerous quick fix governments have resorted to is to issue IOU's or vouchers to their pension plans, leading to severely underfunded conditions.

• Moody’s has put 12 towns and villages in New York on notice for failing to provide enough details to maintain their credit ratings, a move that affects $56.5 million in debt, reported Gannett Albany.
• Gov. Andrew Cuomo spent $140 million of emergency relief meant for victims of Hurricane Sandy in an ad campaign to convince businesses to move to update New York, reported The National Review.

The Hunger Games : more of the tumultuous clash between community groups that have been starved of budgetary resources.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo wants billions from Washington in federal Medicaid dollars he's "saved" by making wholesale healthcare cuts, including closing entire hospitals, through the his neoliberal austerity program, the Medicaid Redesign Team. (Cuomo spars with Obama administration over Medicaid exemption * The Washington Post)

The Rep. Paul Ryan federal budget deal will cost New York hospitals several hundred million dollars a year by cutting reimbursement rates for hospital procedures provided to patients, who do not remain hospitalised for more than two days under a controversial "two midnight rule." (House budget tweak costs N.Y. hospitals millions * Capital New York)

Gov. Cuomo made an ''implicit threat that he could unilaterally pull out of Medicaid expansion, dealing a major blow to the success of the Affordable Care Act at a critical juncture if the state’s request isn’t granted.''

In an environment where mayor-elect de Blasio made brash "pie in the sky" promises to attract the votes of working families with school-age children as an election year gimmick, he must now contend with Gov. Cuomo's own "pie in the sky" promises of corporate tax cuts, in spite of the fact that voters have expressed demands for economic equality, not more corporate welfare.

Gov. Cuomo plans to pay for his $2 billion tax cut by having gutted Medicaid. He achieved wholesale healthcare cuts by closing entire hospitals that served the poor, uninsured, or underinsured. Those savings, and the billions he is now demanding from the Obama administration, will go to pay for corporate tax cuts. Added to that, Gov. Cuomo's gambling initiative will suck more money from the desperate poor, further depriving some poor people of their poverty wages. The poor are rightly looking for an elusive safe harbour from the today's tumultuous economic straights, but how sad that Gov. Cuomo wants to herd them into casinos, instead of giving the working class a living wage. Mayor-elect de Blasio, meanwhile, made it a fiscal priority to propose a tax-the-rich plan to pay for universal pre-kinder, that only benefits taxpayers with toddlers. Of all the pressing needs across the five boroughs, did taxpayers agree that the first order of business should be to expand pre-kinder ? First of all, there aren't enough classes to accommodate the number of children enrolled in New York City public schools. Where will the de Blasio administration find the classrooms to house toddlers ? It's unclear if the $500 million price tag for universal pre-kinder includes the cost of classroom construction that may be impossible to accomplish in old school buildings in dense urban New York City neighborhoods.

The finite tax dollars is already squeezing governments, as Mr. Ravitch said. "We're using promissory notes to make the contributions to the state pension funds."

Left out of the debate, for now, are the unions, affordable housing activists, healthcare activists, education advocates, homeless activists, public library supporters, and other stakeholders on how the decreasing tax revenues are going to be spent.

In this era of government budgetary famine, stakeholders are already having to fight against each other for resources. When Gov. Cuomo empaneled his Medicaid Redesign Team to close hospitals, he appointed affordable housing community groups to the panel and convinced them that the only way to find nickels and dimes for new housing programs was to close entire hospitals and to make cuts to healthcare for the poor.

One also saw this kind of friction between community groups when Carl Siciliano, executive director of the Ali Forney Center for homeless New York City youth, threw Rev. Pat Bumgardner under the bus over allegations of inferior conditions at Sylvia’s Place, the homeless shelter for LGBT youth operated by Rev. Bumgardner's church.

Because New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn never made it a political and budgetary priority to put an end to homeless problem of LGBT youth, one could view Mr. Siciliano's attacks on Sylvia's Place as a way to shut it down in order to keep more of the city's homeless tax dollars for himself -- the same way affordable housing activists went along with an irresponsible spree of closings entire hospitals in order to build 154 housing units in the Bronx. These units are set to open in either 2015 or 2016.

Why are community advocacy groups pitted against each other, instead of trying to lift everybody up ? The fact is that there's only so much public assistance and private philanthropy, making community advocacy groups get stuck in a "us vs. them" worldview. The price society pays is that nobody dares to make a demand for all the resources needed to fully address social issues, like providing universal healthcare for everybody or providing shelter for all LGBT homeless youth. Where's the focus on the bigger picture to get *all* the needed resources ?

