In response to Facebook.com censorship, can SumofUs.org rollout a social networking interface ?

So, Facebook.com likes to censor its users, who post information, links, or other media, such as photographs or videos, which are deemed too political in nature (or, more appropriately, too offensive to its advertisers or tax authorities). Facebook sometimes suspends user accounts for a period of time, mainly, for 30 days, according to recent examples of two of my "Facebook" friends. Considering how short-lived Myspace.com was, for all its clunky and anti-music file sharing obsession it became in its final years of relevancy, many users on Facebook.com look forward to the emergency of a new Web site, to which disaffected Facebook.com users can migrate.

For all those activists, who are "superusers" of Facebook.com, who use features like creating events for demonstrations or meeting planning, creating pages for activism campaigns, for creating groups of like-minded activists, and for creating public (or private) profiles for doing all this work, perhaps one emerging suggestion may make sense :

Seeing as how new Web sites, such as SumofUs.org, are emerging, where activists can participate in some limited function online activism, it might be fascinating to explore whether the owners-developers of Web sites, such as SumofUs.org, could add on social networking and other social app-like modules, extensions, or functionality, so that disaffected Facebook.com users can just abandon Facebook.com and just embrace one, fully-dedicated non-profit Web site, such as SumofUs.org, for their online activism and social media experience.

Imagine what online activists could do in a Web-based environment, which supported a safe space for online activism and social networking ? We wouldn't have to deal with the arbitrary censorship by Web sites, such as Facebook.com, we wouldn't have to deal with ever nebulous privacy policy changes to placate advertisers, there wouldn't be tracking, surveillance, or face recognition issues....

I imagine it would only take a small team of creative minds to mount an effort like this....

Then, we would have a newly, self-empowered community for online activism. And we could let our old Facebook.com accounts join our old Myspace.com accounts in the digital morgue of the past.

Long Island College Hospital - Vote by SUNY to Close

SUNY board unanimously approves closure of LI College Hosp and crowd erupts "Shame! Shame!" yfrog.com/oe7kepij

— FRED MOGUL (@fredmogul) February 8, 2013

David France, Ed Koch, and AIDS

David France, whose doc How To Survive A Plague is nominated for Oscar, speaks about former NY mayor Ed Koch, who reviewed the film for a local NY paper and who was not an advocate for Gay NY back in the day.

Does anybody have an update to the Lenox Hill Hospital EMS Paramedic Layoffs ?

Lenox Hill Hospital ended its paramedic service to the #UES and turned in its licenses. @micahkellner @billdeblasio

— Sarah Steiner (@Sarahgoat) January 14, 2013

Ed Koch Rudin Family Quinn Pro Quo ? Posh Apartment - St. Vincent's Hospital

Rudin family offered #EdKoch posh apartment.nytimes.com/2013/02/03/nyr… ; Koch promoted Rudin condo plan for #StVincent's. dnainfo.com/new-york/20110…

— Stop Christine Quinn (@stopchrisquinn) February 3, 2013

Closeted Mayor Will Eulogise Another

At tomorrow's funeral service, Mayor Michael Bloomberg is expected to deliver the eulogy for former Mayor Ed Koch, who passed away on Friday at the age of 88.

Mayor Koch has been the subject of harsh criticism on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media Web sites since his death, for what critics see as his damning role in the spread of the AIDS epidemic in the early 1980's, while he was mayor.

It's more than just a bit ironic that Mayor Bloomberg, who some say is gay, will eulogise Mayor Koch.

At tomorrow's service for #EdKoch, one #closeted mayor will eulogize another. Or will @mikebloomberg use occasion to finally come out ?

— Stop Christine Quinn (@stopchrisquinn) February 3, 2013

To distract from his sexual orientation, Mayor Koch made a game of appearing to have had a pretense of a relationship with former Miss America Bess Myerson, whilst Mayor Bloomberg uses Diana Taylor for similar purposes.

No word, yet, as to the subject of Mayor Bloomberg's farewell remarks.

