Activist And Blogger Arrested For Photographing Wiener in Men's Room

Activist Michael Petrelis Arrested Over Privacy Violation Involving San Francisco Supervisor Scott Wiener

From The New Civil Rights Movement :

In what appears to be an act of heavy-handed political retribution, longtime activist, muckraker and citizen journalist Michael Petrelis yesterday surrendered to the San Francisco Sheriff’s Department in response to the District Attorney issuing a warrant for his arrest, after being charged with allegedly violating the privacy of Supervisor Scott Wiener.

The DA alleged Petrelis broke Section 647(j) sub-section (1) of the penal code.

A simmering feud between the Supervisor and Petrelis over a range of issues from a public nudity bill to control over the rainbow flag in Harvey Milk Plaza has raged for over two years. The charge stems from a photograph Petrelis snapped, and subsequently published on his blog, of the supervisor at a wash basin in a public restroom at City Hall on Friday, October 26.

Petrelis voluntarily turned himself in for booking on Thursday afternoon after posting bond, was cited and released.

“I am dealing with this legal matter head on,” said Petrelis following his ordeal. “I voluntarily surrendered to the San Francisco sheriff. I have a court date set for December 5th at 9 am, and I look forward to it.”

The incident occurred at City Hall, where Petrelis was staging a photo-op for visiting gay Honduran dignitary Erick Martinez, an activist whose life has been threatened by the rightwing junta ruling his country. Through Petrelis’ political organizing, Martinez was introduced to gay Supervisor David Campos and bisexual Supervisor Christina Olague, in front of the Harvey Milk Bust in the Grand Rotunda on the second floor.

Petrelis had been taking photographs of the activities in the Grand Rotunda before he walked into the public men’s room noticed Wiener and proceeded to photograph him. An image of Wiener standing in front of the sink, holding a toothbrush later appeared on Petrelis’ blog.

Two weeks after the photo appeared on his blog, in what looks like an act of political retribution, Wiener appears to have abused his power as a San Francisco Supervisor by involving the sheriff’s department, who in turn assigned two senior detectives to investigate the Petrelis.

“I am surprised the DA charged this case,” said Petrelis’ attorney, Derek St. Pierre.

A local fight over control of the giant rainbow flag that flies over the Castro, located in Harvey Milk Plaza, has been simmering for over two years between activists and the politically powerful Merchants of Upper Market and Castro (MUMC), over an alleged “agreement” with the city’s Department of Public Works (DPW). Wiener failed to mediate the dispute in his district, instead siding with MUMC.

At a September 11th commemoration in honor of Mark Bingham, a microphone was intercepted by Petrelis, an organizer of the event, before Wiener reached it. Excoriating him for his hypocrisy and lack of leadership, in front of media hordes, San Francisco mayor, Ed Lee, and other San Francisco power brokers, Wiener’s subsequent speech was an excruciating, cringe-inducing embarrassment, and one Wiener was not likely to forget any time soon. A meeting between activists and DPW scheduled for October 26, 2011 at City Hall was abruptly canceled at Wiener’s behest.

More recently, Wiener has been under considerable fire for the anti-nudity legislation he authored; an aggressive attempt to impose curfews on public plazas in the Castro that critics decry as openly hostile to the district’s homeless population; the erosion of San Francisco’s once-powerful Sunshine laws; and his strenuous opposition to free Muni rides for minors. A growing chorus of irate constituents has begun protesting the Supervisor’s activities and speaking engagements. ...

California Penal Code Section 647
(j) (1) Any person who looks through a hole or opening, into, or otherwise views, by means of any instrumentality, including, but not limited to, a periscope, telescope, binoculars, camera, motion picture camera, camcorder, or mobile phone, the interior of a bedroom, bathroom, changing room, fitting room, dressing room, or tanning booth, or the interior of any other area in which the occupant has a reasonable expectation of privacy, with the intent to invade the privacy of a person or persons inside. This subdivision shall not apply to those areas of a private business used to count currency or other negotiable instruments.

