CityTime Crook hires Mafia Defense Attorney???!!! by Suzannah B. Troy

The lawyer representing Mark Mazer, kingpin of CityTime fraud....The lawyers name is Gerald Shargel as in :http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Shargel
Best known as the "house counsel" to the Gambino Crime family.


Question: If true where did Mazer get the money to hire Shargel?

p.s. There is good news though! We don't have to pay for his defense attorney! Someone in NYC gov. okayed high priced defense attorneys for Christine Quinn and staff including Sullivan and Cromwell -- the same firm Goldman Sachs uses.

By the way -- are we in closer to recovering the 80 million dollars of tax payers money so far exposed as STOLEN and this was for CityTime which was suppose to prevent union workers -- low tier workers from stealing!!!

Scott Stringer Supports a New Hospital To Replace St. Vincent's

Scott Stringer Says We Need a Full-Service Hospital in the Lower West Side of Manhattan.

At a community forum to discuss the fight for a new hospital, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer said the community needed a full-service hospital to replace St. Vincent's.

Lawmakers and other government officials were invited to the forum at Hudson Guild in Chelsea, and, in their stead, they sent representatives. Mr. Stringer was the only major politician to show up in person, and he made a crowd-pleasing speech.

The community meeting took place Wednesday evening, Feb. 16, from 6 - 8 p.m. at Hudson Guild and was sponsored by the Coälition for a New Village Hospital and the WestView News newspaper.

It is almost one year since St. Vincent's Hospital was closed under shady conditions, and, in that time, the Coälition for a New Village Hospital has been leading the fight to bring back a new hospital for the Lower West Side of Manhattan.

In the time that Christine Quinn has been Speaker of the New York City Council, at least eight city hospitals have closed. In 2010, North General Hospital in Harlem declared bankruptcy and St. Vincent's Hospital in the West Village shut down after shady backroom meetings. In 2009, two hospitals in Queens -- St. John's Queens Hospital in Elmhurst and Mary Immaculate Hospital in Jamaica -- went bankrupt. In 2008, Cabrini Medical Center in Manhattan and Victory Memorial Hospital in Bay Ridge closed. And in 2007, St. Vincent's Midtown in Manhattan was closed. Separately, one other hospital in Brooklyn, Long Island College Hospital, is on the brink of closing, and the only hope of saving the hospital is if it mergers with SUNY Downstate.

Forum Seeks To Restore a Hospital at the Former Site of St. Vincent's

Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, left, and New York City Controller John Liu, below, Are Expected to Join Forum Wednesday Night to Discuss the Next Steps in the Community's Fight to Restore a Hospital at the St. Vincent’s Site

The community of the Lower West Side of Manhattan are invited to join a panel discussion and update on the fight for health care and a full-service hospital. Lawmakers and other government officials were invited to the forum.

The forum, which is expected to attract the participation of Mr. Stringer and Mr. Liu, will take place Wednesday evening, Feb. 16, from 6 - 8 p.m. at Hudson Guild, which is located on Ninth Avenue, between 17th and 18th Streets. The forum is being sponsored by the Coälition for a New Village Hospital and WestView News.

In the time that Christine Quinn has been Speaker of the New York City Council, at least eight city hospitals have closed. In 2010, North General Hospital in Harlem declared bankruptcy and St. Vincent's Hospital in the West Village shut down after shady backroom meetings. In 2009, two hospitals in Queens – St. John's Queens Hospital in Elmhurst and Mary Immaculate Hospital in Jamaica – went bankrupt. In 2008, Cabrini Medical Center in Manhattan and Victory Memorial Hospital in Bay Ridge closed. And in 2007, St. Vincent's Midtown in Manhattan was closed. Separately, one other hospital in Brooklyn, Long Island College Hospital, is on the brink of closing, and the only hope of saving the hospital is if it mergers with SUNY Downstate.

Meanwhile, this is from The New York Post, by way of DNAinfo :

MANHATTAN — New York State hospitals rank 46th in the nation for emergency room visit wait times, with patients waiting an average of five hours to receive treatment, The New York Post reported.

Emergency room wait times increased by 18 minutes between 2008 and 2009 to 296 minutes, Press Ganey, an organization that monitors hospitals, told the Post.