Seven Brides for Seven Corporations (a Citizens United Wedding)

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

Ed Koch and the AIDS Crisis - A Historical Fact Checking Duel Between NYT and YouTube Videos

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 ?

Ed Koch, the Closet, Neoliberalism, and AIDS

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)

Ed Koch dies unforgiven by AIDS activists (except by Christine Quinn, who is turning his death into a crass voter outreach opportunity).

@chriscquinn Don't let history sanitize the past. #EdKoch was silent while 1000's of LGBT NY-ers fought and died from AIDS. @tlrd @joemygod

— ACT UP New York (@actupny) February 2, 2013

From Gay Star News :

After lesbian NYC mayoral candidate Christine C. Quinn released a statement calling Koch a 'great mayor' and a 'great man,' LGBT activists pounced. Among those critical of Quinn is Peter Staley, one of the key members of ACT UP and TAG (Treatment Action Group) whose activism and innovation is credited with playing a crucial role in HIV-AIDS going from a death sentence to a manageable condition with the help of certain drugs.

'I'm supporting Christine Quinn for mayor, but this mass email she just sent out is completely tone deaf to the generation of gay New Yorkers who worked tirelessly to throw (Koch) out of office (and we succeeded),' Staley writes in a Facebook post. 'We will never forget his contemptible legacy of neglect during the early years of the HIV/AIDS crisis.'

Read more : Former New York Mayor Ed Koch dies at 88 unforgiven by AIDS activists. Many say he was closeted gay man who didn’t do anything on AIDS when his constituents were dying of disease.

I'm a supporter, but @chriscquinn's mass email is tone deaf to the gen. of gay NYers who fought Koch's AIDS neglect twitter.com/peterstaley/st…

— Peter Staley (@peterstaley) February 1, 2013

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

REALITY CHECK : Christine Quinn is not tone deaf. Instead, she is taking for granted that the LGBT community will vote for her. Therefore, she is taking us for granted. She is playing politics with Mayor Koch's AIDS responsibility in order to appeal to voters in the run-up to this election year. When will people wake up to this fact ?

@chriscquinn I'm a bit shocked by this.Koch is a TRAITOR to New Yorkers and Democrats.He can rot in hell for all I care.

— New Yorker (@vesnawasrobbed) February 1, 2013

Ed Koch, 88, Dies - AIDS Controversy - Memorial Tweets

I'm a supporter, but @chriscquinn's mass email is tone deaf to the gen. of gay NYers who fought Koch's AIDS neglect twitter.com/peterstaley/st…

— Peter Staley (@peterstaley) February 1, 2013

Closeted Former NYC Mayor #EdKoch Reviews @surviveaplague joemygod.blogspot.com/2012/10/closet… #HIV #AIDS @actupny @joemygod twitter.com/stopchrisquinn…

— Stop Christine Quinn (@stopchrisquinn) February 1, 2013

Ed Koch did more to spread HIV/AIDS than Patient Zero. This is a disgusting, abhorrent human being who was granted one thing...(cont)

— Kenny Sullivan (@kennysullivan) February 1, 2013

...he denied thousands if his gay citizens: the gift of time.

— Kenny Sullivan (@kennysullivan) February 1, 2013

Ex Mayor #EdKoch died today.Let tens of thousands die from #AIDS, supported @mikebloomberg, @chriscquinn, #RayKelly, and #stopandfrisk. RIP

— Stop Christine Quinn (@stopchrisquinn) February 1, 2013

The New York Times obit of Ed Koch has ONE fleeting reference to the AIDS epidemic, and nothing about what he did/didn't do. Pathetic.

— Jake S (@JakeMHS) February 1, 2013

Ed Koch's passing is almost as sad as how he ignored the HIV/AIDS crisis in NYC in the 80's.

— Scot Rose (@ScotRoseYaBoat) February 1, 2013

Ed Koch died. Mixed feelings. Sad for his family's loss. Still some anger over how he refused to deal with AIDS crisis.

