Madrid: Living streaming video of healthcare workers taking to the streets to demand saving a public healthcare system.
Thousands demanding "not to privatize" health care system Why sell something that works? #Madrid PIC via @ja_santoro twitter.com/acampadabcn_in…
— acampadabcn_int (@acampadabcn_int) December 16, 2012
Several hundred citizens affected by Hurricane Sandy, healthcare professionals, activists, and members of Occupy Sandy relief effort participated in a rally and march near Fifth Avenue and East 79th Street to protest what organisers said was a lack of care and concern by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Hospitals that were evacuated due to hurricane damage have not reopened, and hurricane survivors are dealing with mold, no heat, no hot water, and no electricity in the winter. Healthcare professionals describe conditions that could lead to a public healthcare crisis. Yet, rally participants kept asking, "Where is Mayor Bloomberg?"
It wasn't confirmed, but many people speculated that Mayor Bloomberg could be spending this weekend in his palatial compound in the tropical island of Bermuda.
This independent video was made in solidarity with rally organizers to educate the public about Mayor Michael Bloomberg's lack of care and concern for survivors of Hurricane Sandy, and this video includes information about Bill Rudin : another billionaire, who also bears responsibility for some of the issues raised by some rally participants.
Read also : Nurses Will Picket Mayor Bloomberg's Mansion
For more information about hurricane relief efforts, please visit : http://interoccupy.net/occupysandy/
NEW YORK (AP) — The police practice known as stop and frisk has been part of the New York Police Department's crime-fighting strategy since the early 1990s, but the number of stops shot up in the last decade. The vast majority of those stopped have been black or Hispanic.
Since she became Speaker of City Council, over 3.7 million New Yorkers have been stopped and frisked. Why is this acceptable ?
Take a 5 seconds to like us on Facebook : Queers Against Christine Quinn
A look at the numbers:
2002
Number of stops: 97,296
2003
Number of stops: 160,851
Demographics: 54 percent of those stopped were black, 31 percent Hispanic.
2004
Number of stops: 313,523
Demographics: 55 percent of those stopped were black, 32 percent Hispanic.
2005
Number of stops: 398,191
Demographics: 54 percent of those stopped were black, 32 percent Hispanic.
2006
Number of stops: 506,491
Demographics: 53 percent of those stopped were black, 29 percent Hispanic.
2007
Number of stops: 472,096
Demographics: 54 percent of those stopped were black, 31 percent Hispanic.
2008
Number of stops: 540,302
Demographics: 53 percent of those stopped were black, 32 percent Hispanic.
2009
Number of stops: 581,168
Demographics: 55 percent of those stopped were black, 32 percent Hispanic.
2010
Number of stops: 601,285
Demographics: 54 percent of those stopped were black, 33 percent Hispanic.
2011
Number of stops: 685,724
Demographics: 53 percent of those stopped were black, 34 percent Hispanic.
2012 (first six months)
Number of stops as of June 30: 337,434
Demographics: 53 percent of those stopped were black, 32 percent Hispanic.
___
Source: New York Police Department and New York Civil Liberties Union
Related : Quinn Says Next Mayor Would Be ‘Lucky’ To Have Kelly Stay As Commish
I Support The Aclu panel print (Google Affiliate Ad)
A photo of me with Suzannah B. Troy, from 2010. Photo Copyright © 2010 by Clayton Patterson.
Serious Questions About Electability Of Perceived Front-Runner In Mayor’s Race
Does @chriscquinn need #crisismanagement even b4 she declares her campaign to be mayor of #NYC in 2013 ? nytimes.com/2012/12/13/nyr…
— Stop Christine Quinn (@stopchrisquinn) December 13, 2012
From The New York Times :
After months of maintaining a cool, above-the-fray approach to the 2013 mayoral race, Christine C. Quinn, the City Council speaker and presumptive candidate-to-beat next year, is enduring the first bumps of what may be a pockmarked road to the Democratic primary.
This week, Ms. Quinn was criticized for a campaign finance bill that opponents — including her most important ally, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg — said would tear a loophole in New York City’s election spending rules.
On television, there was Alec Baldwin, the temperamental actor, telling Piers Morgan’s national audience on CNN that Ms. Quinn had “blood on her hands” for supporting Mr. Bloomberg’s successful bid to circumvent term limits.
Read more : Hints at Steeper Road to Victory for Perceived Front-Runner in Mayor’s Race
Queens District Attorney Rules That No Crime Took Place When NYPD Retaliated Against Whistleblower Cop Adrian Schoolcraft By Throwing Him In The Psych Ward Of Jamaica Hospital. Only In New York, Kids, Only In New York.
