From Michael Petrelis :
''What we're never going to see from the Times is an in-depth examination of the public and private records of exactly what Richard Socarides did in his duties to Clinton when DOMA, HIV travel and immigration bans, and DADT were enacted and codified into federal law harming thousands of LGBT persons and people with AIDS.''
Read More : http://mpetrelis.blogspot.com/2013/01/nyts-free-pass-to-socarides-on-doma.html
Teen Awarded NPR's Top Storytelling Performance Prize for Powerful Tale About His Two Gay Moms: ''The Last Mile''
Snap Judgment, NPR's spoken word and storytelling show, recognised 15-year-old Noah St. John with its Performance of the Year for his explosively moving story about his two moms and the moment he thought he might lose the family he had always known.
From Cleve Jones, on Facebook :
Thank you Andy Towle, for posting this on Towleroad. I've never met Noah St. John but I was so amazed and delighted by this video that I posted it on FB twice. Now, overnight, we've taken Noah's YouTube hits to over 48,000. Please. Share. This.
I'd love to see Noah on the Ellen DeGeneris show, AC 360 or anywhere else his beautiful storytelling could reach people's hearts.
Scientific Study Links Flammable Drinking Water to Fracking
Ed Koch just called fracking the most ''liberating'' industry for New York State on NY1 tonight, because it would make New York into Saudi Arabia.
One of my Facebook friends wrote that maybe what Mr. Koch believes he sees as our future shared similarity is this : very little drinking water.
JUDGE FINDS NYPD STOP-AND-FRISKS OUTSIDE CLEAN HALLS BUILDINGS ACROSS THE BRONX ARE UNCONSTITUTIONAL.
Judge Shira A. Scheindlin issued a major court order finding that the New York Police Department routinely make unconstitutional "street stops" outside "Clean Halls Buildings" across the Bronx and and must immediately end this unconstitutional practice, reported the citizen journalist Javier Soriano.
Judge Scheindlin found that for years the NYPD has known or should have known that its officers routinely violate constitutional rights through the Clean Halls program. Nonetheless the Department fails to adequately train officers about when they may legally make trespass stops, and that this practice “has risen to the level of deliberate indifference,” Mr. Soriano reported.
Where does the NYPD get the budget to pay for all the man-hours and resources it uses to keep carrying out its unconstitutional ''stop-and-frisk'' program ? From the City Budget. And who kisses each other on the cheeks, each time the City Budget is approved and passed ? Christine Quinn and Mayor Bloomberg. During Quinn's speakership, at least 3.7 million New Yorkers have been stopped and frisk. If we all believe that stop-and-frisk is unconstitutional -- and that is what this judge is telling us -- why are our elected politicians funding this program with taxpayer money ?
Federal Court Ruling Ending Stop-And-Frisk By NYPD In TAP Operation Clean Halls Buildings
From New York Newsday :
NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 07: Anti-Fracking protesters demonstrate in front of the Waldorf-Astoria as New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo visits the hotel for a function on January 7, 2013 in New York City. Fracking, a process that injects millions of gallons of chemical mixed water into a well in order to release gas, has become a contentious issue in New York as critics of the process believe it contaminates drinking water among other hazards. New York City gets much of its drinking water from upstate reservoirs. If the regulations are approved by Governor Cuomo, drilling in the upstate New York Marcellus Shale could later this year.
Protest against @nygovcuomo at #WaldorfAstoria last night gettyimages.com/detail/news-ph… #healthcare #fracking #cleanwater #Sandy
— Louis Flores (@maslowsneeds) January 8, 2013
CIA being sued over domestic spying collaboration with NYPDrt.com/usa/news/cia-s…
— Anonymous (@AnonyOps) January 5, 2013
Stop-and-Frisk Christine Quinn
The live streamer and blogger Stop Motion Solo has blogged about the stop-and-frisk protest against Christine Quinn :
On December 30, 2012, 25 to 30 people gathered in Jackson Heights, Queens to demonstrate against the controversial NYPD policy of Stop-and-Frisk, and to hold City Council Speaker Christine Quinn accountable for her support of the policy.
... Needless to say, something is very wrong with some of the current policing practices and it is questionable whether or not Christine Quinn would work towards any reforms at all should she be elected Mayor. She already helped Mayor Bloomberg overturn the term-limits referendum. “City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, a potential 2013 mayoral candidate…went out on a limb two years ago to persuade her colleagues on the council to grant the mayor’s request to overturn the term-limits law.”
Read more : Stop-and-Frisk Christine Quinn
Please donate to www.wepay.com/donations/citizen-journalism to support the work by Stop Motion Solo as an Independent Journalist.
The Bloomberg-Quinn administration have made huge budget cuts to the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation. Why are our elected politicians cutting the life-saving healthcare services of our safety-net community hospitals ?
