Activists calling for complete overhaul of NYPD face dreadful reality : Is de Blasio blocking reforms ?

PUBLISHED : SUN, 17 AUG 2014, 04:30 PM
UPDATED : MON, 18 AUG 2014, 11:57 AM

In an Orwellian twist of tongue, de Blasio said last week that New York City has a long history of "peaceful protests."

Although Mayor de Blasio has promised to confront the NYPD's illegal use of chokeholds, he's remained quiet about his OEM head, the former NYPD Chief Joseph Esposito, who has been documented to have used chockeholds against Occupy activists In 2012, former New York Police Department Chief of Department Joseph Esposito placed a petite blonde Occupy activist in an illegal chokehold. Chief Esposito approached the young lady from behind, squeezing the backside of her body up against his front side. Despite this obviously illegal use of brute force against an otherwise innocent citizen activist, Chief Esposito was appointed to be the head of the Office of Emergency Management by Mayor Bill de Blasio. Not even the political, social, and legal fallout from the NYPD's use of a chokehold, which caused the death of Staten Island resident Eric Garner, has caused the mayor to comment on Chief Esposito's violent use of chokeholds. Furthermore, when the mayor said last week that, "For decades and decades we have had the tradition in this city of respecting and properly managing peaceful protests, and the right of people to express themselves," he was blatantly lying, because the NYPD have a notorious history of engaging in violent attacks against peaceful protesters. Has the mayor aged so much in office that his brain has deteriorated to the point that he cannot recall how NYPD responded to each of the 1988 Tompkins Square Park riot, the 1998 Matthew Shepard memorial march down Fifth Avenue, the 2002 World Economic Forum protests at the Waldorf-Astoria, the 2003 antiwar protests against the invasion of Iraq, the 2004 Republican National Convention at Madison Square Garden, and the recent Occupy Wall Street movement ?

RELATED Former NYPD Chief of Department Joseph Esposito locks Occupy activist in chokehold (The New York Daily News) Why Broken Windows Policing Is So Broken (Gawker)

Not only did NYPD Deputy Inspector Bologna lock a young Occupy activist into an illegal chokehold, but he also pepper sprayed a group of innocent young ladies, who were participating at an Occupy demonstration, as well. Is this what Mayor de Blasio meant when he said that the NYPD has a history of "properly managing peaceful protests" ? After Dep. Insp. Anthony Bologna was publicly excoriated for having pepper sprayed the young ladies on video, the corrupt Manhattan District Attorney, Cyrus Vance, decided not to prosecute Dep. Insp. Bologna. What kind of miscarriage of justice does this foreshadow for other New Yorkers, who have been assaulted and battered at the hands of officers, who have used brute force against civilians in police custody ?

RELATED OWS Pepper-Spray Cop Anthony Bologna Will Not Be Prosecuted (DNAinfo)

Mayor de Blasio defends his administration's approach to policing, even as its discriminatory impact on minority communities is being blamed for police harassment that led to Eric Garner's death. In a report report last week, The New York Daily News reported the NYPD Police Commissioner Bill Bratton and the mayor's "approach to policing have been under scrutiny since the death of Staten Island man Eric Garner." The de Blasio's approach to fighting crime, known as the Broken Windows theory of policing, targets very minor infractions and low-level crimes on the premise that more severe crimes can be prevented if people get locked up early. This approach has resulted in the "mass criminalization of the poor," wrote Alex Vitale in The Gotham Gazette, noting that, "Hundreds of thousands of mostly young black and Latino men are put into the criminal justice system for mouthing off in class, taking up two seats on the subway, and possessing marijuana." In communities of color and in low-income sections of the city, residents have come to view the de Blasio administration's treatment of minorities in a discriminatory manner, a violation of the mayor's central campaign promise to end police discrimination and police brutality.