Click here and here for background on this matter.

FastFoodFWD Living Wage

RT @stopchrisquinn: #FastFoodFWD workers : "We're hungry." @chriscquinn : "Eat some fried chicken." #livingwage #RealTalk

— Occupy Wall Street (@OccupyWallStNYC) November 29, 2012

What ever happened to that living wage bill that New York Speaker Christine Quinn watered down ? Remember how Speaker Quinn stalled, delayed, thwarted, and then revised the living wage bill until she and lobbyists watered it down soooo much until it would only benefit, according to her very own calculations, perhaps as few as 400 New York City jobs -- all this to please the Partnership for New York City and campaign contributors ?

And then remember how Speaker Quinn stormed out of the farcical living wage press conference, after somebody referred to the mayor by the moniker, "Pharaoh Bloomberg" ?

One of the major puppet masters behind Speaker Quinn's opposition to a real living wage law is the lobbyist Emily Giske. Ms. Giske represents the parent-holding company of the fast food restaurant chains Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell. Ms. Giske’s firm, Bolton St. John, has also lobbied against the paid sick leave bill.

Many campaign donors, who give tens of thousands in electioneering payments to Speaker Quinn, belong to the Chamber of Commerce, such as Rudin Management Company. Members of the Chamber of Commerce try to subvert campaign disclosure laws and unfairly try to influence legislation so that the City Council agenda only promotes big business interests, instead of protecting workers' rights or union rights.

How sincere is it, when Speaker Quinn issues a message of solidarity with #FastFoodFWD workers, but it was she herself who watered down this year's living wage bill. Is this acceptable to you ?

Read more : New York Is Site of Nation’s Biggest Drive to Unionize Fast-Food Workers

AIDS Activists Storm Boehner's Office

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

The Naked Truth about AIDS Budget Cuts

AIDS activists entered the office of Speaker of the House John Boehner and demanded no budget cuts to domestic or global AIDS programs. Protesters also called for a Robin Hood Tax on Wall Street trades.

Video streaming by Ustream

Activists chanted, "Boehner, Boehner don't be a d-ck, budget cuts will make us sick."

“The naked truth is that if President Obama and Congressional leaders like Speaker Boehner allow these budget cuts to lifesaving programs, global health programs will lose $689 million, while domestic AIDS programs will lose $538 million,” said Eustacia Smith from ACT UP New York, according to the group's press release. (Queerty).

United States of America HIV & AIDS Statistics

From Avert.org :

1.2 million people are living with HIV in the United States of America, with a fifth unaware of their status. Since the epidemic began, an estimated 1,129,127 people in the USA have been diagnosed with AIDS.

During 2010 : (i) 47,129 people were diagnosed with HIV infection in the 46 states which report diagnoses ; and (ii) 33,015 people throughout the USA were diagnosed with AIDS.

The activists today took the radical step of stripping naked to draw attention to the negative consequences that healthcare cuts will create for Americans. The "Fiscal Cliff" of automatic budget cuts will reduce billions of dollars from healthcare and other social services and safety net programs, which would severely impact people living with HIV and AIDS, activists say. A Robin Hood Tax would create new sources of revenue for the government to fund health, social services, and safety net programs.

Seven Risk Arrest in a Naked Protest in Speaker Boehner’s Longworth Office

Washington, DC: Tuesday, November 27, a few days before World AIDS Day, seven AIDS activists entered House Speaker Boehner’s Office and stripped naked demanding a meeting with the Congressmember. The activists from Queerocracy, ACT UP NY, and ACT UP Philadelphia painted slogans on their bodies instead of holding signs: “AIDS Cuts Kill” and “Fund PEPFAR, Fund Ryan White, Fund Global Fund, Fund Medicaid, Fund HOPWA.”

