Trayvon Martin Police Report

Sanford, FL police report on Trayvon Martin

Supreme Court Healthcare Transcripts

March 28, 2012: Transcript from the Supreme Court's hearing on Department of Health and Human Servs. v. Florida.
March 28: Supreme Court Hearing Transcript - Department of Health and Human Servs. v. Florida

March 27, 2012: Transcript from the Supreme Court's hearing on Department of Health and Human Servs. v. Florida.
March 27: Supreme Court Hearing Transcript - Department of Health and Human Servs. v. Florida

March 26, 2012: Transcript from the Supreme Court's hearing on Department of Health and Human Servs. v. Florida.
March 26: Supreme Court Hearing Transcript - Department of Health and Human Servs. v. Florida

Doctor Leaves America Over Its Broken Healthcare System

Because of the broken healthcare system in America, Dr. Carol Paris has decided to move her medical practice from Maryland to New Zealand. In this video, she tells us why.

Who is Stephen Berger ?

Who is Stephen Berger ?

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has set out to cut Medicare and Medicaid reïmbursements in the New York State budget by empowering Stephen Berger, the chairman of a private investment firm, to close entire hospitals in Brooklyn.

Abdo Nahmod, EMS Chief, Won't Release EMS Statistics

Call New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn at : (212) 564-7757 and ask her to demand that NYC EMS Chief Abdo Nahmod publicly release ambulance response and transit times for the Lower West Side of Manhattan. Ever since Speaker Quinn approved the Rudin family's billion dollar luxury condo conversion plan for St. Vincent's Hospital, the community has feared that it would take more time for ambulances to respond to 911 emergency calls and to transport sick or dying people to the nearest hospital. We need to know what the EMS statistics are now that St. Vincent's has been closed.

Michael Dowling Andrew Cuomo Medicaid Cuts

The New York Medicaid Redesign Team (MRT) is a 27-member body charged with cutting $2.85 billion from the state's Medicaid budget, so that Gov. Andrew Cuomo would not look like the bad guy.

In 2011, the MRT was scheduled to meet for 2 full days and have 4 days for consumers, advocates and other stakeholders to review proposals and offer feedback.

The team, however, decided that they could skip this process and push forward a vote to approve the package 4 days early. Effectively ignoring the voices and opinions of all those not on the team.

Obama Signs Anti-Protest Trespass Bill H.R. 347 Into Law

President Barack Obama signed H.R. 347 into law, a bill that could drastically limit the ability of Americans to assemble and protest. Sometimes referred to as the Trespass Bill, the wording in the new law now makes it a federal offense to assemble at many political events, essentially criminalizing protesting.

Notwithstanding the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, both houses of Congress passed, and President Obama signed into law, legislation that most people view as unconstitutional. Did anybody read the First Amendment ?

AMENDMENT I. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

(Censorship update : The original video blogged on this post was banned by YouTube.)

Gary Tilzer Was Quoted In The NYTimes

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.”

Eric Holder, Obama Administration Shred U.S. Constitution ; Say Assassination Of American Citizens Is O.K. Without Due Process

Twisted Interpretation Of U.S. Law May Allow Killings of American Citizens, Attorney General Eric Holder Says

From The New York Times :

WASHINGTON — Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. asserted on Monday that it is lawful for the government to kill American citizens if officials deem them to be operational leaders of Al Qaeda who are planning attacks on the United States and if capturing them alive is not feasible.

“Given the nature of how terrorists act and where they tend to hide, it may not always be feasible to capture a United States citizen terrorist who presents an imminent threat of violent attack,” Mr. Holder said in a speech at Northwestern University’s law school. “In that case, our government has the clear authority to defend the United States with lethal force.”

While Mr. Holder is not the first administration official to address the targeted killing of citizens — the Pentagon’s general counsel, Jeh Johnson, did so last month at Yale Law School, for example — it was notable for the nation’s top law enforcement official to declare that it is constitutional for the government to kill citizens without any judicial review under certain circumstances. Mr. Holder’s remarks about the targeted killing of United States citizens were a centerpiece of a speech describing legal principles behind the Obama administration’s counterterrorism policies. ...