The Grand Central Air Rights Deal Won't Be Enough To Feed Everybody

Because community advocacy groups fail to make a full demand for resources, and because politicians lack the courage to impose a Wall Street financial tax of less than ½ of 1% on Wall Street transactions, you see all manner of budgetary and economic contortions, to try to mine new tax dollars (aka "resources"). The scramble to structure bespoke taxes or new government fees is wrought with corruption. Take, for example, the city plan to sell air rights for several blocks around Grand Central Station in Manhattan. The plan, which was the vision of outgoing Mayor Michael Bloomberg to upgrade the size, facility, and infrastructure of Midtown East office buildings, would raise about $1 billion in new tax resources for New York City, reported Bloomberg News.

Should Gov. Cuomo succeed at both enacting his foolish $2 billion tax cut and blocking Mayor-elect de Blasio's tax-the-rich plan, this $1 billion would be all that there is to divide among unions, affordable housing activists, healthcare activists, education advocates, homeless activists, public library supporters, and other stakeholders. Either the mayor-elect will miraculously divide the fish and loaves sufficient to satiate the hungry, or else look for either an escalation of the "interesting political battle" between City Hall and Albany predicted by Mr. Ravitch or else more community groups taking each other down as they fight for survival.

Big business interests always win, even after countless "change" elections

Note how the Grand Central air rights sale turned taxpayer's $1 billion bailout will enrich real estate speculators and developers.

This is, after all, a city that allows billion-dollar real estate projects to exploit tax breaks only after they make campaign donations in a corrupt political culture of pay-to-play. (Gov. Cuomo got $100,000 from developer, then signed law giving it big tax breaks * The New York Daily News)

And lobbyists, such as James Capalino, George Arzt, and others, stand to exploit their close connections to both the Cuomo and de Blasio administrations to benefit their lobbying clients, and it should come as no surprise that these and other lobbyists get involved in politics in order to keep their pockets lined while community groups go at each others' throats.

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(Updated : Saturday 14 Dec 2013 15:10)

Carl Siciliano contacted me by Facebook to deny that he was motivated to close Sylvia's Place. He made complaints about the lack of licensing and other problems with Sylvia's Place, and he said that he's committed to "calling upon the City and State to commit to a plan to add 100 youth shelter beds per year until there are no longer waiting lists at the youth shelters."

Separately, statistics from PFLAG NYC show that, "Studies indicate that between 25% and 50% of homeless youth are LGBT and on the streets because of their sexual orientation or gender identity."

According to New Alternatives NYC, "Every night, thousands of lesbian, gay bisexual and transgender youth and young adults are homeless in New York City. Whether they have been kicked out by homophobic families, forced to flee conservative communities, aged out of foster care, or come from families torn apart by poverty, AIDS, drug abuse or eviction, these youth sleep in the City’s parks, on the subway, and in public facilities such as Port Authority and Penn Station. A fortunate minority find a safe haven in one of NYC’s handful of housing programs and shelters designed for this population, facilities so underfunded that youth wait months to get in or sleep on concrete floors and countertops. Another portion of the homeless youth population finds not-so-safe shelter in large, City-funded institutions or the men’s shelter on Ward’s Island, where they are subject to homophobic harassment- and even violence -at the hands of both staff and peers. The least fortunate of all find themselves practicing “survival sex” – trading their bodies for money or a place to stay."

Two years ago, GLAAD estimated that the census of homeless LGBT youth in New York City is approximately 1,500. It would take several years before all homeless LGBT youth in New York City would find housing if the rate of expanding shelters is capped at 100 new beds per year. Left unexplained is why community advocacy groups fail to make demands today for all the resources needed to provide shelter to all homeless youth in New York City, a point made to Mr. Siciliano, but which Mr. Siciliano refused to directly address.

Ydanis Rodriquez and Jumaane Williams Confronted on Bratton Appointment

"What a hypocrite," one activist shouted at Ydanis Rodriguez

Activists critical of Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio's appointment of William Bratton as NYPD commissioner confronted Councilmembers Ydanis Rodriquez and Jumaane Williams on the steps of City Hall on Tuesday, Dec. 10. Some of the activists included family members of people murdered by police when Mr. Bratton was first Police Commissioner, from 1994 to 1996.

When activists asked Councilmember Rodriguez what he thought of the Bratton appointment, Mr. Rodriguez responded by saying, "I support the mayor," shocking the conscience of activists.

"You support the mayor ?" one activist asked, having to repeat Mr. Rodriguez's statement, because Mr. Rodriguez was only recently a very visible critic of abusive NYPD policies, such as stop-and-frisk. The one activist continued, "You support the mayor, when you used to march with us [against] police brutality ?"

Indeed, on Feb. 29, 2012, blogger and activist Javier Soriano reported that Mr. Rodriguez stood alongside Councilmember Williams at a demonstration in support of NYPD reform legislation. (New Yorkers United to End Stop-and-Frisk and Discriminatory Policing * JavierSoriano.com)

Yet, Mr. Rodriguez was now supporting the Bratton appointment, which reform activists view as a betrayal of community demands to end the state-sponsored forms of racism that are at the crux of stop-and-frisk and police brutality, which have been sources of conflict in Bratton's history.