“When you strip away the rhetoric of the fiscal cliff and the grand bargain, you see that these terms are a way to thinly veil draconian budget cuts that will leave millions around the world with absolutely nothing,” said Cassidy Gardner from Queerocracy.

Police arrested three activists for indecent exposure : Cassidy Gardner - 23 yrs old, from NYC, Community Organizer for Queerocracy ; Megan Mulholland - 23 yrs old, from NYC, Community Organizer for Queerocracy ; and Jennifer Flynn - 40 yrs old, from Rhode Island, from Health GAP. The ACT UP NY website reported that the three arrested individuals were later released.

Read more : AIDS Activists Expose Themselves And The Naked Truth About AIDS Budget Cuts

ACT UP/NY Will Protest Against Fiscal Cliff Budget Cuts In Washington

Follow today's actions in Washington, DC on Ustream :

Video streaming by Ustream

ACT UP/NY is planning a pre-World AIDS Day action in Washington, DC to prevent AIDS budget cuts. We will march with activists from other ACT UP chapters, V.O.C.A.L. New York, Housing Works, and Queerocracy demanding that Congress not touch AIDS/Healthcare spending.

Where is Occupy Going ?

Everybody wants to know where Occupy is heading. Why aren't they getting pepper sprayed on the news anymore?? Here's your answer. [more at LeeCamp.net]

Mark Sanchez Fumbles Lineman’s Rear End

On Thanksgiving Day, New York Jets Mark Sanchez fumbling after he ran directly into the rear end of guard Brandon Moore and fumbled, leading to a New England Patriots touchdown. LOLZ

Are NYPD Cyber Searching Political Blogs ?

NYPD Violate #Handschu and Deny #FOIL Request by @maslowsneeds christine-quinn-sold-out.blogspot.com/2012/11/NYPD-V… #FirstAmendment #FreeSpeech #dueprocess

— Stop Christine Quinn (@stopchrisquinn) November 25, 2012

NYPD continue to monitor peaceful activists in violation of the Handschu Agreement. In this latest case, NYPD officials are visiting this blog even though NYPD refuse to answer to a Freedom of Information request by the author of this blog.

Remember, this is on top of the fact that there have been allegations that Speaker Quinn has instructed the NYPD to use physical force against the author of this blog.

If Speaker Quinn can't find a way to violate due process by firing you, then she puts the NYPD on the case, to harass and cybermonitor you ?

2012 11 24 NYPD Cybermonitoring Louis Flores Handschu Agreement

Quinnipiac Poll : Lhota and Carrion Non-Starters

If the election were held today, MTA boss Joe Lhota would lose to the Democratic nominee 60% to 9%, according to the Quinnipiac University poll. Another potential Republican candidate, former Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion, would not fare much better than Lhota, the poll found: Carrion would lose 62% to 11% if he ran on the Republican ticket.

(Source : The New York Daily News)

Obama's First Drone Attack Policy

Since Barack Obama became President, there have been more than 300 drone strikes and some 2,500 people killed by the Central Intelligence Agency and the U.S. military, The New York Times has reported.

Supposedly, the Obama administration is "still pushing to make the rules formal and resolve internal uncertainty and disagreement" about when drone attacks are justified. Prior to his reëlection, the Obama administration was in a rush to put together some kind of manual or standard operating procedure for drone attacks, to deflect criticism by liberals and progressives, of the Obama administration's reckless use of drone attacks.

Now that he has been safely reëlected, there's no more pressure on the Obama administration to finalise the administration's first formal drone attack policy. For example, The Times reported that "Mr. Obama and his advisers are still debating whether remote-control killing should be a measure of last resort against imminent threats to the United States, or a more flexible tool, available to help allied governments attack their enemies or to prevent militants from controlling territory."

Will the Obama administration finally deliver a doctrine on its use of extra-judicial "remote-control killing" ?