RELATED Mayor de Blasio: 'Idiotic' and 'ludicrous' to think I'd dump Bill Bratton (The New York Daily News) NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio walks thin blue line in Eric Garner's chokehold aftermath (The Christian Science Monitor) The Neoconservative Roots of the Broken Windows Theory (The Gotham Gazette)

Even a woman, in her seventh month of pregnancy, has been placed in an illegal chokehold by NYPD. And the mayor still does nothing about the illegal and brute use of force by police. NYPD officers are apparently free to assault and batter innocent New Yorkers while they are being placed in police custody. Last month, Rosan Miller, 27, drew the brutal ire of police for grilling food on a sidewalk. The de Blasio administration's Broken Windows approach to policing is out of control if Ms. Miller can be arrested for preparing her meal outdoors during the summer. What made Ms. Miller's arrest all the more shocking was that she was in the late term of pregnancy. In spite of being seven months pregnant, that didn't stop police from placing her in an illegal chokehold, a move that could have denied the precious flow of oxygen not only to Ms. Miller, but to her unborn fetus.

RELATED Pregnant woman apparently put in chokehold by NYPD cop during dispute over illegal grilling (The New York Daily News) How Dare Mayor de Blasio Tell New Yorkers To Submit to the NYPD (Vice)

Mayor demands that New Yorkers submit to arrests, even though police knowingly use brute force and make false arrests all the time, even when people are only seeking public accommodations on mass transit, a blatant violation of the Civil Rights Act. In February, a man was violently arrested after he deboarded a Bronx bus, after police accused the young man of failing to have paid his fare. Police made the arrest in compliance with Commissioner Bratton's Broken Windows policy of aggressive policing. To add insult to injury, Mayor de Blasio scolded New Yorkers last week, saying, "When a police officer comes to the decision that it’s time to arrest someone, that individual is obligated to submit to arrest,” adding, “They will then have every opportunity for due process in our court system.” As Mayor de Blasio becomes more and more tone deaf to the cries for a complete overhaul of the corrupt NYPD, he is going to keep sticking his foot in his mouth, proving the predictions of some political bloggers, who have said that the mayor risks losing support amongst minority voters, and eventually ending up, due to mounting discontent over other issues, as a one-term mayor. How soon will it be, before voters realise that the mayor's support of Broken Windows policing can be traced back to a backdoor non-agreession pact he made with large real estate donors, as evidenced by the mayor's obsession with checking in with lobbyists and political insiders -- as opposed to the voters, themselves ?

RELATED Disturbing Facebook video raises question: Police brutality or resisting arrest? (PIX 11) The NYPD Keeps Coming Up With Ways to Arrest Poor People (Gawker)

Longtime brutal foe of OWS, NYPD Dep Insp Ed Winski back to old tricks again

Deputy Inspector Ed Winksi, known to aggressively arrest activists for exercising Freedoms of Assembly and Speech, was present for questionable arrests during #NMOS14 NYC

Promoted up the NYPD ranks from Captain to Deputy Inspector in reward for his tactics and methods to suppress activists, Winski has earned the ire of advocates for free speech New York Police Department Deputy Inspector Ed Winski was present for at least one false arrest of activists taking part in the Manhattan event in coordination with last night's National Moment of Silence in remembrance of the victims of police brutality. The #NMOS14, as the national events were tagged on Twitter, inspired similar demonstrations across the United States after police in Ferguson, Missouri, shot an unarmed Black teenager, Michael Brown, on Aug. 9. Mr. Brown's murder by police was preceded by the murder of another Black man, Eric Garner, this time by NYPD, on July 17. Both cases have stirred passions for an overhaul of discriminatory and militarized policing tactics. Dep. Insp. Winski can be seen in the above Vine video as the "white shirt" police officer, who is standing behind another white shirt officer on the left. Ironically, Dep. Insp. Winski oversaw what activists are now calling a false arrest during the #NMOS14 NYC demonstration that was meant to draw attention to racially-motivated policing tactics. Dep. Insp. Winksi was first identified in a blog post by the political blogger Suzannah B. Troy in the above viral video originally uploaded to the Vine account of ReQ Cartier. Deputy Inspector Winksi is the subject of a Change.org petition started 2 years ago, calling for the mayor of New York City to fire the out-of-control police officer. Many police reform activists have decried the fact that the city's new mayor, Bill de Blasio, has kept Dep. Insp. Winksi amongst the NYPD's top ranks. Mayor de Blasio campaigned last year on a promise to overhaul the NYPD, but since his election last November, the then-mayor-elect made the regressive appointment of William Bratton as police commissioner. The mayor further raised raising questions about his commitment to overhauling the NYPD when he defended Commissioner Bratton's use of a disputed theory of policing known as Broken Windows, which targets people of color and low-income communities for over-policing. Many police reform activists view Commissioner Bratton's use of Broken Windows as a replacement for the discredited NYPD tactic of stop-and-frisk, which was recently ruled to be unconstitutional. Commissioner Bratton's controversial appointment flew in the face of Mayor de Blasio's promise to end racially-motivated policing tactics that target people of color and low-income communities. That Dep. Insp. Winski is back to his old tricks only adds to the impression being made by police reform activists that Mayor de Blasio basically exploited his bi-racial family, most prominently his son, Dante, in a focus-group tested campaign commercial just to win last year's mayoral election, and that Mayor de Blasio never had any serious intention to overhaul the NYPD, much less to either end the pattern of false arrests of activists, to end the over-policing of people of color and low-income communities, or to establish a commission to investigate corruption by the NYPD including its Internal Affairs Bureau.