— Abby, Queen of All (@abby_queenofall) February 1, 2013

Very curious what longtime #AIDS & #gay rights activist Larry Kramer will say on the passing of former NYC Mayor Ed Koch. @surviveaplague

— Ian Thompson (@iantDC) February 1, 2013

Rally to Save Interfaith and LICH outside Cuomo's Office

Call Gov. Andrew Cuomo : (212) 681-4580. Tell him : Save our hospitals !

Rally on 31 Jan 2013 to save Interfaith Hospital and Long Island College Hospital (LICH) in Brooklyn.

Gov. Cuomo and his political aide, the investment banker monster Stephen Berger, are obsessed with closing hospitals. And now, they are setting up "for profit" hospitals in Brooklyn. This is dangerous !!

Gov. Cuomo, in a supreme act of failed neoliberalism policies, has proposed to make Brooklyn one of two counties in the state as a pilot project, in which current state regulations would be to waived to allow for-profit health care investments. (Read more : Judy Wessler).

Bill Thompson Political Advisor Attacks Quinn's Critics

Hank Sheinkopf, an advisor to Bill Thompson, predicts that the growing grassroots movement against Christine Quinn, and her political doctrine of corruption and neoliberalism, will fail. What do you think ?

Democratic Party political consultant Hank Sheinkopf said that he thinks most of the protesters’ arguments against Christine Quinn are bogus.

Among the lone few truly real Progressive voices in New York City, one person spoke up to question the outrageous statements by Mr. Sheinkopf. Gerson Borrero took to Twitter to express his dissent to Mr. Sheinkopf's lack of any political ethics.

WHO IS HANK SHEINKOPF WORKING FOR? Anybody But Quinn | City & State: cityandstateny.com/anybody-but-qu…

— Gerson Borrero (@GersonBorrero) January 30, 2013

From City & State :

Despite the ongoing protests, political insiders say the [growing grassroots] movement [against Christine Quinn] probably won’t gain enough traction to affect the November mayoral primary.

“There’s always unusual things that occur in every mayoral election, and this is the first unusual thing that’s occurring here,” said Democratic Party political consultant Hank Sheinkopf, who added that he thinks most of the protesters’ arguments are bogus.

“The speaker makes deals,” he said. “That’s the nature of legislative government. Her job is to make deals.”

Sheinkopf, who is serving as an advisor to mayoral candidate Bill Thompson, also downplayed Quinn’s status as the Democratic front-runner. A recent poll has her far ahead of the pack, with 35 percent of likely voters pulling the lever for her as compared with 11 percent for Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and 10 percent for Thompson.

Have we reached a low point in New York City politics, where campaign consultants cannot attach the most corrupt mayoral candidate for fear of exposing the shared, underlying political corruption that exists amongst all of the mayoral candidates ?

Hank Sheinkopf defends @chriscquinn against protests. Really? @ows_getmoneyout @occuvote cityandstateny.com/anybody-but-qu… @gersonborrero @ny1thecall

— Stop Christine Quinn (@stopchrisquinn) January 31, 2013

"Look at that ass on her."

If you know whose derrière Mayor Michael Bloomberg was admiring, please give The New York Daily News a call at (212) 210-1585.

Guantanamo Farcical Military Sept. 11 Trial Feed Censorship

During Monday's military court proceedings in Guantanamo, the audio/video feed was shut off -- but nobody knows by whom ?

"Judge Col. James Pohl remains puzzled by an anonymous censor that cut the audiovisual feed during September 11 courtroom proceedings. Ryan Reilly joins Abby from the Guantanamo Naval Base in Cuba," reported Huffington Post.

And from The Washington Post :

David Nevin, one of Mohammed’s civilian attorneys, was discussing a defense motion to preserve any evidence from the secret overseas prisons where the defendants were held by the CIA. The motion had been declassified, but Nevin had barely gotten a sentence out when the audio feed to the media centers on base and at Fort Meade was smothered in white noise. Then the video of the courtroom was cut.

When the feeds were restored several minutes later, Judge James Pohl, an Army colonel, seemed perplexed as to not only why Nevin was censored but by whom. Pohl said he did not cut off the feed, and it did not appear that the court security officer who sits beside him did, either.