The longer wait times may be due to recent closures of health facilities, such as St. Vincent's Hospital in Greenwich Village, around Manhattan, the paper reported.

As a result of closures, patients have crowded into other hospitals, increasing waiting times, the Post reported.

Bloomberg Testified Against Haggerty

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg provided secret grand jury testimony in the case against his own reëlection campaign worker, John Haggerty, Jr.

Mr. Haggerty, right, escorts 2010 GOP gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino during the Columbus Day Parade in New York City on October 11, 2010. Photo by Anonymous.

During public proceedings in the criminal trial against John Haggerty, Jr., Assistant District Attorney Eric Seidel, one of the prosecutors in the case, told Judge Ronald A. Zweibel that Mayor Bloomberg had testified before a grand jury, and that the grand jury evidence supported the state's case against Mr. Haggerty.

In June 2010, Mr. Haggerty was indicted for allegedly stealing $1.1 million in campaign related payments funneled by Mayor Bloomberg through his private banking accounts to the Independence Party of New York State.

In 2009, Mayor Bloomberg was on pace to spend over $100 million dollars in declared campaign expenses through his committee to reëlect the mayor (CREEM). Because there a backlash at Mayor Bloomberg's outrageous reëlection campaign spending, there must have been some sensitivity within CREEM to substantially exceed $100 million in declared reëlection campaign expenses, ergo the use of millions of undeclared campaign-related expenses from Mayor Bloomberg's personal and private banking accounts.

In 2008, Mayor Bloomberg made private donations to the Independence Party of New York State totaling $1.2 million. Around this time, the New York City Council changed the term limits law without a voter referendum. Then, in 2009, Mayor Bloomberg was endorsed by the Independence Party of New York City.

Ostensibly, Mr. Haggerty was to provide ballot security operations, which is a reëlection campaign activity, for Mayor Bloomberg. Which campaign laws did Mr. Haggerty break, if CREEM knowingly used Mayor Bloomberg's private banking accounts to ''wash in'' money in order to funnel the Independence Party donations to Mr. Haggerty ? What is more, the reporter Aram Roston from PolitickerNY has raised questions about Mayor Bloomberg's pattern in using private donations for campaign-related activities.

Queens Hospital Closings

Last-minute deal saves Long Island College Hospital in Brooklyn. But with more hospitals at risk of closing in Queens, public healthcare will only get worse.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has found enough state grant money to save Long Island College Hospital, NY1 reported. Because of the deal, 2,500 employees, who work at the Brooklyn hospital, will be able to keep their jobs.

In the time that Christine Quinn has been Speaker of the New York City Council, at least eight city hospitals have closed :

• North General Hospital in Harlem declared bankruptcy in 2010 ;
• St. Vincent's Hospital in the West Village was shut down in 2010 after shady backroom meetings ;
• St. John's Queens Hospital in Elmhurst went bankrupt in 2009 ;
• Mary Immaculate Hospital in Jamaica went bankrupt in 2009 ;
• Parkway Hospital in Forest Hills decided to close in 2008 ;
• Cabrini Medical Center in Manhattan closed in 2008 ;
• Victory Memorial Hospital in Bay Ridge closed in 2008 ; and
• St. Vincent's Midtown in Manhattan closed in 2007.

Last October, New York magazine published an exposé written by Mark Levine, which described the dangerous public health issues resulting from all the hospital closings.

"Last year, a pair of hospitals in Queens closed suddenly, just before the outbreak of H1N1, causing overflow conditions in the emergency rooms of nearby facilities, one of which set up a triage area on a loading dock."

In January, The New York Post has made a list of more Queens hospitals, which are in danger of closing, if New York State government makes major cuts in Medicaid funding :

• Jamaica
• Peninsula

For more information, see : Governor's Medicaid cuts may kill 10 city hospitals.

Manhattan Hospital Closings

The Ever-Decreasing Number of Full-Service Hospitals, Emergency Rooms, and Trauma Centers in All Five New York City Boroughs.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has found enough state grant money to save Long Island College Hospital, NY1 reported. Because of the deal, 2,500 employees, who work at the Brooklyn hospital, will be able to keep their jobs.