"What a hypocrite," another activist shouted at Mr. Rodriguez. Through other jeers, still yet another activist is heard telling Mr. Rodriguez, "You support the people, who have no respect for human rights."

Mr. Bratton's selection to succeed Ray Kelly as NYPD commish has been Mr. de Blasio's first administration scandal, triggering a wave of protests weeks before Mr. de Blasio is set to be sworn into office. It appears that the mayor-elect is breaking a major campaign promise to "end the stop-and-frisk era." The betrayal comes from the fact that Mr. Bratton has been described as the "architect of stop-and-frisk," and he has had a controversial record in Los Angeles, where he was once police chief, and other municipalities, where he has served as an outside consultant to other police forces. One would never have guessed from Mr. de Blasio's campaign propaganda against stop-and-frisk that Mr. de Blasio's pick to lead the NYPD would be the "architect of stop-and-frisk." (Bill de Blasio Bill Bratton Stop and Frisk Broken Campaign Promises * YouTube)

Already Mr. de Blasio has reacted with cunning calculation against the stop-and-frisk protesters by thwarting their First Amendment rights to protest by deploying both NYPD and FDNY resources. (Did Bill de Blasio misuse FDNY Fire Drill To Thwart Stop-And-Frisk Protest ?)

Back on the steps of City Hall, when activists noticed Mr. Williams, they swarmed around him. One activist pointed out Mr. Williams' duplicitous support for Mr. de Blasio's pick to lead the NYPD. "Look at what they did to you," one activist said, adding, "Do you think they care about you ?"

This was a reference to the egregious incident when the NYPD detained Mr. Williams for no other reason than the color of his skin. (Police Detain Brooklyn Councilman at West Indian Parade)

Activists are trying to appeal to the conscience of past reform leaders, who used to call for an end of racism and brutality by the troubled police department. But many activists see the past reform leaders being paid off with appointments, City Council slush funds, lucrative Council chairmanships, or promises of increased power, authority, or influence under the incoming de Blasio administration as some reasons why past reform leaders are turning their backs on previous commitments to reform.

The struggle over the next top cop comes at a challenging time for a police force beset by a ticket-fixing scandal, continuing controversy over the city's appeal of a landmark stop-and-frisk court ruling, and allegations of malicious motivations to interfere with freedom of the press. The incoming de Blasio administration would love nothing better than to quiet down any community backlash to his appointment of Bratton.

Section 377 of Indian Penal Code Supreme Court Ruling Exposing Ignorance, Racism

India's Supreme Court Ruling Continues British Raj Era's LGBT Discrimination ; American Reaction Turns Ugly

Following today's controversial Indian Supreme Court's ruling to recriminalise homosexuality, the reaction on some American-based Web sites has revealed cultural and historical incompetencies by the West of the East.

Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, which criminalises homosexuality, was enacted in 1860 by the British Raj, the former colonial rulers of India. "Enacted" is a relative term, because the law was basically imposed on India the way British colonists imposed everything else on Indians. Because British rule lasted from 1858 to 1947, and the culture and values of modern India are still informed by the shadow of injustice and discrimination that marked British colonial rule, including lingering laws on India's books. Also note that the inception of the epoch of British Raj overlapped with British Victorian Era, a period of extremely conservative moral values.

When news broke about the Indian Supreme Court's ruling on Section 377, people with no knowledge of India's history instantly reached for charicatured generalisations of Indian culture based on stereotypes of IT tech support and call centers.

"India's Supreme Court rules Gay Sex illegal ... it's time to pull out of that shithole .. bring Tech Support back on-shore," wrote one prominent LGBT activist on Facebook.

On the popular LGBT blog named Joe My God, one commenter wrote, "we need to get a list of all companies using call centers based in india. and boycott indian restaurants. they use a lot of products coming straight from their homeland." (India Court Recriminalizes Homosexuality * Joe My God)

A Facebook follower of Joe Jervis, the author of the Joe My God blog, commented on Facebook that, "The tech companies and the Queen of England should weigh in on this." Never mind that there are companies in India other than "tech," and India endured a violent partition once it was liberated from British rule. Even though the Queen of England has no more power or authority over India's governance, this one comment had attracted four Facebook "likes."

Another commenter on the Joe My God blog wrote, "I wonder how many of the corporate sponsors of the Sochi Olympics have call centers in India?" While presumably the author of this comment was trying to find an intersectional-political pressure point between the violent crackdown against LGBT Russians and the Indian Supreme Court's disappointing ruling, it's notable that the commenter's focus was, again, a call center.