What have @mikebloomberg, @chriscquinn, and @nyccouncil done to equally fund #HHC to fully meet healthcare needs ? nydailynews.com/life-style/hea… #OWS
— Stop Christine Quinn (@stopchrisquinn) January 6, 2013
Look at some past issues related to budget cuts to HHC :
* NYSNA responds to Bloomberg's FY 2009-2010 budget
* City Budget Cuts Will Privatize Dialysis Services at NYC Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC)
Join us for an omnibus protest against Gov. Andrew Cuomo, where the community demands, among other things, a healthcare system that fully-funds the healthcare needs of all patients.
From the Demand A Hospital listserv of St. Vincent's Hospital activists :
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
All :
Action Alert
Governor Andrew Cuomo will be celebrating his birthday with a fundraiser at one of New York City's finest hotels. Join us outside the event.
Bring a cardboard or poster board sign and write across it : "To : Gov. Cuomo -- For Protecting Our Healthcare" and then give him a giant letter grade : F-
Date : Monday, January 7, 2012
Time : 6:00 pm
Place : Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, 301 Park Avenue, Manhattan
Keep In Mind That Full-Service Hospitals Are Not Yet Fully Functioning.
The VA Hospital is not yet open, and other hospitals are only partially open. During this healthcare crisis comes the State Department of Health, trying to close down Westchester Square Medical Center in the Bronx. Westchester Square is scheduled to close on March 10. Its assets will be up for auction, but it is expected that Montefiore Medical Center will purchase the hospital. If Westchester Square is absorbed by a larger hospital group, the take over may leave many community members and hospital employees rightly worried about local healthcare and jobs. Read more : http://bronx.ny1.com/content/top_stories/174922/bronx-nurses--locals-dread-closing-of-westchester-square-medical-center
Remember how many hospitals in Queens were closed within a short time of having been merged into other hospital groups. The Department of Health uses mergers as a way to shuffle hospital debts between medical centers, which lead to financial losses and eventually to hospital closings.
All of the hospitals, which were damaged by Hurricane Sandy, are not yet fully functional. Emergency rooms have been experiencing record levels of overcrowding, especially at Beth Israel, and some full-service hospitals are now reduced to offering only "urgent care," like at Coney Island Hospital.
How can Gov. Cuomo, in his right mind, think that now is the right time to keep closing hospitals ?
Hurricane Sandy is still causing a healthcare crisis all these many months later, and Gov. Cuomo is not taking this healthcare crisis seriously. Not only are our hospitals not yet restored to being fully functional, but long term illnesses are beginning to emerge. Mold is an urgent healthcare concern for Hurricane Sandy survivors. "Homes are uninhabitable with black mold taking hold, heat and sanitation are still absent in many places. Yet the government response has been glaringly absent," was how the Occupy Sandy volunteer group described the situation last month.
Compounding this healthcare crisis is that the government is using the "healthcare crisis" as an excuse to burn hurricane debris, aggravating the lungs of hurricane survivors, who must also deal with mold. Read more : http://nyc.sierraclub.org/2012/11/dont-burn-sandy-debris/
In the face of all this, there's only one grade a person can reasonably give Gov. Cuomo : F-
Join us at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel on Monday night.
Date : Monday, January 7, 2012
Time : 6:00 pm
Place : Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, 301 Park Avenue, Manhattan
We hope to see you at this demonstration. Read more : https://www.nycga.net/events/governor-cuomos-birthday-give-him-a-birthday-report-card/
Update : Letter To The Editor
Another person has published a letter in The New York Daily News about St. Vincent's Hospital :
Manhattan : To Voicer Joseph Human, who thinks New Yorkers can’t afford to let Mayor Bloomberg go: The mayor, who self-promoted himself on his fiscal and management skills, is leaving New York with an outstanding debt of more than $100 billion. Our surplus taxpayer dollars were used to award high-end commercial and real estate developers with grants and subsidies while St. Vincent’s Hospital and firehouses closed, massive cuts were made to essential services and our streets were intentionally jammed for bicycles and pedestrian plazas. Nikki Love
See you Monday night. Thank you for all that you keep doing.
The Man Pulling The Levers, Turning The Knobs, And Flipping The Switches Behind The Curtain
Josh Isay is New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn's campaign spokesman. Mr. Isay is a major political consultant in New York and Albany, with an outlet in Washington. He is one of Sen. Charles Schumer's main political consultants and advisors. So, when we wonder : why is it that no matter who gets elected, nothing seems to change, it is because the paid political consultants are the ones who keep pushing politicians into certain agendas that make them "electable." Who is advising Speaker Quinn to make these backroom deals, to keep NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly, in spite of the fact that we need a federal commission to investigate the NYPD ?