Read also : The Long War Journal

2013 NYC Mayoral Dowry

In 2006, when she was elected to become Speaker of the New York City Council, Christine Quinn turned to help from Vito Lopez in Brooklyn, for the votes of Brooklyn councilmembers, in an effort to thwart Bill De Blasio, who (no surprise) failed in his campaign to become Speaker. Like then, Speaker Quinn is now turning to extending favours to Mr. Lopez. Only now, what is at stake is not the speakership, but the mayoralty.

Speaker Quinn needs to pump the political machine in Brooklyn for votes, because she has angered so many voters in her own City Council District over community-crushing development that is allowing New York University to overwhelm the special social fabric of Greenwich Village, that closed St. Vincent's Hospital, and that is going to destroy the character of Chelsea Market.

And, in exchange, Speaker Quinn is being suspected of delivering to Mr. Lopez a redistricted seat in Brooklyn, to give him a soft landing, once he gets kicked out of the New York State Assembly.

Facebook proposes to end voting on privacy issues

Mark Zuckerberg and other executives at Facebook are proposing to end the publicly-traded corporation's practice of letting users vote on changes to Facebook's privacy policies, though Facebook will still go through the motions and continue to let users comment on proposed updates, for now.

USA WikiLeaks CableGate Detainee Policies

Manual (SOP) for procedures for medical evaluation of detainees Iraq | http://wikileaks.org/detaineepolicies/doc/US-DoD-Detainee-In-Processing-TFM-115-SOP-2005-02-12.html

Manual (SOP) for detainee dispensary services, Iraq | http://wikileaks.org/detaineepolicies/doc/US-DoD-Detainee-Dispensary-Services-TFM-115-SOP-Draft-2005-02-12.html

Manual (SOP) for dental personnel, Iraq | http://wikileaks.org/detaineepolicies/doc/US-DoD-Detainee-Dental-Inprocessing-TFM-115-SOP-Draft-2005-02-12.html

Manual (SOP) for duties in event of detainee death, Iraq | http://wikileaks.org/detaineepolicies/doc/US-DoD-Detainee-Death-Policy-Draft-2005-02-12.html

Manual (SOP) for detainee assault or abuse reporting, Iraq | http://wikileaks.org/detaineepolicies/doc/US-DoD-Detainee-Assault-or-Abuse-Reporting-Policy-Draft-2005-02-12.html

Bangor, Maine News Anchors Cindy Michaels And Tony Consiglio Resign

During their 6 p.m. newscast last night, Bangor-based TV news anchors Cindy Michaels and Tony Consiglio resigned on air, citing, as the Bangor Daily News has described it, "a longstanding battle with upper management over journalistic practices at their Bangor TV stations."

Black Friday Mic Check at Maryland Walmart

From Occupy Wall Street :

According to the Organization United for Respect at Walmart, 1,000 protests occurred at Walmart stores across 46 states, with hundreds of workers walking off the job in an unprecedented decentralized, open-source strike at the retail giant.

David Tovar, the Vice President for Communications, spoke with Carol Costello from CNN on Tuesday, November 20, before the Black Friday actions took place across the nation.

Ray Kelly Stop And Frisk Awards Ceremony

Members of Stop Stop & Frisk, #OWS, and students at Columbia present NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly with the 2011 Bull Connor Award, for excellence in cracking down on people of color. At Columbia University's SIPA, Matthew Swaye thanks the world's top cop for the privileges his administration affords heterosexual white men.

Bull Connor was the Commissioner of Public Safety for the city of Birmingham, Alabama, during the American Civil Rights Movement. He took covert actions to enforce racial segregation and deny civil rights to African American citizens

Nobel Peace Laureates Slam The U.S. Over Bradley Manning Case

Nobel Peace Prize winners Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Northern Irish activist Mairead Maguire, and Argentine artists Adolfo Pérez Esquivel have authored a statement to be published in an upcoming issue of The Nation that condemns the United States’ persecution of the 24-year-old Army private and implores the rest of America to question the country’s secretive torture of a soldier that the prize winners say defended democracy.