On another popular LGBT blog, Towleroad, the very first commenter posted this reaction to the Indian Supreme Court's ruling : "If you use a call center that is based in India then contact the company that subcontracts their call center to India and ask to use a non-Indian call-center." Another commenter on Towleroad posted, "Does anyone have a list of US companies who subcontract their helpdesks and call centers to India." (In Shocking Ruling, India's Supreme Court Restores Criminalisation of Gay Sex * Towleroad)

These harmful, divisive stereotypes contrast with an article posted by Cathy Kristofferson on OBlogDeeOBlogDa, where she wrote : "India is one of the many countries in the world still suffering with a left over British colonial penal code criminalizing homosexuality."

And the hurtful generalisations about India also ignore the very visible and organized opposition and protests taking place in India against the Supreme Court's "retrograde" ruling.

Another indication of uninformed reaction to the Indian Supreme Court's decision was that in the long string of organising, litigation, and politicking for LGBT civil rights right here at home, American LGBT's were dealt a major setback in 1986 with the SCOTUS decision in Bowers v. Hardwick, which upheld the constitutionality of anti-sodomy laws in the state of Georgia. It took 17 years before the SCOTUS overturned Bowers with the Lawrence v. Texas decision. During that time, were Indians calling for a boycott of McDonalds ?

Post by Aamir Khan.

Many prominent Indians are even denouncing their own Supreme Court's adversarial decision, including famous Bollywood actor Aamir Khan, but Americans, who are uninformed of Indian culture, would not know the full spectrum of debate taking place in India right now, sometimes highly conflicted. How can one have a meaningful debate to change the hearts and minds of people, to ask them to make room for equal rights for everybody, when one first resorts to unfairly categorizing Indians as a way to assign blame for a Supreme Court ruling that frustrates the march to equality ?

Did Bill de Blasio misuse FDNY Fire Drill To Thwart Stop-And-Frisk Protest ?

• Updated : De Blasio Faces Protest for NYPD Pick * Democracy Now!
  (Revised : Tuesday 10 Dec 2013 16/04)

Protest against Bratton's Use of Stop-And-Frisk And His Appointment as NYPD Commish

Protest against Bill Bratton's record on stop-and-frisk and against Bill de Blasio for picking Bratton as NYPD commish ; at The Nation magazine gala at the Metropolitan Pavilion, 125 West 18th Street, NYC.

Bill Bratton is the architect of stop-and-frisk, a police policy that has been shown to be a state-sponsored program of racism that targets minorities.

Watch as activists jeer former NYC Public Advocate Mark Green, former TV talkshow host Phil Donahue, former GMHC CEO Ana Oliveira, Manhattan Borough President-elect Gail Brewer, and The Daily Show contributor Lewis Black for standing by Bill de Blasio's pick of Bratton as NYPD commish. Bill de Blasio, and possibly Bill Bratton, snuck in through the freight entrance at the back of the building, avoiding protesters. They used an FDNY practice exercise as a decoy to close West 19th Street from some activists.

This was a private event, but yet there was Bill de Blasio abusing his authority over NYPD and FDNY to use public resources for a private event -- a similar complaint that reform activists used to have about Christine Quinn. This is not change ; rather, this is more of the same.

de Blasio misused FDNY resources by deploying a fake emergency fire drill at the back of the building, where activists were protesting last night.

Was the FDNY decoy exercise deliberately planned to interfere with last night's protest ?

NYPD Sends Subpoena To Reporter, Reporter Fired, NYPD Ticket Fixing, Other Free Press Updates

The First Amendment On The Ropes

''In what The New York Times described as a 'broadly worded, five-page subpoena,' New York City lawyers are demanding that former Village Voice reporter Graham Rayman turn over tape recordings police officer Adrian Schoolcraft made of his superiors at the NYPD’s 81st precinct in Brooklyn," Time magazine is reporting, adding, "The tapes were the basis for Rayman’s book, The NYPD Tapes, which alleges officers manipulated crime data in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood in Brooklyn."

It's questionable why city lawyers are infringing on Mr. Rayman's free press protections under the First Amendment, and many are concerned that the NYPD is trying to harass Mr. Rayman in retribution for Mr. Rayman's exposé of police corruption. Because of the legal wrangling with the city, one activist, Suzannah B. Troy, wondered whether the litigation was an excuse used by the new owners of the Village Voice to lay-off Mr. Rayman.

Investigating the NYPD of corruption is something that rarely happens. Many have called for a federal commission to come in and investigate the New York City police force. After many unfounded shootings of innocent people, no police ever gets convicted. One recent scandal, a massive, illegal operation involving ticket-fixing, has only resulted in one officer losing his job.

Aside from the subpoena served on Mr. Rayman, the NYPD has also tried to harass Mr. Schoolcraft. A judge ruled that Mr. Schoolcraft can't be hit by a countersuit from his former supervisor. At every step of the way, the NYPD are trying to suppress any corruption investigation of its police officers.