RELATED Petitioning Bill de Blasio : Fire Deputy Inspector Ed Winski and Call For an Independent Investigation of NYPD (Change.org) Michael Hayes, LMT, has practiced massage for more than 20 years as a licensed massage therapist in New York City. The offices of Flatiron Massage are located in the Flatiron District of Manhattan.

The New York Times wakes up to a harsh reality about de Blasio's piling examples of selling out

PUBLISHED : WED, 08 JUN 2014, 01:46 PM
UPDATED : THURS, 13 JUN 2014, 19:35 PM

The NYTimes' Ginia Bellafante on Mayor Bill de Blasio : The absence of any real template for governing from the vantage point of economic liberalism

RELATED For de Blasio, Deals, Drama and (Maybe) Progress (The New York Times)

In today's Sunday edition of The New York Times, the columnist Ginia Bellafante examined new mayor Bill de Blasio's record of broken campaign promises and other compromises in his young administration. "For years since, you could get by calling yourself a liberal in New York State politics simply by loving pro-choice arguments and same-sex marriage as much as you loved Wall Street and real estate developers. That is no longer so, which leaves centrists moving toward compromises that look semi-noble, and liberals in the position of seeming to have settled for too little and sacrificed their souls too much." On the closure of Long Island College Hospital, Ms. Bellafante wrote that, "the sense that Mr. de Blasio exploited the issue, declared victory in the face of a loss and then moved on has clearly taken hold." Ms. Bellafante's observation is backed up by a column by Liza Featherstone in amNewYork : "Bill de Blasio betrayed his believers in Cobble Hill," in which the author of the column wrote : "There are signs de Blasio is willing to fight for ordinary New Yorkers. Additional paid sick leave and universal pre-K are nothing to dismiss. But when the interests of ordinary New Yorkers conflict with those of the real estate industry, which donated heavily to de Blasio's campaign, is Mayor 99 Percent setting aside his protest placards? Many in Cobble Hill think so." In respect of the de Blasio administration's plans to preserve affordable housing, Ms. Bellafante noted that there was a "mounting sense that he has reneged on promises to involve neighborhoods in decisions that intimately affect them." This is backed-up by the relentless postings on the Atlantic Yards Report blog, and you can begin by reading this post : "As de Blasio announces affordable housing plan, Atlantic Yards (delay, modular, lack of neighborhood planning) remains an awkward backdrop," in which the author of the blog noted of the mayor's affordable housing plan : "There was no mention of the planned affordable housing that he and others cited to justify their support for Atlantic Yards, likely because that housing has taken so long to be built--and perhaps because it recalls the absence of ground-up neighborhood planning." (emphasis added) With respect to Mayor de Blasio enabling Gov. Cuomo to lock up the Working Families Party nomination, Ms. Bellafante wrote : "When Mr. de Blasio recently facilitated a deal between the leftist Working Families Party and Mr. Cuomo to secure the organization’s endorsement of the governor for re-election, it pushed certain quarters of the left toward lamentation." This is backed up by one of numerous tweets in the aftermath of the WFP deal to endorse Gov. Cuomo, brokered by Mayor de Blasio, such as this one by Tom Watson : "Still some surprise/horror that progressive deBlasio cut a deal with Cuomo in the #WFP saga. Of course he did, it's politics." (emphasis added) Ms. Bellafante also provided a balance to her criticism, by noting some achievements in Mayor de Blasio's first five months in office. Taken as a whole, Ms. Bellafante's article is an indication that growing liberal disappointment with Mayor de Blasio is seeping into the pages of The New York Times, something that took 15 years to happen with former Council Speaker Christine Quinn's political career. This change is due to the impatience with which voters now express about political deals made between politicians that betray campaign promises, such as with the embarrassing Working Families Party endorsement, an observation that Ms. Bellafante herself made when she wrote, "What looked like a mayoral assertion of authority to some felt like abdication to others."