Occupy LGBT Community Center

Media Wrap Up : Activists #Occupy the New York City LGBT Community Center to protest the censorship of the Palestinian LGBTQS solidarity group, Siegebusters

Here is a wrap-up of reporting about the #Occupy The LGBT Center protest :

• Where Is Kirsten Gillibrand blog : Occupy NYC LGBT Center Video
• New York Magazine : A Gay Community Center’s Middle-East Problem
• Gay City News : Protest Hits Ongoing Ban on Israeli-Palestinian Debate at NYC LGBT Center

#OWS Activists from the Healthcare for the 99% Working Group demonstrate outside the Rudin Condo Hearing at City Council

Members of the Healthcare for the 99% Working Group of #OccupyWallStreet joined with residents of the Lower West Side last Tuesday. Hundreds of people turned out to testify against a controversial rezoning application, which would convert St. Vincent's Hospital in the Lower West Side of Manhattan into a billion-dollar luxury condo and townhouse complex. Residents fear that with no hospital in such a large part of New York City would result in dangerous EMS response and transport times, which would lead to unnecessary deaths, such as the untimely death of Richard J. Sheirer, whose life might have been saved had there been a hospital in the Lower West Side of Manhattan.

Eagle Theater Marquee Demolished

The Marquee To The Eagle Theater Was Demolished Today ; This Spring, The Eagle Will Become A South Asian Grocery Store.

From The New York Daily News :

A 1930s-era movie theater in Jackson Heights that became a porn palace before showing Bollywood flicks is about to experience its most radical reincarnation.

A large South Asian grocery store and food court is slated to open this spring in the gutted shell of the Eagle Theater in the heart of Queens’ Little India.

In preparation for the spring opening, the Eagle's marquee was demolished today.

Here is a side view of the marquee, which was being torn down.

The new public plaza in Jackson Heights will continue to evolve, as the store fronts change.

Krugman, Phelps, Sachs, and Soros Join In Global Economic Crisis Panel

The panelists last night, from left to right : Paul Krugman, Edmund Phelps, Robert Silvers, Jeffrey D. Sachs, and some guy named George Soros.

At the Metropolitan Museum, economists examined the growing global economic crisis.

The New York Times columnist and economist Paul Krugman said last night during his opening remarks that the U.S. federal government needed to undertake a real form of economic stimulus or intervention, in order to end the impact of the current global economic crisis on the U.S. economy. Mr. Krugman was espousing Keynesian-like economic stimulus. Mr. Krugman said that what we lacked in the United States was political will and intellectual capacity, in order to create a truly effective stimulus plan.

Mr. Krugman was speaking at a panel discussion at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which had been organised by The New York Review of Books and the Fritt Ord Foundation of Oslo. The panel was moderated by Robert Silvers, the editor of The NYRB, who, at times, was crotchety. The other distinguished panelists included Edmund Phelps, an economics professor at Columbia University, the economist Jeffrey Sachs, and the billionaire investor George Soros.

Professor Phelps read from a long set of prepared remarks, in an even academic monotone, and when his reading dragged on, Mr. Krugman began to fuss with his glass of drinking water, and Mr. Krugman even checked the time on his smartphone. Professor Phelps dissed economists, who espoused Keynesian economics by repeating the disparaging terms : "crude Keynesian economics." To say that Professor Phelps was more than just a little flip, and more than just a little boring, would be an understatement. Later, during the discussion when each panelist was able to comment on each other's remarks, Mr. Krugman said that if anybody called him a "crude Keynesian economist," then Mr. Krugman would take that person out and punch him in the nose.

When it came time for Mr. Sachs to deliver his initial remarks, he questioned whether the economic crisis we were in was truly global. He cited exceptions, such as the economic growth in China and India, as evidence that the entire "globe" was not in an economic crisis. But then, when began to recite specific statistics, Mr. Sachs cited the lower rates of growth that China and India were experiencing. Mr. Sachs added that the middle class are being squeezed, and he said that the nation deserved better than the politically-motivated tax cuts that Congress and the Obama administration are fighting over.

Mr. Soros said that he believed that economics, as a science, has lost an appreciation for facts. He added that the U.S. economy should look for new ways to create an economy for the future. One controversial idea he had was to invest in the shale oil industry. Although the audience was primarily liberal, nobody screamed "boos" at Mr. Soros's idea.

In the discussion amongst the panelists that followed, the topic of the European economic crisis came up. The U.S. exports so little of its goods to Europe now that if European demand were to collapse, the U.S. economy wouldn't be so much at risk, it was said. But Mr. Soros described the global financial industry as being paralysed. Mr. Krugman and Mr. Sachs jointly praised the European Central Bank for supporting the Euro by flooding the European financial system with liquidity.