The duplicity of NYPD, tasked with enforcing the law, but which now is acting to suppress a free press, somewhat parallels the duplicity of the Obama administration. At the same time when President Obama is secretly obtaining the phone records of Associated Press reporters, in an effort to suppress a rigorous free press from investigating his administration, Vice President Joe Biden registered complaints with Chinese government officials over hacking and other threats against foreign journalists. Give me a break.

All of this is taking place against a backdrop where New York City officials and the Obama administration refuse to comply with freedom of information requests.

• Free Speech Implications of DOJ Denying FOIA Request on Lt. Daniel Choi (04 Dec 2013)
• FDNY Refuse to Release EMS Transport Times (1 Aug 2012)

The very idea of a republic implies rights conveyed to citizens to meet and consult one another, and to petition their government, if they so choose. How can citizens exercise their rights to free speech, to assemble, and to petition, when the government restricts, delays, or prevents the sharing of information necessary for our citizen activities ? Our guarantees to free speech are being diminished, shortened, and restricted by conditions created by harassing reporters, retaliating against whistleblowers, and denying freedom of information requests.

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A Fox News reporter will not have to divulge the confidential sources who provided information for her story on the 2012 mass shooting at a Colorado movie theater, New York's highest court ruled on Tuesday. (Reporter Allowed to Keep Sources Secret in Colorado Theater Shooting * The New York Times)

(Updated : Friday 13 Dec 2013 19:48)

Protest against Bratton's Use of Stop-And-Frisk And His Appointment as NYPD Commish

• Updated : De Blasio Faces Protest for NYPD Pick * Democracy Now!
  (Revised : Tuesday 10 Dec 2013 16/04)

Activists Protest Outside The Nation Magazine Gala, Honoring Bill de Blasio, Who The Nation Had Endorsed. Now, de Blasio Was Rewarding Them By Appearing At Their Gala In Exchange.

Protest against Bill Bratton's record on Stop-And-Frisk and against Bill de Blasio for picking him as NYPD commish ; at The Nation Magazine Gala at the Metropolitan Pavilion, 125 West 18th Street, NYC.

Bill Bratton is the architect of Stop-And-Frisk, a police policy that has been shown to be a state-sponsored program of racism that targets minorities.

Watch as activists jeer former NYC Public Advocate Mark Green, former TV talkshow host Phil Donahue, former GMHC CEO Ana Oliveira, Manhattan Borough President-elect Gail Brewer, and The Daily Show contributor Lewis Black for standing by Bill de Blasio's pick of Bratton as NYPD commish. Bill de Blasio, and possibly Bill Bratton, snuck in through the freight entrance at the back of the building, avoiding protesters. They used an FDNY practice exercise as a decoy to close West 19th Street from some activists.

This was a private event, but yet there was Bill de Blasio abusing his authority over NYPD and FDNY to use public resources for a private event -- a similar complaint that reform activists used to have about Christine Quinn. This is not change ; rather, this is more of the same.

de Blasio misused FDNY resources by deploying a fake emergency practise exercise at the back of the building, where activists were protesting last night.

Was the FDNY decoy exercise deliberately planned to interfere with last night's protest ?

Exploiting NYC, NYS Campaign Finance Law Loopholes

PUBLISHED : MON, 09 DEC 2013, 10:21 AM
UPDATED : SUN, 06 APR 2014, 12:00 PM

• RELATED : Proposed NYS public matching dollars at risk of being gamed, just like with "model" NYC campaign finance system (NYC : News & Analysis)

Melissa Mark-Viverito and Carl Kruger exploit campaign finance loopholes

Former New York State Sen. Carl Kruger, who is currently imprisoned after having been convicted on federal bribery charges, is still receiving contributions to his New York State campaign finance account, reports The New York Daily News, adding, "Kruger, a Brooklyn Democrat, is one of dozens of former - and even deceased - lawmakers who still maintain active campaign accounts. He has spent more than $200,000 from his account since heading off to prison, most of which was used to pay his lawyers. His account still had a $415,753 balance as of his most recent filing in July."

• RELATED : NYC Council Speaker Race Campaign Finance Controversies (2013) * YouTube

A series of editorials by the Editorial Board of the same newspaper slammed City Council speaker candidate Melissa Mark-Viverito for first circumventing city campaign finance laws and then for exploiting loopholes in the state's campaign finance laws.

"Mark-Viverito has opened a campaign account under state regulations. She is apparently accepting contributions and apparently paying different consultants to advance her cause. Who’s giving her money and who’s getting her money will not be disclosed until after the speaker’s contest is settled," the Editorial Board wrote in the second editorial, noting, "At the same time, hopefuls Dan Garodnick of Manhattan and Mark Weprin of Queens are dipping into campaign accounts to give tens of thousands of dollars to fellow councilmembers and party organizations," before concluding, "None of this is acceptable."

Eleanor Randolph is disappointed that the Moreland Commission didn't do more to report on the pay-to-play corruption in New York politics.