de Blasio's high poll numbers amongst minority electorate may sink, if the NYPD continue their racially-tinged, broken windows policing tactics

RELATED Mayor de Blasio’s Approval Rating Improves, Poll Finds (The New York Times)

A majority of Black and Latino voters said that they approved of the job Mayor de Blasio was doing, a new poll shows, The New York Times reported. But it is not clear that this new poll factored in the immense anger in the Harlem community in response to a shock and awe invasion by the New York Police Department to round up innocent young public housing tenants on trumpted up charges of conspiracy to commit gang activities. Already, the new poll shows that the new mayor has lost more than half of the support amonst whites. If the police continue their crackdown that targets people of color, it won't be too far long before the mayor loses support amongst his minority base.

Preet Bharara Expands Crackdown on Political Corruption, Empanels Grand Jury, Subpoenas JCOPE Complaints [UPDATED]

PUBLISHED : WED, 30 APR 2014, 09:51 PM
UPDATED : TUES, 05 MAY 2014, 10:30 AM

"Bharara’s broadening probe of pay-to-play Albany corruption is sure to send shockwaves through the state capital in an election year."

Weeks after Preet Bharara, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, took possession of the investigation files of the now defunct Moreland Commission, the corruption-fighting prosecutor has empaneled a grand jury that has now subpoenaed each of the complaints lodged with the state's ethics panel known as the Joint Commission on Public Ethics, or JCOPE, and the records from members of the aborted Moreland Commission.

• RELATED : Federal prosecutors' grand jury issues another subpoena, this time seeking emails, text messages, and other records from all the members of the anti-corruption Moreland Commission that Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo abruptly disbanded for political reasons. (U.S. Said to Seek Records From Anticorruption Panel’s Members * The New York Times)
• RELATED : Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara, who is waging a crackdown on political corruption in New York, has requested all the complaints of wrong-doing filed against public officials with the state’s ethics panel, Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE), sources told The New York Post. (Feds widen crackdown on New York political corruption * The New York Post)

Mr. Bharara's subpoena of the JCOPE complaints will give him a larger understanding of the corruption landscape across New York state. JCOPE has existed since 2011, and it was tasked with investigating ethics complaints of the state's executive and legislative branches. Against the JCOPE complaints, the federal prosecutor's office will be able to match, supplement, or cross-reference the aborted Moreland Commission investigations. And the fact that Mr. Bharara empaneled a grand jury means that federal prosecutors are seeking criminal indictments in possible connection with the aborted Moreland Commission corruption investigations. Whatever the USAO learns from the JCOPE complaints and commission member records may be the "icing on the cake," so to speak, to garnish other corruption evidence that federal prosecutors may have been able to independently gather from prior wiretaps, other investigations, and possible whistleblower-activists.