“As people who have worked for decades against the increased militarization of societies and for international cooperation to end war, we are deeply dismayed by the treatment of Pfc Bradley Manning,” the laureates write.

Left unaddressed by the Nobel laureates was why supposedly progressive, LGBT politicians, such as Christine Quinn, are questionably silent about the persecution of PFC Manning.

Read more : Nobel laureates slam the US over Bradley Manning case

Hurricane Sandy Occupy Thanksgiving Feast

Organisers at St. Mark's Church in the East Village were hosting a Thanksgiving feast for survivors of Hurricane Sandy.

Russian Lawsuit Against Madonna Is Dismissed

A Russian court rejected a $10 million lawsuit against Madonna on Thursday by a group of anti-gay activists who accused her hurting their feelings by promoting homosexuality at a St. Petersburg concert. Judge Vitaly Barkovsky did not explain his decision but also ruled the activists should compensate legal expenses to companies which organized Madonna's concert. The activists said they will appeal the court ruling. Homosexuality, punished with jail terms in the Soviet Union, was decriminalized in Russia in 1993, but much of the gay community remains underground as prejudice runs deep. (Reuters)

GHV2 BY MADONNA (CD) (Google Affiliate Ad)

Line Clogging Demonstration At Golden Farm (Nov. 21)

On the busy day before Thanksgiving, activists demonstrated for union rights at Golden Farm grocery store in Brooklyn.

The owner of a YouTube channel called Matt H. posted this video yesterday of a direct action demonstration in support of employees, who want to unionise at the Golden Farm grocery store in Brooklyn.

On November 21, I stopped by a picket being held outside the Golden Farm grocery store on Church Ave and 4th St. The group was picketing in support of workers rights and union benefits. Their demands were : fair pay and compensation for when they made below minimum wage ; holidays off ; and personal days off. The majority of the time was spent with a picket outside the store. About 12 Minutes were spent inside the store doing what was called a "line clog." It was hilarious...

Among the activists, who took part in this demonstration, were members of OccuEvolve.

The History and Effects of Trade Unions in the United States (Google Affiliate Ad)

Christine Quinn Betrays The LGBT Community

Christine Quinn Betrays Gays, Lesbians, Bisexuals, and Transgenders :

What measurable, real, and tangible actions have openly lesbian City Council Speaker Christine Quinn taken in respect of LGBT civil rights ?

Let's examine the following examples of LGBT civil rights violations, to which City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, a high-profile openly lesbian politician, has been spineless in her response :

• When over 30 men where being entrapped and were the targets of sexual orientation profiling by the NYPD, what did Christine Quinn do ? That's right, she did nothing to hold the NYPD accountable for their systematic discrimination of LGBTQS men.
• In the interest of public health, New York City hands out free condoms, and then NYPD arrests LGBT New Yorkers for carrying condoms. And Speaker Quinn looks the other way, of course. Read more : New York City's Condom Bait-and-Switch
• Look at the case of Jabbar Campbell. If LGBT New Yorkers get beat up by haters, you can count on Speaker Quinn to elbow her way in for photo opportunities. But if the haters are NYPD officers, you can count on Speaker Quinn to look the other way.




