The New York Times Web site is experiencing technical difficulties. We expect to be back up shortly.
— The New York Times (@nytimes) August 14, 2013
Breaking: Website of @NYTimes is under #cyber attack, source tells @FoxBusiness - $NYT #DDoS
— Matt Egan (@MattMEgan5) August 14, 2013
@nickconfessore Did the NYT go out of business?
— True News (@unitedNYblogs) August 14, 2013
NY1 Exclusive : Anti-Quinn Activists Still Have Work To Do : New Poll Shows Quinn In Front Of Other Potential Democratic 2013 Mayor Candidates
Last night on the Road To City Hall program on NY1, it was mentioned amongst the panel of experts that, given voters' relative low negative perception of City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, the Stop Christine Quinn protest effort still has work to do, because voters are not yet educated on Speaker Quinn's horrible record while in office.
One of the activists, Louis Flores, has posted a solicitation for resources, in order to escalate his efforts.
Here are some of the poll findings :
What are New York City Democrats’ impressions of these mayoral aspirants ?
- 65% have a favorable opinion of Quinn, while 17% have an unfavorable one. 18% have either never heard of her or are unsure how to rate her.
- 49% have a favorable impression of Thompson, while 20% do not. 31% have either never heard of him or are unsure how to rate him.
- 48% of New York City Democrats have a positive view of de Blasio, while 20% have an unfavorable one. 32% have either never heard of him or are unsure how to rate him.
- When it comes to Liu, 43% have a favorable impression of him while 27% have an unfavorable one. 30% have either never heard of him or are unsure how to rate him.
- 26% of Democrats have a positive opinion of Albanese while 20% have an unfavorable view of him. 54% have either never heard of him or are unsure how to rate him.
Poll results have a margin of error of +/- 3.3 percent.
Left unsaid during the panel discussion was the impact of all the totally biased/fluff pieces being published by The New York Times, which favours Speaker Quinn, like her Betty Crocker story with its staged photo, the café story, and her luxury condo feature story.
It seems that Speaker Quinn's favourability ratings are being artificially inflated due to the biased and deliberately fluff news pieces being published about her.
In response to the biased "praises" and instant beatification of Ed Koch, I made a YouTube video set to music by Dalida, to help visualise former Mayor Ed Koch's complete failure on the AIDS crisis.
My video was made in response to the video promoted by The New York Times, which whitewashes any responsibility or culpability of the AIDS crisis away from former Mayor Ed Koch :
I'd love to hear what folks think ?
From The Nation
The instant beatification of former New York City Mayor Ed Koch has a lot of folks itching to do some grave dancing. Leftists will denounce Koch because he was one of the original neoliberal mayors, ushering in a regime of gentrification and finance-driven inequality that defines the city to this day. Minorities regard him with suspicion because he marginalized the city’s black and Hispanic leadership and inflamed racial fault lines to corner the white vote, presaging the Sister Souljah moments that would come to afflict the national Democratic Party. And yet even there, among the new Democrats, Koch was never a stalwart, breaking with the party to endorse George W. Bush for president in 2004 and flirting with the neocons over Israel late in his life.
All that said, there is a special place reserved for Koch in gay hell—because he was mayor during the onset of the AIDS epidemic, which he is widely seen as failing to do enough about, and because it’s commonly assumed that Koch was a closeted gay man. “I hope he’s burning next to Roy Cohn”—or sentiments quite like it—have appeared frequently on my Facebook feed, especially from vets of ACT UP. ...
Read more : Ed Koch and the Cost of the Closet (The Nation)
''Fast One'' comment by @joshisay described as ''silliness'' by @powellnyt nytimes.com/2012/12/25/nyr… @chriscquinn @suzannahbtroy @donnymossnyc
— Stop Christine Quinn (@stopchrisquinn) December 26, 2012
Now that Joe Lhota is running for mayor, Twitterverse is in apoplexy over Carolyn Ryan's nervous breakdown. That's right, Ms. Ryan is worried that her favourite candidate, New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, now will not be such a shoe-in to become mayor. Ms. Ryan is concerned that the business community will abandon Speaker Quinn in favour of Mr. Lhota.
Ms. Ryan recently had lunch with former Mayor Ed Koch, to talk about Speaker Quinn's election strategy.
Wow wonder what @chriscquinn is doing now? RT @carolynryan: BREAKING: @joelhota to step down from MTA on Friday, preparing run for mayor.
— Emma Gilbey Keller (@emmagkeller) December 18, 2012
Indeed, Ms. Ryan has begun a schmear campaign against Mr. Lhota over Twitter. I wonder what her superior editorial bosses at The New York Times have to say about this ?
Lhota once called Mike Bloomberg an "idiot" and told an elderly Holocaust survivor to "be a man" in dispute at hearingnyti.ms/SESwj8
— carolynryan (@carolynryan) December 19, 2012
Whereas Ms. Ryan's reporting may be factual, it is not objective for an editor to be attacking a mayoral candidate over Twitter, when she must supervise and edit the reportage of objective reporters. How is that possible ?
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.
Obama eulogizes NYT publisher Sulzberger ; Still Persecuting Whistleblower Manning
After the death of Arthur Ochs Sulzberger was announced yesterday, President Barack Obama praised the courage of Mr. Sulzberger throughout his journalism career.
Although President Obama didn't mention Mr. Sulzberger's risky -- but legal -- decision to publish the Pentagon Papers, President Obama acknowledged the important role that Mr. Sulzberger has played in improving our democratic form of government.
"He was a firm believer in the importance of a free and independent press -- one that isn't afraid to seek the truth, hold those in power accountable, and tell the stories that need to be told," Mr. Obama said.