The U.S. Attorney's Office has been resoundingly criticized for the apparent free pass to Wall Street following the 2008 global financial crisis and recession. The media, notably PBS's Frontline, showed that the U.S. Department of Justice's Washington office, known as Main Justice, was compromised by officials, such as Lanny Breuer, who refused to prosecute top Wall Street executives. Even Attorney General Eric Holder, who oversees the DOJ and advises the USAO's district offices, created a scandal when he confirmed the Obama administration's aversion to prosecuting corrupt Wall Street executives, known colloquially as "too big to jail," validating a Frontline investigation and widespread public perception. Indeed, Main Justice appears to serve as a revolving door recruitment outpost for large, wealthy law firms representing corrupt Wall Street executives. For his part, Mr. Bharara has bemoaned the Washington budget cuts to the USAO that many government reform activists claim are intentionally made to curtail regulatory oversight and criminal prosecution of corruption, but some activists believe that Mr. Bharara never prosecuted Wall Street corruption stemming from the 2008 financial crisis and recession due to his close ties to Sen. Charles Schumer, who many see as enabling the corruption culture on Wall Street. Mr. Bharara's political career came to prominence when he served as chief counsel to Sen. Schumer, making the senator the prosecutor's "political daddy." Mr. Bharara has also carried out his own oppression against whistleblowers when he prosecuted Jeremy Hammond for exposing corruption by Strategic Forecasting, part of the DOJ's larger persecution of whistleblowers, including government whistleblowers. The DOJ was further seen to have become politicized under President Obama and Attorney General Holder, when the DOJ began to target journalists in an effort to undermine a free press whilst carrying out the government's vindictive prosecution of whistleblowers. Separately, the DOJ was shown to stall a Freedom of Information Act request seeking records about its vindictive prosecution of activists.

• RELATED : The Advance Group Federal Complaint Referred To Moreland Commission (NYC : News & Analysis)
• RELATED : The Nexus of Campaign Donations, Super PAC's, and Legislation : de Blasio's Mayoral Race and the Delayed Horse-Drawn Carriage Ban (UPDATED) (NYC : News & Analysis)
• RELATED : Permanent government political operative insider and former fundraiser for Mayor de Blasio now earning $8,000 per month advising City Hall (The New York Daily News)
• RELATED : Ex-member of Moreland Commission says there are cases of potential government corruption that need review (The New York Daily News)
• RELATED : In the midst of the Moreland Commission investigation of corruption in state government, Gov. Andrew Cuomo disbanded its members and ended their investigation, a give-away for the complicit who faced exposure. (Gov. Cuomo abandons principles of Moreland Act * Press Connects/Gannett)

Locally, it is supposed to be the Manhattan district attorney, Cyrus Vance, who is supposed to oversee the criminal prosecution of political and corporate corruption. He works for the New York State attorney general, Eric Schneiderman. Both D.A. Vance and Mr. Schneiderman have pretty much abdicated corruption prosecution to Mr. Bharara. More so than the others, D.A. Vance is vulnerable to the political realities of how he can run for office. District attorneys in the five boroughs of New York run for office with the approval of the local county political organization. Since New York is overwhelmingly a Democratic Party enclave, the county Democratic Party chair of each borough must approve of each respective district attorney candidate running for office, meaning D.A. Vance would not dare sacrifice his political career by prosecuting political corruption of officials, operatives, or lobbyists loyal to the county political organization that approves of his candidacy. That is to say, D.A. Vance will not prosecute candidates for public office, who may be engaged in questionable electioneering activities and who run with approval of the Manhattan Democratic Party chair, otherwise he risks alienating himself from his own political supporters. Instead, D.A. Vance touts his prosecution record against activists, paralleling the DOJ's own suppression campaign against activists.

Mr. Bharara's crackdown on political corruption may be his way of being able to attack the special interest money and lobbyists of large corrupt corporations, at least as they intersect with government officials, one activist said. Plus, it allows him to restore his reputation for prosecutorial independence after his and others' failures at the USAO and the DOJ. It also separates Mr. Bharara from D.A. Vance's failure to prosecute corruption of either Wall Street or elected officials.