• In her YouTube video announcing her mayoral campaign, Speaker Quinn did not say that she was a lesbian, and she did not mention her wife. Is this another case of self-hate or internalised homophobia ?
• Each year, Speaker Quinn allocates taxpayer money to support hate groups that discriminate against LGBT New Yorkers. Ask yourselves : What is an openly lesbian politician doing by funding groups that discriminate against LGBT New Yorkers ?
• On the evening when Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the historic marriage equality bill into law, the NYPD raided the Eagle Bar in yet another demonstration of sexual orientation profiling. What has Speaker Quinn done to hold the NYPD accountable for their systematic discrimination of the gay men patrons of the Eagle ? That's right, she's done nothing.
• Before New York State enacted its historic marriage equality law, Speaker Quinn was already being non-committal about fighting all the way to win, which is her usual strategy on everything.
• After the Obama administration violated the due process rights of an LGBT whistleblower, what did Speaker Quinn do ? She turned the other way and pretended not to look.
• When one of her own staffers, Tony Simone, dropped the F-bomb on gay rights leaders Allen Roskoff and Donny Moss, what did Speaker Quinn do ? She did nothing.
• When Mayor Michael Bloomberg appealed the 2005 landmark marriage equality ruling by Judge Doris Ling-Cohan, what did Christine Quinn do ? BINGO ! She did nothing.
• Speaker Quinn's position of Paid Sick Leave has ramifications for the LGBT community.
• Even though the stop-and-frisk policy of the NYPD targets the transgendered New Yorkers, Speaker Quinn supports NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly, who is adamant about maintaining the unconstitutional police program.
• When former Mayor Ed Koch passed away, lesbian NYC mayoral candidate Christine Quinn released a statement calling Koch a 'great mayor' and a 'great man,' even though Mr. Koch was mayor during a period of time during which the AIDS epidemic broke out -- a crisis that many have said Koch essentially ignored during his time in office. Many AIDS activists found Speaker Quinn's statement tone deaf and dismissive of the tens of thousands of local AIDS deaths attributable to the former mayor.
• Related : Two gay men explain their beef with Christine Quinn

With an LGBT record like this, LGBTQS New Yorkers would do good to question Speaker Quinn's integrity and commitment to LGBT civil rights.

Make a pledge today to support Roots of Betrayal : The Ethics of Christine Quinn on Kickstarter.

Hilarious Parody of Petraeus Scandal

Buy #Cypherpunks By Julian Assange directly from : O/R Books

FRONTLINE:WIKISECRETS BY FRONTLINE (DVD) (Google Affiliate Ad)

Rolling Jubilee $8 Million Update

(Revised : Thursday 22 Nov 2012 1:15 p.m. EDT) The Rolling Jubilee has now raised over $400,000, which is approximately enough money to abolish over $8,000,000 in notional debt !

Thomas Gokey, an artist who is one of the co-founders of the Rolling Jubilee movement, an Occupy Wall Street off-shoot that raises money to buy debt and then “forgive” what people owe rather than collecting on the bills. (Current TV)

Hurricane Sandy Healthcare Rally at City Hall

New York City doctors and nurses are sounding a public health alarm on the stressed hospital network after Sandy.

Healthcare activists held a rally on the steps of New York's City Hall to demand that Mayor Michael Bloomberg do more to improve healthcare for survivors of Hurricane Sandy.

Sandy's floodwaters severely damaged NYU Medical Center, Bellevue Hospital, Coney Island Hospital, and Manhattan's VA Medical Center. Patients who would have sought care at those facilities are now turning to other hospitals that remain open. (WNBC)

Emergency room doctor Marisa Fernandez, who has been volunteering in the badly damaged Rockaways neighborhood, said, "We're having to recreate an entire healthcare infrastructure from scratch—everything ranging from assessment and triage of newly housebound individuals, to mobile clinics." (Zimbio)

Despite what some hospital administrators have claimed, Sandy turned out to be exactly what weather forecasters were predicting, so while the Manhattan VA and NY Downtown were evacuated before the storm hit, Bellevue, Coney Island and NYU Langone waited until after. We can't say for sure why--but certainly the loss of revenue may have been a factor in that decision. Even public hospitals depend on reimbursements from patient visits to stay financially viable. (Socialist Worker)

City Hall Protest Against Bloomberg's Inadequate Healthcare Response To Hurricane Sandy

Meet at City Hall this Friday, 11/16, at 12:00 p.m. to tell Mayor Bloomberg that there are urgent unmet healthcare needs caused by Hurricane Sandy !