But Mr. Obama made no connection between his praise for Mr. Sulzberger, but his continued campaign to prosecute the government whistleblower, PFC Bradley Manning.
Activists question how could the Obama administration reward Bradley Birkenfeld for his acts of whistleblowing, but then prosecute PFC Bradley Manning for exposing war crimes ?
Occupy Wall Street: A Documentary Look From the Inside
From The New York Times :
A year after Occupy Wall Street protests began some pundits are quick to declare the movement dead or pointless, a venting of unfocused frustration that wasted its opportunities. Occupy members would beg to differ.
“The world needs to change,” Mr. Trainor says, calling his film “an invitation for you to participate.”
In “American Autumn: An Occudoc,” part survey course, part recruiting tool, Dennis Trainor Jr. offers a concise review of the protests that first encamped in Zuccotti Park then swept across the nation and around the world. While eventually embracing a host of progressive causes, Occupy fundamentally opposed undue corporate power and influence over the levers of government. And it pressed the issue of income inequality and its social costs, defining this election season’s dominant theme.
“American Autumn” has plenty of shots of confrontations with the police; of protesters and their trenchant slogans and signs; of “we are the 99 percent” chants and “mike checks”; of speakers at rallies including Cornel West, Naomi Klein and Michael Moore. It will probably not persuade many Occupy critics to change their opinions. But as manifestoes go it is calm and smart, offsetting its stridency with discussion, music, even humor, while issuing a call to arms. “The world needs to change,” Mr. Trainor says, calling his film “an invitation for you to participate.”
Opens on Friday in Manhattan. Directed by Dennis Trainor Jr. 1 hour 16 minutes; not rated. Tickets and Screenings.
The political blogger Suzannah B. Troy dressed up as Christine Quinn and mockingly thanked The New York Times for the journalism published in The Times, which promotes Speaker Quinn's political campaign.
Two dozen activists returned to the headquarters of The New York Times on Wednesday, September 12, 2012, to protest what activists describe as media bias that promotes Christine Quinn for mayor. Instead of investigating the machine politics in City Council, The New York Times publishes stories about which café Council Speaker Christine Quinn takes brunch, or how great she is at baking pies. The newspaper of record is promoting Speaker Quinn as if she were a reality show star, rather than holding her accountable for her political record. Activists look for an explanation from the editors at The New York Times, including from Carolyn Ryan, who activists say has a central role in promoting Speaker Quinn.
Correction : Early press releases for this event erroneously declared Mexico's Yo Soy 132 would be involved with the Carlos Slim event in New York. That, in fact, was not the case. Occupy Wall Street and Two Countries, One Voice emhpasized at the event that, while there is solidarity between the movements, Yo Soy 132 was not participating in the event. (The Nation)
Updated : Javier Soriano, a prominent freelance photographer and journalist, was shut out of the Monday's “Two Countries One Voice” press conference.
Cerca de 100 activistas realizaron una protesta frente a la tienda Saks Fifth Avenue en Nueva York. Los activistas denunciaron los beneficios del monopolio de telefonía de Carlos Slim. El gordo es dueño de una gran parte de la empresa Saks Fifth Avenue.
"As the richest man in the world, Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim Helú has his hand in many honeypots including the phone company Telmex, the New York Times, and apparently Saks Fifth Avenue. Itself an icon of Manhattan luxury, protesters have picked the department store for a four-day rally beginning this afternoon: What's left of Occupy Wall Street plans to join forces with Yo Soy 132, the similarly amorphous Mexican student group, under the umbrella of what they're calling Two Countries, One Voice, for a demonstration against Slim's "monopolistic practices" at his telecommunications companies. "Carlos Slim is the 1 percent of the 1 percent," said one Occupy organizer. But the would-be villain himself won't be there, and doesn't seem to be sweating it." (NY Magazine)
The journalist and political consultant, Gary Tilzer, author of the mandatory-reading political blog True News From Change NYC, was quoted in yesterday's issue of The New York Times.
In the article, "Kingmaker of Little Russia," Mr. Tilzer was quoted about how the Democratic and Republican political machines take the Russian-American community for granted.
“This is a tragedy,” he said. “They work very hard and produce lots of votes, but the parties treat them like serfs.”
True News From Change NYC : "A Takeover Of Journalism by Lobbyist and Politicians"
Political reporter and blogger Gary Tilzer, the author of the blog True News From Change, published a scathing post about crony journalism in Queens community newspapers that have "not only turn their back on journalism," but have become "partners" with and "house organs" of U.S. Representative Joseph Crowley, who heads the Democratic Party in Queens. Mr. Tilzer refers to Rep. Crowley as "Boss Crowley."
Mr. Tilzer's blog post was in response to an article published by The New York Times that, in turn, drew the conclusion that one of the largest indicators of political machinery in Queens is the Surrogate's Court, the court which decides what to do with the assets of Queens residents, who die intestate. The Surrogate Court also appoints guardians, who profite from the court process to handle the assets of people, who die without wills. Intersecting with the Queens political machine article was a separate NYTimes feature questioning when a blogger becomes a journalist.
Cher Stars In ''Burlesque'' and Confronts Her Age
In an intimate interview conducted in her suite at the Four Seasons Hotel in New York, the superstar Cher spoke with Frank Bruni from The New York Times.
The interview, which reminds us of some of Cher's greatest film hits, was published a few days before the national release of her new movie, ''Burlesque.''
The article has a favourable review of a torch song, “You Haven’t Seen the Last of Me,” that Cher sings in the new movie.
''Burlesque'' will be released nationwide in the United States on November 24, 2010.