The increased prosecution of New York political corruption cases by Mr. Bharara is taking place during the run-up to this year's state-wide election cycle, and it follows a spectacular spree of federal political corruption arrests of officials from City Hall to Albany. With the added access to JCOPE complaints and commission member records to augment his trove of Moreland Commission investigation files, Mr. Bharara may now be poised to lead a historical renewal of government integrity, regardless of his motivation. For all of Mr. Bharara's imperfections, activists in New York have not pressed the Obama administration to reform the USAO and the DOJ. Mr. Bharara's like Batman in "The Dark Knight" : not the hero that Gotham needs, but, rather, the hero Gotham deserves.

Will JCOPE subpoenas show complaints against The Committee to Save New York, ie, any donor ties to Cuomo campaign ? http://t.co/HeOKDfvzAh

— Informed Voting (@informedvoting) May 1, 2014

Assaulted and Battered by Police Officer, Cecily McMillan Faces Retaliatory Felony Charge

Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance's office is prosecuting a second degree felony assault charge against Cecily McMillan, even though Ms. McMillan was the victim of NYPD brutality. Listen to attorney Martin R. Stolar's exclusive interview with We Are Change CT for details of the police's dubious charges against Ms. McMillan. How can the Manhattan district attorney seriously bring this case to trial ? The DA has discretion and should be able to see that the charge lacks merit. The NYPD wouldn't be able to get away with so much brutality if it wasn't for how much the DA's office basically enables police misconduct.

Ms. McMillan's next trial date is scheduled for March 3 at 100 Centre Street.

VIDEO : Robin Hood Tax Rally and March (NYC) - OWS S17 2013

Pass the Robin Hood Tax ! Robin Hood Tax March (NYC) - Occupy Wall Street S17 2013 : Rally at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza (financial transaction tax) and march to JPMorgan (London Whale), MTA (interest rate swap), and Bryant Park (union rally).

NSFW : Christine Quinn Ray Kelly Police Brutality Video

Christine Quinn Supports Ray Kelly.
Does She Endorse Police Brutality ?

A new video posted on YouTube shows New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn heaping praise on NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly, even though the NYPD has had a record of racism and brutality under Commissioner Kelly. The new YouTube video shows six real examples of how law enforcement officers have a pattern of using excessive force.

Links to examples of excessive force used by NYPD and by peace officers :

• Peace Officers beat man in Queens (May 2012)
• NYPD beat man with club in LES (July 2008)
• NYPD shoves Critical Mass rider (July 2008)
‪
• Woman yanked by hair (Nov. 2011)
• OWS pepper spray attack (Sept. 2011)
‪
• Pitbull shot by police (Aug. 2012)
‪

Chapter 7 of Roots of Betrayal : The Ethics of Christine Quinn, which is being serialized this summer, addresses the NYPD’s history of violating the civil rights and civil liberties of activists. The conversation around reforming the NYPD needs to be enlarged to also address the police department’s persistent violations of civil rights and civil liberties. A task force should be empaneled with subpoena power and charged with investigating and issuing binding recommendations to finally overhaul the NYPD.

Since its debut on Scribd, a free preview of Roots of Betrayal : The Ethics of Christine Quinn has generated over 16,000 combined reads, and research from Volume I inspired Michael Grynbaum to write a front page article in The New York Times : Quinn’s History of Mastering the Insiders’ Game.

#Gov1% Andrew Cuomo : The Grim Reaper of Brooklyn Hospital Closings

On the Brooklyn Bridge this afternoon, about one thousand activists trying to save ‪#‎LICH‬ and ‪#‎Interfaith‬ took part in a mock funeral march mourning the collapse in public health caused by the threat of several Brooklyn hospital closings. Here, members of OWS Healthcare for the 99% portrayed Gov. Andrew Cuomo as the Grim Reaper responsible for trying to close Brooklyn hospitals.

Read more : March, rally to protest Long Island College Hospital closing

Fried Frank Represents Brookfield In OWS Lawsuit Over Library Destruction

How much lower can Fried Frank go ? Sarge Shriver's former law firm represents Brookfield Properties in the Occupy Wall Street lawsuit over Mayor Bloomberg's raid of Liberty Square, which destroyed the People's Library.