Last week-end, Eleanor Randolph appeared in the roundtable segment of The New York Times Close-up on NY1, and she expressed annoyance that the Moreland Commission didn't do the kind of investigation typically reserved for journalists. Forgetting that she is an editor of the newspaper of record, namely, The New York Times, Ms. Randolph overlooked her own role in being able to expose pay-to-play corruption and corralling public opinion to demand campaign finance reforms. Instead, Ms. Randolph expected the Moreland Commission to do her job for her, for example, she complained that the commission didn't "name any names." Ms. Randolph, as an editor of The NYTimes, can assign investigative reporters to examine, for example, the corruptive influence of money in politics playing out right now in the New York City Council speaker's race. But she has not.

• RELATED : The New York Times fails to deploy longform journalism of its own magazine as a platform for investigative journalism * The Guardian

One of the main concerns over the conditions of the current Council speaker's race, where lobbyists are seemingly allowed to provide free or discounted campaign services to politicians, is that politicians become indebted to these same lobbyists, creating a conflict of interest where politicians then must return favors to these lobbyists. Campaign reform activists complain that favor-trading like this is a form of pay-to-play politics, because politicians are receiving campaign and lobbying services that they either cannot afford or that exceed or violate campaign finance caps or regulations.

Thus far, only one article has been published by The NYTimes, namely "In Campaign, Cash Flowed Circuitously" by Michael Powell, even though The New York Observer, Crains Insider, Capital New York, The New York Daily News, and most notably True News From Change NYC have been examining in depth the role of one influence-peddler, Scott Levenson, in some shady backroom machinations, including his role in selecting the next Council speaker.

Two weeks prior on The New York Times Close-up, Ms. Randolph acknowledged that the campaign to determine the next Council speaker was an "insider race" where the public had no role, but The NYTimes has not reported to what degree that "insider race" is creating the same pay-to-play culture of corruption, which Ms. Randolph takes to television to denounce. She herself is enabling the lack of transparency, untimely public disclosure, and exploitation of campaign finance loopholes.

Federal prosecutors are depending on investigative journalism to help expose corruption, but journalists are relying on the government to police itself.

Preet Bharara : New Media Will End NYC's Journalism of Sheep. In testimony before the Moreland Commission, Mr. Bharara lamented the loss of investigative journalists, but he put high hopes on new outlets and revived old media. * U.S. Attorney To Commission : Political Corruption Is Out Of Hand In New York State (CBS New York) :

To repeat a longstanding lament, investigative journalists have become a dying breed, although there are still a few extraordinary practitioners, some of whom are here tonight. With each press outlet that closes or downsizes, opportunities to ferret out fraud and waste and abuse are lost.

And that is too bad because, as Edward R. Murrow once observed, 'A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves.'

But maybe the thinning ranks of investigative journalists will be fortified :

Maybe Politico’s purchase of Capital New York and its planned infusion of staff and resources will mean more Albany muckraking.

Maybe Jeff Bezos’s purchase of the Washington Post and his reported interest in rejuvenating a storied history of eye-popping investigations will prove contagious.

And maybe fresh news outlets like BuzzFeed whose editors are said to be bent on doubling down on political investigations will provide grist for Commissions like this one.

We shall see.

See Also : Preet Bharara hopes for more muckraking in Albany

Grateful bloggers don't answer to corporate-owned, self-censoring newspaper editors. @CharmianNeary @tommy_robb @GlennThrush @powellnyt

— Louis Flores (@maslowsneeds) December 10, 2013

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One week after our original post, Eleanor Randolph announced her resignation from the Editorial Board of The New York Times.

(Updated : Tuesday 17 Dec 2013 16:06)

Mark-Viverito, Garodnick, Weprin Skirting Campaign Finance Law, Ethics

Update ! Melissa Mark-Viverito Lobbyist Firm Never Quit, Continued Lobbying Despite Investigations (Mise à jour : samedi 21 déc. 2013 14:45)

Melissa Mark-Viverito is not alone in skirting ethical edge in race for speaker.

From the Editorial Board of The New York Daily News : Call the ethics cops : Running for speaker in a race without rules :

Would-be Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito has stopped accepting freebie consulting services from a lobbyist whose clients would come begging to her as boss of the municipal legislature. Well, duh.

Mark-Viverito had to distance herself from influence-trader Scott Levenson as she seeks to rise from councilmember representing East Harlem and parts of the Bronx to the city’s second most powerful post. Her coziness with Levenson put Mark-Viverito on the wrong side of ethics rules, demands investigation by the Conflicts of Interest Board and should rule her out of consideration for speaker.

Meanwhile, Mark-Viverito and competitors are playing money games in the race for the speakership. There’s no public election for this job. Guided by Democratic county leaders, the Council will vote one of its members into the position. It’s an insiders’ play — one not fully covered by the city’s campaign finance rules.