When it came time for the audience to ask questions, Mr. Silvers, in a snobby fit, refused to take any questions from audience members sitting up in the mezzanine. The billionaire Koch brothers must have sent a plant to the panel discussion, because an audience member asked why the U.S. was hell-bent on passing more regulation -- why couldn't the U.S. be more like Hong Kong or Singapore, which have low marginal tax rates and no regulation. Mr. Krugman was quick to dismiss the question, and the question-poser.

Most of the evening seemed to focus about the collapse of the U.S. housing market, which, combined with the financial industry bailout, has sucked out the stamina from the U.S. economy. But another important subtext to the economic collapse has been the shrinking non-security discretionary federal budget, as a percentage of GDP. Mr. Sachs said that since the time when Ronald Reagan said that the government was the problem, the national political forces have been on a relentless attack on decreasing the amount of money being invested in education, job training, and other important aspects of society, which lead to the uplifting of the poor and middle class.

In another part of his extemporaneous remarks, Mr. Soros added that he was blown away not by the amount of money that the right wing has spent on spreading the propaganda that government doesn't work, but, rather, by the fact that they were so effective with their messaging that government doesn't work, so much so that people have become cynical about government. Mr. Soros implied that people, who worked in government and who were politically left of center, needed to learn to counter the right wing's messaging.

One person up in the mezzanine, who never got to ask his question, said he wanted to ask the panelists to comment on what role did the expense of the George Walker Bush wars have on the U.S. treasury and on the larger economy ?

Another person, who never got to ask his question, said that he wanted to ask Mr. Krugman and Mr. Sachs about whether it would be a good idea, in the absence of a real form of government stimulus and intervention, for the Federal Reserve to undertake another large quantitative easing and trigger hyperinflation, which could shrink in real dollar terms the size of the federal budget that is committed to debt service.

At the end of the discussion, Mr. Soros distributed complimentary copies of his new book, Financial Turmoil in Europe and the United States. The other panelists sold copies of their books at the end of the program.

Petition to Save Chelsea Market

Updated 18 June 2012 : Save Chelsea From Christine Quinn

Oppose the Plan to Rezone Chelsea Market

From Change.org :

The new owners of Chelsea Market are seeking a zoning change to allow them to build a very large office building atop the 10th Avenue end of the complex, and a very large hotel on the 9th Avenue end. Currently they cannot build more upon this already very densely-developed site, and this will only happen if they convince the Borough President, the City Planning Commission, and the City Council to change the zoning regulations for their block to allow them to build (for images of the proposed additions to Chelsea Market, see here.

The Chelsea Market complex, built in stages from the late 19th through the early 20th centuries as a factory for Nabisco, is a stunningly successful example of adaptive re-use, which respected the history of these buildings while giving them new life. This new plan would undo that respectful relationship, as these huge new additions would literally loom over the historic buildings as well as the nearby High Line park.

Additionally, the surrounding West Chelsea and Meatpacking District neighborhoods have developed tremendously in recent years; in the case of West Chelsea, this is because the City upzoned the neighborhood in 2005 to encourage the tremendous amount of development seen around there now. This part of Chelsea and the Meatpacking District do NOT need a further upzoning that would add traffic and shadows, ruin a historic complex, and further tip the balance of this neighborhood towards commercialization and overly-dense, large-scale development.

As usual, activists are worried that City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, City Planning Socialite Amanda Burden, and Manhattan Borough President Scott Stinger will betray the community by approving the FAR Rezoning of Chelsea Market.

Quinn NYU Expansion Protest

There will be a protest against City Council Speaker Christine Quinn on Thursday, February 23, 2012, from 5:00 - 7:00 p.m., at 151-155 Sullivan Street (below Houston) at St. Anthony of Padua Church. Hundreds of New York City voters in Speaker Quinn's city council district are expected to participate in a rally and press conference at a public hearing to express their dismay about major real estate development (the irresponsible NYU Expansion Plans and the billion-dollar luxury condo and townhouse conversion of St. Vincent's Hospital) in Greenwich Village -- development which will undoubtedly be supported by Speaker Quinn, given her track record of repaying her estate donors at the expense of local communities in New York City. Check out a related flyer :New York University Expansion Protest Flyer GVSHP