From The Village Voice :

... the City of New York will pay more than $365,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by people whose property was destroyed when the New York Police Department raided Zuccotti Park and evicted Occupy Wall Street on November 15, 2011. Occupy Wall Street had brought the suit against the city over the destruction of the People's Library, a collection of about 5,500 donated books that formed a central part of the community that sprung up for two months in the park. In the eviction, many of the books were completely destroyed, and others were so badly damaged as to be unusable. Occupy Wall Street claimed $47,000 in damages, all of which the city agreed to pay today.

On top of the damage claims, the city will also pay $186,350 in fees and costs to Occupy Wall Street's lawyers.

Sarge Shriver's old law firm, Fried Frank, represented Brookfield Properties in the Occupy Wall Street lawsuit over the destruction of the People's Library and the NYPD raid of Liberty Square. Sarge Shriver was known as the architect of President Johnson's war on poverty. He was known for his Progressive and humanitarian causes. With its defense of Brookfield Properties in this lawsuit, and the law firm's work to represent Bill Rudin in his takeover of St. Vincent's Hospital, Sarge Shriver's legacy is now being betrayed by Fried Frank.

2013-04-09 Occupy Wall St v City of New York Settlement (People's Library Destruction Lawsuit)

Strike Debt Rolling Jubilee Abolishes Over $1 Million in Medical Debt

Last night members of Strike Debt and the Healthcare for the 99 Per Cent. Working Group of Occupy Wall Street were advocating for healthcare as a human right. Their demonstration was coördinated with the announcement of a spectacular medical debt relief initiative by the Occupy Wall Street offshoot known as Strike Debt.

OWS offshoot buys and wipes out more than $1 million in medical debt

Over 1,000 randomly-selected patients in Kentucky and Indiana will receive letters in the mail stating that their emergency room debt has been forgiven by the OWS offshoot known as Strike Debt.

The purpose of the "debt buy" is to call attention to “predatory” lending aspects our debt-ridden healthcare system, according to their Web site. Strike Debt refers to its debt relief program as the "Rolling Jubilee," a reference to a Biblical era event in which all debts are cancelled and all those in bondage are set free.

If a hospital is unable to get patients to pay their medical debts, the hospital usually sells this debt to a collection agency. And since the chances of a collection agency actually receiving payment in full are pretty low at that point, the collection agency is able to snatch up the bad medical debt for a much lower price than the original amount on a patient’s bill. The collection agency then begins hounding the debtor for money non-stop in often abusive and predatory methods.

Strike Debt funded their Rolling Jubilee campaign through donations, reported The New Daily News.

On April 1, 2012, members of the Healthcare for the 99 Per Cent. Working Group of Occupy Wall Street participated in a six month anniversary of the first OWS Brooklyn Bridge march. The theme of the April 1 march was likewise planned around healthcare issues and efforts to stop hospital closings.

A year ago, healthcare and Occupy activists were concerned about the direction of healthcare under Gov. Andrew Cuomo, according to The Brooklyn Daily Eagle report.

Spirits were high and the music was spirited, but the theme of the anniversary march was sobering -- the dire state of health care for Brooklyn residents, especially those served by five hospitals in crisis: Brooklyn Hospital Center, Interfaith Medical Center, Wyckoff Heights Medical Center, Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center, and Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center.

Wall Street financier Stephen Berger, appointed by Gov. Cuomo to be in charge of restructuring health care in Brooklyn, is recommending that New York change its laws “to allow for-profit investors to invest in financially-distressed public hospitals.”

In spite of the protests and opposition during the year that has passed, Gov. Cuomo and Mr. Berger remain as obsessed as ever with their shady plans for the introduction of for-profit healthcare in New York City.

We collectively pay billions in healthcare premiums to insurance companies, but their profit motive denies our community hospitals of resources, forcing hospitals to treat patients as debtors.

Strike Debt has planned a week of actions in connection with debt relief. One affinity action will focus on how our market-driven, debt-ridden healthcare system drives hospitals to closure.

Seven Brides for Seven Corporations (a Citizens United Wedding)

Get Money out of Politics - visit Move To Amend : https://movetoamend.org

Quinn Weakens Campaign Finance Laws For Corporations

New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn thinks that corporations are people, too, and that they deserve to be counted as member organizations in order to allow corporations to use corporate money to influence the outcome of elections.