Date : Friday, November 16, 2012

Time : 12:00 Noon

Place : City Hall

2012-11-16 Mike Bloomberg City Hall - Hurricane Sandy Relief Rally Flyer

St. John's Episcopal Hospital At Capacity, Upper East Side Residents Complain About Hospital Crisis

After Peninsula Hospital closed, St. John's became the only full-service hospital in Far Rockaway. It is now operating at 100% capacity, meaning, it has no more room to take in patients. This condition is compounded by the fact that patients have nowhere to be discharged to, and by the fact that many of the employees have become homeless as a result of Hurricane Sandy.

Nearby nursing homes and adult homes have been evacuated and are not yet re-opened. Electricity continues to be a problem throughout the area and patients with special needs may have lost homes or cannot go back to homes without electricity or heat. Staff, many of them without homes or who have been evacuated, also need places to stay so they can continue to work. Homeless staff are given vouchers for hot meals.

St. John's has set up two funds for donations. To donate to St. John's Episcopal Hospital to continue its efforts to serve the community, please make a check out to St. John's Episcopal Hospital and mail it to St. John's Episcopal Hospital, 327 Beach 19th Street, Far Rockaway, NY 11691. To donate to the Hurricane Sandy Staff Relief Fund, please make the check out to St. John's Episcopal Hospital, and write in the memo "Hurricane Sandy Staff Relief Fund" and mail to the above-mentioned address. To pay by Paypal or Credit Card go to www.ehs.org.

Separately, WCBS 2 News did a piece about how the people in the Upper East Side are now beginning to complain about all the people from Lower Manhattan swarming their hospitals.

Maybe it is going to take complaints by UES residents to ring alarm bells about the uneven distribution of hospital beds in Lower Manhattan ?

NYY Langone Payroll Heard On The Street

NYU employees of the closed buildings will not be paid after November. Meanwhile, the Board Of Trustees are midway through a $3 billion capital raising program.

NYC Hurricane Sandy - Hospital Evacuations and Berger Commission - FAIL

Why is it acceptable for us to allow hospitals go through such desperate attempts to equally and adequately fund the healthcare needs of patients ? Look at the consequences of the blackouts of New York City hospitals in Lower Manhattan.

The issue before us is whether the rebuilding of our hospitals will continue to favour wealthy institutions, which primarily serve the well-insured, or will we use this opportunity to examine and fix the unequal distribution of healthcare in New York created by the Berger Commission ?

As it is, we are on a path that will continue to force us to accept less and less. Look at how nursing homes were instructed by health officials not to evacuate, and then they are criticised by the Department of Health for unacceptable conditions compounded precisely because they were instructed not to evacuate. Is this acceptable ?

If we believe in the dignity and equality of all people, then our healthcare system must be reformed to provide patient care-centered healthcare, to equally meet the needs of all patients. Please support a truly universal, single-payer healthcare system.

Obama Wins, reports CNN

CNN reports that it projects that President Obama wins.

Coney Island Election Problems

2013 New York City Mayoral Candidate Bill Thompson posted this photograph on Facebook with this caption :

"I just witnessed chaos at 2950 West 33rd Street poll site in Coney Island. The site didn't open until after 9 a.m., and then the machines were not ready. This is the line to vote."

I posted a comment on the photograph, thanking Mr. Thompson for sharing this information. I also asked Mr. Thompson if he would help bring reforms to the Board of Elections. Later in the day, when I went to blog this photo, I noticed that I had been unfriended by Mr. Thompson. So, I guess he won't agree to help bring reforms to the Board of Elections ?