Mark-Viverito has opened a campaign account under state regulations. She is apparently accepting contributions and apparently paying different consultants to advance her cause. Who’s giving her money and who’s getting her money will not be disclosed until after the speaker’s contest is settled.

At the same time, hopefuls Dan Garodnick of Manhattan and Mark Weprin of Queens are dipping into campaign accounts to give tens of thousands of dollars to fellow councilmembers and party organizations.

None of this is acceptable.

Bill Bratton Stop and Frisk Protest Monday

• VIDEO OF PROTEST : Bill Bratton Bill de Blasio Stop-and-Frisk Protest at The Nation Gala

The Two Tales Of The Two Bills

There are two stories that the two Bills are telling.

The first Bill (de Blasio) started out saying that he would put an end to the "stop-and-frisk era" during the mayoral campaign, but now the story that de Blasio is telling is that stop-and-frisk is a valid police tactic, in spite of the racial profiling, false arrests, and ruined lives it causes.

The second Bill (Bratton) was the grand-daddy of stop-and-frisk in New York City, under General Rudolph Giuliani, and Bratton has been saying on MSNBC how the police have to do stop-and-frisk, no matter what, but now this week-end Bratton was chauffeured over to Rev. Al Sharpton's, where Bratton said that, “Your police force will be respectful," adding, "It will practice what Mandela preached.”

Somebody on Twitter tweeted, "DeBlasio rode a wave of support generated by civil rights & racial justice activists for whom Bratton is a slap in the face. Painful to see."

Well, activists are now planning a protest Monday night against the two tales of the two Bills.

FOIA Appeal Update Regarding the DOJ's ''vindictive prosecution'' of Lt. Daniel Choi

FOIA Appeal asks if the "DOJ is taking an uncooperative stance"

Yesterday, the law firm of Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP filed an appeal with the U.S. Department of Justice, requesting that the DOJ respond to this appeal within 20 business days. This appeal was filed following the constructive denial by the DOJ to the Freedom of Information Act request, dated April 30, 2013, seeking various categories of "records pertaining to the prosecution of Lt. Daniel Choi."

Scribd Link to FOIA Appeal : 2013-12-06 Lt Daniel Choi FOIA Appeal - Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP - Flores Louis

According to the appeal, the DOJ presents the notion that it refuses to comply with the FOIA request. "[T]he DOJ has done nothing at all to respond to the Request other than to tell Mr. Flores that, due to the agency's own internal limitations on resources and staff, it is having difficulty processing the numerous FOIA requests that the DOJ receives. Such an excuse is not an acceptable one under the FOIA, and the DOJ is not permitted to avoid its FOIA obligations due to an internal burden of its own making," noting that, "Given the DOJ's conduct in connection with the Request, we are left with the impression that the DOJ is taking an uncooperative stance, is not exercising due diligence in responding to the Request, or both."

Scribd Link to Original FOIA Request : 2013-04-30 Lt Daniel Choi DOJ FOIA Request Louis Flores

Prior YouTube Video Links :

• Free Speech Implications of DOJ Denying FOIA Request on Lt. Daniel Choi (04 Dec 2013)
• Why won't DOJ answer FOIA Request about Lt. Dan Choi ? (15 Oct 2013)

Lt. Choi was the visible hero in the activism campaign to build public pressure on the federal government to repeal the U.S. military's former discriminatory policy known as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." Federal prosecutors have been engaged in a "vindictive prosecution" of Lt. Choi, even though Lt. Choi was merely employing activism for social justice to end discrimination, which the U.S. Congress and President Barack Obama later rightly acknowledged by repealing DADT.

The FOIA appeal is being handled by a team of lawyers, including Thomas Golden, a partner at Willkie Farr, who has a remarkable record on FOIA matters. As outside counsel to Bloomberg LP, Mr. Golden successfully litigated a FOIA case against the Federal Reserve a few years back, demanding an "unprecedented level of detail about its discount window lending during the financial crisis."

See : Fed's Court-Ordered Transparency Shows Americans ''Have a Right to Know''

See Also : Fed's Once-Secret Data Compiled by Bloomberg Released to Public

The DOJ's response is due before mid-January. As soon as I have an update, I will share that information with you. All information and records obtained from this FOIA request and appeal will be publicly posted on Scribd for everybody to access. If you support free information, the importance of upholding FOIA, the activism of Lt. Choi, and the work of bloggers, please share the link to the FOIA appeal on social media.

2013-12-06 Lt Daniel Choi FOIA Appeal - Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP - Flores Louis by Connaissable

Corruption Runs Rampant In New York, Meanwhile, Cy Vance, Well, Cy Vance Dirty DA

The media is shocked, shocked!! that there's corruption going on. Meanwhile, the media does't investigate it, in order to expose it. When bloggers point out corruption, the media responds with snarky condescension. The media also fails to hold accountable the do-nothing Manhattan district attorney, Cy Vance.