New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn achieved a life-long dream to weaken campaign finance laws yesterday. A new bill, which was passed with almost unanimous support through the New York City Council, was nominally promised to help unions, but the dark side of the bill is a backdoor loophole that exempts corporations from disclosing election-related communications with their employees, stockholders, directors, and other stakeholders about activities that corporations undertake to endorse and support corrupt candidates.

. @chriscquinn weakens campaign finance rules for corporationscityandstateny.com/city-council-p… @opensecretsdc @moneyinpolitics @ows_getmoneyout

— Stop Christine Quinn (@stopchrisquinn) January 24, 2013

Read also :

"City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, facing accusations that legislation she championed opened a 'gaping loophole' in New York City's campaign-finance system, backed off her proposal and oversaw the passage of a watered-down bill Wednesday that reduced the reporting requirements for unions, corporations and advocacy groups." (Council Eases Finance Rules * The Wall Street Journal)

CIA being sued over domestic spying collaboration with NYPD

CIA being sued over domestic spying collaboration with NYPDrt.com/usa/news/cia-s…

— Anonymous (@AnonyOps) January 5, 2013

March Against Christine Quinn and Stop-And-Frisk Featured On NYCGA.NET

The March against Christine Quinn and Stop-And-Frisk is being featured on NYCGA.NET.

Join us on Sunday, Dec. 30 at 1 p.m. at 74th Street and Roosevelt Avenue in Jackson Heights.

View March Against Christine Quinn/Stop-And-Frisk in a larger map

A Failure of Leadership

Nothing has come of the proposed law known as the Community Safety Act, and, under New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, probably nothing ever will. We need to defund the NYPD of the resources that go into allowing the police force to carry out the practise of stop-and-frisk.

If the City Council won't pass the Community Safety Act, then it needs to begin to defund the NYPD of our tax money. How can tax money be legally used to discriminate against citizens ? Title III of the Civil Rights Act prohibits state and municipal governments from denying access to public facilities on grounds of race, color, religion or national origin. Yet, isn't that exactly what the NYPD are doing ? Are they not denying us peaceful access and peaceful enjoyment to public spaces solely based on prejudices about race, color, religion or national origin ?

FBI OWS Documents

On Page 61, redacted notes show that a sniper was being planned to take out leadership of OWS protesters in Houston, Texas. It is unclear who was planning the sniper attacks.

FBI Occupy Wall Street "OWS" Documents

On 22 November 2011, the FBI lied when it said that it had no documents on the Occupy Wall Street protests : FBI Claims It Does Not Have Any Documents on Occupy Wall Street (Truthout)

Will Mayor Bloomberg Evict Occupy Sandy Hurricane Relief Volunteers From Staten Island Hub ?

Is Mayor Michael Bloomberg getting ready to evacuate the most successful volunteer hurricane relief response in New York City ? The New York Times City Room blog looks into the mayor's questionable moves against Occupy Sandy.

RELATED : Bloomberg’s stealth visit to the Rockaways, and join Occupy Sandy for a call to action on 12/15 http://bit.ly/Tth0sQ #occupysandy #ows

Mayor Bloomberg just can't help it : he does not believe that government should provide a safety net for the average person, much less to hurricane survivors. But we do have a choice : why do we accept less ? We don't have to accept less from our publicly elected officials.

The @nytimes covers the @nycmayorsoffice's puzzling moves to shut down @occupysandy + @redcross hubs: ow.ly/fKBG1

— Occupy Wall Street (@OccupyWallStNYC) December 2, 2012

Remember, Mayor Bloomberg initially said we didn't need help from FEMA ; consequently, thousands of Hurricane Sandy survivors went without any assistance, since it is Mayor Blooomberg's sick and twisted billionaire worldview that government is not supposed to help people in need. And in that vacuum of cruelty came forth Occupy Sandy volunteers, to not only fill the void, but to also lead by example : humanity means caring for one another.

Is Mayor Bloomberg really getting ready to evacuate the most successful, compassionate, and heroic volunteer hurricane relief response in New York City ?

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]

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

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)