Bellevue Morgue Under Water

In a post about the final two patients still remaining at Bellevue Hospital, The New York Times obtained details about some of the severe conditions inside the hospital's morgue :

The sources also said that after Hurricane Sandy hit, the Bellevue morgue was under water, so the bodies of patients who died of their illnesses after the storm had to be kept elsewhere. Ellen Borakove, a spokeswoman for the city medical examiner, confirmed that the Bellevue morgue had been flooded, but that with the assistance of the medical examiner, the bodies had been put on higher racks to keep them out of the water.

She did not know how many bodies there were. Ms. Borakove said the medical examiner’s morgue, which is separate, remained dry.

What is missing from these incremental reports about the deteriorating conditions at many hospitals in the wake of Hurricane Sandy is the failure of the mayor's emergency management plan that did not anticipate for infrastructure failures.

Not only that, but the New York State Department of Health has responsibility, for the irresponsible distribution of hospital beds in Manhattan. After nine New York City hospitals have closed, how do Gov. Andrew Cuomo ; Dr. Nirav Shah, the Secretary of the State Department of Health ; Stephen Berger, who continues to advocate for still yet more hospital closings ; and other statue health officials now view the issue of reducing the number of hospitals, when a mass civilian trauma event or natural disaster can destroy the infrastructure of the fewer remaining hospitals we have now ?

Here's an Associated Press video of the beginning of the evacuation of Bellevue Hospital :

Bill Rudin, Marathon Organisers Hoarding 41 Generators Whilst NYC Still In Dark

Related : NYC Hurricane Sandy - Hospital Evacuations and Berger Commission #EPICFAIL

Mayor Concedes To Critics : Cancels Marathon : What Took So Long ?

Race organisers, including the Rudin Family, the New York Road Runners Club, and ING, used Mayor Michael Bloomberg to be the fall guy for criticism about the city using valuable resources to hold the New York City Marathon. Yesterday, Mayor Bloomberg was forced to cancel the marathon after The New York Post reported that at least 41 generators were being hoarded by race officials. Meanwhile, large numbers of New York City residents were rendered homeless with little to no resources for food, shelter, heat, health, or safety in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.

Many storm victims were outraged at all the resources, not just power generators, that were being hoarded by marathon organisers for the sole benefit of runners.

"Runners were set to dine on a lavish Saturday-evening pre-race meal that included lemon-thyme chicken with shallot jus, and autumn vegetable bow-tie pasta primavera with extra virgin oil and fresh herbs — which most storm victims would have killed for," reported The New York Post.

"More than 2,000 cops are typically assigned to work the marathon. About five years ago, the city started privatizing medical coverage at the event, although scores of city paramedics and EMTs are still assigned to the race," reported The New York Daily News.

Bill Rudin Hospital Evacuations and NYC Marathon Reality Check

Bill Rudin said that it would be safe to close St. Vincent's Hospital, which was the only Level I Trauma Center and full-service hospital in the Lower West Side of Manhattan. He and his billion-dollar real estate development company got easy building permits, zone-busting waivers, and approvals from New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn. At the time, Mr. Rudin and Speaker Quinn said that if people in Lower Manhattan became sick, or if there was a mass civilian trauma event, patients could be transported to Bellevue Hospital, which was the next closest Level I Trauma Center.

But the aftermath of hospital evacuations at NYU Langone and Bellevue Hospitals following destruction by caused by Hurricane Sandy expose the risks of the Rudin Condo Conversion Plan approved for St. Vincent's Hospital.

Note that the NYC Marathon would have three giant electricity generators, which would be used for the media tent, meanwhile, NYU Langone and Bellevue Hospitals had to be evacuated due to backup generator failures.

Watch this NBC News report about the hurricane destruction. Note that Mr. Rudin is a sponsor of the NYC Marathon, and he wants the Marathon to still take place this week-end, even though first responders haven't yet finished recovering all the dead bodies on Staten Island, or, for that matter, ensuring public safety or providing emergency care to the people rendered homeless by the tsunami of the storm surge and flooding.

When Will Mike Bloomberg Ring Opening Bell For NYU Langone, Bellevue Hospitals ?