From NYPD Confidential :
Neither the NYPD nor Jamaica Hospital committed a crime when they forcibly took whistleblower cop Adrian Schoolcraft from his home and held him in the hospital’s psych ward against his will for three days.
If you are a whistleblower, how the NYPD treats you is by labeling you an emotionally disturbed person [EDP], and then, in a supreme act of retaliation and cruel and unusual punishment, by throwing you in the Snake Pit.
So says Queens District Attorney Richard Brown, whose office conducted a criminal investigation of the incident together with the NYPD’s Internal Affairs Bureau.
According to a draft report, which was obtained by NYPD Confidential, Brown concluded that both the police and the hospital doctors acted reasonably because they believed Schoolcraft to be an emotionally disturbed person [EDP]. ...
Read more : DA: No Crime to Throw Cop Whistleblower in Psych Ward
No word, yet, if New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn has an opinion about the injustice facing Mr. Schoolcraft. :'(
[Oregon mall shooting] Sheriff's Department spokesperson: Gunman took lives of two people, another fighting for her life in hospital
— Matthew Keys (@TheMatthewKeys) December 12, 2012
Landfill Harmonic is an upcoming feature-length documentary about a remarkable musical orchestra in Paraguay, where young musicians play instruments made from trash. Producers have released an inspiring short video about their film, which is going viral on Facebook and over the Internet. For more information about the film, please visit facebook.com/landfillharmonicmovie.
Landfill Harmonic film teaser from Landfill Harmonic on Vimeo.
Favio Chavez, director of the orchestra of recycled instruments on a Paraguayan landfill, and his luthier Nicolas Gomez have just posted a photo of their latest visit to the landfill site in Catuera, where little children aspire through music to rise from a life of danger and misery. The film they are making is touching millions of hearts. Watch a trailer here. It could make you rethink your life in music. (Arts Journal)
Tomorrow Pack The Courthouse in support of Ramarley Graham and his family @ 8:30am Bronx Criminal Courthouse 265 E 161st Street in The Bronx.
A Michigan man says a canine police officer was driving recklessly without a seatbelt.
Man Attempts To Pull Over Detroit Cop For Not Wearing Seat Belt (VIDEO)
Will Quinn's Weaker Campaign Finance Bill Lead To Her Very Own Private Watergate ?
Finding loopholes to funnel unlimited amounts of unregulated campaign cash to influence elections was the scandal, along with the break-in and cover-up, that lead to Watergate and President Richard Nixon's resignation.
When given the chance, why does New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn fight progressive campaign finance reforms ? Why is less campaign finance regulation better ?In the aftermath of the dangerous Citizens United court ruling, which unleashed unlimited corporate spending in political campaigns, why would Speaker Quinn want to go down that route ? What role does campaign money play in her political decisions ?
From The New York Times :
Christine C. Quinn, the City Council speaker and an expected candidate for mayor next year, is supporting a change to New York City’s campaign finance rules that would significantly expand the ability of unions, corporations and advocacy groups to spend money on behalf of local candidates. ...
Critics said the measure, introduced nine months ahead of what is expected to be a closely contested mayoral race, would effectively outsmart the city’s stringent campaign finance system, which tries to rein in spending by interest groups and candidates alike. ...
[C]ritics of the legislation said it would create a new and weaker definition of “coordination,” a change that the Campaign Finance Board says would make it virtually impossible to prove that a mailing was illegally coordinated with a candidate. ... (The New York Times : Quinn Supports Loosening Rules On Campaign Financing By Corporations)
From The Wall Street Journal :
City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, a likely contender for mayor next year, has riled the agency that administers the city's public campaign-financing system by pushing new legislation that opponents contend would significantly expand the power of unions, corporations and other groups in local elections. (The Wall Street Journal : Quinn Lashed On Campaign Legislation)
Remember, Speaker Quinn is the one, who, in spite of criticism, continues to use slush funds and lulus to thwart the democratic process in City Council.
Are self-serving choices, like supporting weaker campaign finance regulations, one of the reasons why Alec Baldwin said that Speaker Quinn is ''untrustworthy'' ?
Will Quinn's Weaker Campaign Finance Bill Lead To Her Very Own Private Watergate ?
Finding loopholes to funnel unlimited amounts of unregulated campaign cash to influence elections was the scandal, along with the break-in and cover-up, that lead to Watergate and President Richard Nixon's resignation.
When given the chance, why does New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn fight progressive campaign finance reforms ? Why is less campaign finance regulation better ?In the aftermath of the dangerous Citizens United court ruling, which unleashed unlimited corporate spending in political campaigns, why would Speaker Quinn want to go down that route ? What role does campaign money play in her political decisions ?