When all of us keep working to demand reforms from government, who are the people behind the scenes, who are saying, "No." We only see Christine Quinn, but do we ever know to take a look at who is Josh Isay. Josh Isay worked for Bill Rudin. When the community kept demanding a full-service hospital to replace St. Vincent's, Josh Isay was advising Christine Quinn that it was O.K. to make the community of the Lower West Side of Manhattan into paws in their game to help Josh Isay's other clients, the Rudin Family. And when we wonder what happened to Speaker Quinn's former progressive roots, all you have to do is to look at her political advisors. If you vote for Speaker Quinn, because you are under the impression that you are going to get the "old" Christine Quinn of 13 or 14 years ago, then I invite you to please take a look at who decides what Speaker Quinn is allowed to do.
Read more : Who is Josh Isay ?
In her campaign to become mayor of New York City, is New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn using a ''Southern Strategy'' in order to gain political support in the ''outer boroughs'' to win this year's election by appearing to support the NYPD's racist ''stop-and-frisk'' policy ?
''Stop-And-Frisk'' Violates Title III Of The Civil Rights Act ; Why Is Christine Quinn Using Taxpayer Money To Pay For State-Sponsored Forms Of Discrimination ?
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. Access can be construed to be peaceful enjoyment.
Yet, the NYPD deny access or peaceful enjoyment of public facilities, such as sidewalks, streets, and subway stations based on a person's race, color, religion, or national origin when the NYPD ''stop-and-frisk'' people of color, of a certain faith, or of a certain nationality.
Since Christine Quinn has become speaker, 3.7 million New Yorkers have been stopped-and-frisked.
Black and Latino communities continue to be the overwhelming target of these tactics. See the NYCLU Stop-And-Frisk Fact Page for more information.
Christine Quinn - Stop-And-Frisk violates Title III of the Civil Rights Act
Quinn's NYPD Strategy Will Cost Her Votes, Warns Joe.My.God.
LGBT blogger ''Joe.My.God.'' warns supports of New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn that police issues may cost Speaker Quinn electoral support in her race to become mayor of New York City.
Republicans have longed for Kelly to run for mayor as the two other declared GOP candidates (MTA head Joe Lhota and billionaire grocer John Catsimatidis) are considered very long shots against Quinn or any other Democrat. While Quinn's alleged "secret deal" would take out her best-polling GOP opponent, keeping Ray "Stop-And-Frisk" Kelly in the top cop job will surely sour many prospective Quinn supporters, who could turn to Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, one of stop-and-frisk's loudest detractors.
One will see if Josh Isay, one of Speaker Quinn's political handlers, will heed the warning from Joe.My.God. ?
Joe.My.God. Readers React To Christine Quinn's ''Secret Deal'' To Keep NYPD Commish Ray Kelly Out Of Mayoral Race
On Joe.My.God.'s blog post today, several readers posted comments criticising New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn's backroom deal with Commissioner Raymond Kelly :
''Christine Quinn is a great example of why we shouldn't just blindly vote for someone just because they are LGBT,'' wrote KT.
''Quinn has been saying for more than a year now that the next mayor should ask Kelly to stay on. Apparently, Christine is a big fan of Stop and Frisk,'' wrote band.
''This all reminds me of the ending of The Devil Wears Prada,'' wrote Joe.My.God.
The tone of the blog post and the comments was very critical of Speaker Quinn for making backroom deals, for supporting Commissioner Kelly, and for supporting stop-and-frisk.
House to NY: "DROP DEAD" #sandysurvivors smack down!
— Gerson Borrero (@GersonBorrero) January 2, 2013
''Let Them Eat Cake''
Last night, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) pulled the plug on a vote on the $60 billion Hurricane Sandy disaster relief bill after partisan bickering over the fiscal cliff, and Gerson Borrero complained that New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn has lost touch with reality.
House of Representatives delayed a vote on desperately needed Hurricane Sandy disaster aid (The New York Daily News) * ''They told us to basically drop dead !'' Angry New York residents and pols fuming over latest Sandy snub. * Hurricane Sandy Relief Center in NYC Looted on Christmas (NBC)
Some New York Democrats were ''outraged'' by the insensitivity and lack of dignity by Congress towards hurricane survivors. “I have been a member of this body for 24 years and I don’t think I’ve ever been so angry,” Rep. Eliot Engel (D-Bronx, Westchester) told The New York Daily News. NY1 News editorial contributor Gerson Borrero was shocked to see that Speaker Quinn seemed to be oblivious about the lack of action on a comprehensive federal hurricane relief package.
Hello, NY just got screwed and you tweet this: “@chriscquinn: Happy New Year everyone! Hope 2013 is everything you hope for.”
— Gerson Borrero (@GersonBorrero) January 2, 2013