Cy Vance Dirty DA video on Drop Box https://t.co/JeSraSdieO @CyVanceforDA @CyVance

— Informed Voting (@informedvoting) December 4, 2013

Corruption Thrives In Albany : Why Don’t Prosecutions ? http://t.co/8YTXPj4W7p @CyVanceforDA @CyVance

— Informed Voting (@informedvoting) December 4, 2013

Race for @NYCCouncil speaker moves behind closed doors to accommodate lobbyists, violating transparency http://t.co/SbHv4z6mjI

— Louis Flores (@maslowsneeds) December 4, 2013

Where are in-kind contributions from consultants/lobbyists for speaker's race ? @NYCCFB @MMViverito @ChrisBragg1 @TMannWSJ @BKcolin #Preet

— Informed Voting (@informedvoting) December 3, 2013

Stanley Schlein works for free for Arroyos. How widespread are undeclared in-kinds? http://t.co/E3u9CwNkCh @NYCCFB @arroyowatch @RossBarkan

— Informed Voting (@informedvoting) December 3, 2013

HuffPost : Dogs Terrified Of Walking Past Cats, A Dramatic Compilation

Territorial cats terrorize dogs. Watch this funny video compilation posted on The Huffington Post.

WATCH ON DROPBOX : Bill de Blasio Bill Bratton Stop and Frisk Hypocrisy

Did Bill de Blasio put up his son Dante to lie to voters about ending the "stop-and-frisk era" ?

After Bill de Blasio barely won the Democratic primary with about 40 percent of the vote, top aide to Christine Quinn complained about a controversial TV advertisement broadcast by the de Blasio campaign, featuring his son, Dante.

"That ad killed us," the Quinn aide groused, anonymously, to The Daily Beast.

“He’s the only Democrat with the guts to really break from the Bloomberg years,” Dante promised in the TV commercial, adding, "And he is the only one who will end a stop-and-frisk era that unfairly targets people of color."

VIDEO LINK : https://www.dropbox.com/s/c7gqg06t9h2wb4n/Bill-de-Blasio-Stop-and-Frisk-Deception.m4v

Day 2 of "Tale of 2 De Blasios": Quinn camp says BdB supports Bill Bratton, called (by Detroit News) a pioneer of stop and frisk.

— Grace Rauh (@gracerauh) August 22, 2013

The controversial de Blasio campaign ad featuring his son, Dante, was widely reported to be one factor that helped his campaign surge following the implosions of the Quinn and Anthony Weiner campaigns. But now that de Blasio has appointed Bill Bratton to become the next NYPD commish, critics question the promises made by de Blasio -- and his son -- that de Blasio would end the "stop-and-frisk era."

Bratton shot up to fame by driving down crime based on his "reliance on 'stop-and-frisk,' in which officers detain individuals they deem to be suspicious and search them for guns, and which has been linked to racial profiling by critics," reported KQED News.

Obama Administration Denying FOIA Request Violates Free Speech

See New Advisory : FOIA Appeal Update Regarding the DOJ's ''vindictive prosecution'' of Lt. Daniel Choi (7 Dec 2013)

Free Speech Implications of DOJ Denying FOIA Request on Lt. Daniel Choi

As of today, I've not yet received any written response from the Department of Justice to the request filed under the Freedom of Information Act. The request, dated April 30, 2013, requested information pertaining to the government's vindictive prosecution of "Don't Act, Don't Tell" repeal hero, Lt. Daniel Choi.

Speech critical of the government, for example, political speech, is a freedom provided as a protection in the First Amendment. The First Amendment also includes a right to peacefully assemble and a right to petition the government for a redress of grievances. These rights are protections enshrined in the Bill of Rights. These are guarantees made to us by the U.S. government.

The very idea of a republic implies rights conveyed to citizens to meet and consult one another, and to petition their government, if they so choose. How can citizens exercise their rights to free speech, to assemble, and to petition, when the government restricts, delays, or prevents the sharing of information necessary for our citizen activities ? Our guarantees to free speech are being diminished, shortened, and constricted by conditions created by denying Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.

Separate from any rights under freedom of the press, afforded to me as a blogger, there originates my right to free speech as a citizen. How can one review, consult, and comment on the functions and actions of one's own government, if one is denied information ?

Refusing to honor FOIA requests prevents us from forming complete thoughts and speech, in this case, speech that may be critical of the government. Denying FOIA requests denies citizens their rights to freely and completely speak, to fully consult with other citizens, to peacefully and meaningfully assemble, and to petition the government, if necessary, for a redress of grievances. Thwarting information violates our rights, protections, and guarantees, in accordance with the design of our republic. This is what is at stake when the government refuses to honor requests filed under the Freedom of Information Act.

The implications of restricting information to the detriment of our right to free speech, are not limited to me or to the readers of this blog, but to every citizen.