From The New York Times :
Christine C. Quinn, the City Council speaker and an expected candidate for mayor next year, is supporting a change to New York City’s campaign finance rules that would significantly expand the ability of unions, corporations and advocacy groups to spend money on behalf of local candidates. ...
Critics said the measure, introduced nine months ahead of what is expected to be a closely contested mayoral race, would effectively outsmart the city’s stringent campaign finance system, which tries to rein in spending by interest groups and candidates alike. ...
[C]ritics of the legislation said it would create a new and weaker definition of “coordination,” a change that the Campaign Finance Board says would make it virtually impossible to prove that a mailing was illegally coordinated with a candidate. ... (The New York Times : Quinn Supports Loosening Rules On Campaign Financing By Corporations)
From The Wall Street Journal :
City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, a likely contender for mayor next year, has riled the agency that administers the city's public campaign-financing system by pushing new legislation that opponents contend would significantly expand the power of unions, corporations and other groups in local elections. (The Wall Street Journal : Quinn Lashed On Campaign Legislation)
Remember, Speaker Quinn is the one, who despite criticism, continues to use slush funds and lulus to thwart the democratic process in City Council.
Are self-serving choices, like supporting weaker campaign finance regulations, one of the reasons why Alec Baldwin said that Speaker Quinn is ''untrustworthy'' ?
Update On Hospital Activism In New York City Following Hurricane Sandy Aftermath, Berger Commission Scorched Earth Campaign, and Medicaid Redesign Team Destruction
The latest article about the hospital closings in New York City caused by Hurricane Sandy shows that the irresponsible Berger Commission and Medicaid Redesign Team actions to close down hospitals is endangering public health.
The math is unforgiving: people get sick, and they now have nowhere else to go, a problem exacerbated by the shutdown of St. Vincent’s hospital in the West Village. Last year, emergency rooms at the city’s Bellevue Hospital Center and the private NYU Langone Medical Center saw nearly 150,000 patients combined, according to state Department of Health data. In November alone, the third busiest month for both hospitals, more 14,000 patients received care. And the lion’s share are now being cared for by Beth Israel. (The New York World)
Note : the closing of St. Vincent's wasn't only tied to the attitude up in Albany to close hospitals under the severe safety net-shredding Berger/MRT austerity budget cuts, but also due to the self-seeking motivations by politicians, such as New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn.
Some of the St. Vincent's activists have launched a letter-writing campaign to newspapers ; Gov. Cuomo ; and to Dr. Shah, the health commish.
Urgent care needed
Manhattan: Rep. Gregory Meeks and Anthony Weiner’s guest column on the need for a hospital to serve the Rockaways, especially after Sandy, points up the need for a safety net everywhere (“The Rockaways, on solid ground,” Nov. 28). The lower west quadrant of Manhattan has had no hospital since St. Vincent’s closed. In addition, several nearby hospitals were forced to shut down temporarily because of Sandy. We need well-constructed, full-service hospitals in good strategic positions to serve communities and avoid storm damage. -- Carol F. Yost
Despite Public Health Risks Caused By Hurricane Sandy, Gov. Andrew Cuomo Is Still Dangerously Obsessed With Closing More Hospitals.
Meanwhile, given the dire hospital situation in Brooklyn (Interfaith Files For Bankruptcy ; Half of Brooklyn hospitals on life support), nobody knows if the healthcare money from Hurricane Sandy aid will be used to make sure that we equally meet the healthcare needs of patients across all five boroughs.
When Hurricane Sandy struck, NYU Langone was in the middle of fundraising for a $3 billion renovation/upgrade. Few hospitals have those kinds of resources.
But of the first $200 million in federal aid receive for hurricane relief, Langone received $114 million. (NY Daily News) * How are politicians prioritising which medical centers get funded ? Based on need, or based on the corruptive influence of special interests ?
No word yet on whether Gov. Andrew Cuomo will set aside some of the billions in hurricane relief aid to fund a healthcare system that will equally meet the healthcare needs of patients across all five boroughs of New York City, much less the resumption of operations at Bellevue and Coney Island hospitals.
Look for healthcare activists to escalate their protests, to push back on these irresponsible healthcare cuts that impact poor people. Research shows that because we do not have a truly universal, single-payer healthcare system, the network of fractured healthcare providers that we do have do not make available healthcare services to everybody, equally. One of the leading reasons that poor people rely on hospitals or emergency rooms for healthcare is because there are few physicians with medical practices in their neighborhoods, much less a true means for poor people to afford primary healthcare. Given that Gov. Cuomo is now targeting the less wealthy central neighborhoods of Brooklyn for hospital closings, the governor is gutting the few remaining safety net healthcare services still available to the uninsured and underinsured. How much can the governor cut healthcare before people start suffering for lack of emergency medical treatment ?