In the time that Christine Quinn has been Speaker of the New York City Council, at least eight city hospitals have closed :

• North General Hospital in Harlem declared bankruptcy in 2010 ;
• St. Vincent's Hospital in the West Village was shut down in 2010 after shady backroom meetings ;
• St. John's Queens Hospital in Elmhurst went bankrupt in 2009 ;
• Mary Immaculate Hospital in Jamaica went bankrupt in 2009 ;
• Parkway Hospital in Forest Hills decided to close in 2008 ;
• Cabrini Medical Center in Manhattan closed in 2008 ;
• Victory Memorial Hospital in Bay Ridge closed in 2008 ; and
• St. Vincent's Midtown in Manhattan closed in 2007.

Last October, New York magazine published an exposé written by Mark Levine, which described the dangerous public health issues resulting from all the hospital closings.

"Last year, a pair of hospitals in Queens closed suddenly, just before the outbreak of H1N1, causing overflow conditions in the emergency rooms of nearby facilities, one of which set up a triage area on a loading dock."

In January, The New York Post has made a list of more hospitals, which are in danger of closing, if New York State government makes major cuts in Medicaid funding :

Brooklyn:

• Brooklyn Center
• Brookdale
• Interfaith
• Kingsbrook
• Wyckoff

Queens:

• Jamaica
• Peninsula

Bronx:

• Westchester Square
• St. Barnabas

For more information, see : Governor's Medicaid cuts may kill 10 city hospitals.

Brooklyn Hospital Closings

UPDATED : About ten months after Gov. Andrew Cuomo floated the idea of hospital closings to cut the New York State Medicaid budget, now comes an article in The New York Times that paints Gov. Cuomo as a saviour of Brooklyn hospitals : Seeking a Cure for Troubled Hospitals in Brooklyn

Long Island College Hospital in Brooklyn has been saved from closing ; it is expected to merge with SUNY Downstate Hospital.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has found enough state grant money to save Long Island College Hospital, NY1 reported. Because of the deal, 2,500 employees, who work at the Brooklyn hospital, will be able to keep their jobs.

In the time that Christine Quinn has been Speaker of the New York City Council, at least eight city hospitals have closed :

• North General Hospital in Harlem declared bankruptcy in 2010 ;
• St. Vincent's Hospital in the West Village was shut down in 2010 after shady backroom meetings ;
• St. John's Queens Hospital in Elmhurst went bankrupt in 2009 ;
• Mary Immaculate Hospital in Jamaica went bankrupt in 2009 ;
• Parkway Hospital in Forest Hills decided to close in 2008 ;
• Cabrini Medical Center in Manhattan closed in 2008 ;
• Victory Memorial Hospital in Bay Ridge closed in 2008 ; and
• St. Vincent's Midtown in Manhattan closed in 2007.

Last October, New York magazine published an exposé written by Mark Levine, which described the dangerous public health issues resulting from all the hospital closings.

"Last year, a pair of hospitals in Queens closed suddenly, just before the outbreak of H1N1, causing overflow conditions in the emergency rooms of nearby facilities, one of which set up a triage area on a loading dock."

In January, The New York Post has made a list more Brooklyn hospitals, which are in danger of closing, if New York State government makes major cuts in Medicaid funding :

• Brooklyn Center
• Brookdale
• Interfaith
• Kingsbrook
• Wyckoff

For more information, see : Governor's Medicaid cuts may kill 10 city hospitals. (Note that the link to The Post article sometimes does not work. Hmmmm. Try this link for some corroborating information about the hospital closings that would come about as a result of Gov. Cuomo's Medicaid cuts.)

Bronx Hospital Closings

Two Bronx hospitals are at risk of shutting down. Based on the spree other hospital closings, things don't look promising for public healthcare in the Bronx.

In the time that Christine Quinn has been Speaker of the New York City Council, at least eight city hospitals have closed :

• North General Hospital in Harlem declared bankruptcy in 2010 ;
• St. Vincent's Hospital in the West Village was shut down in 2010 after shady backroom meetings ;
• St. John's Queens Hospital in Elmhurst went bankrupt in 2009 ;
• Mary Immaculate Hospital in Jamaica went bankrupt in 2009 ;
• Parkway Hospital in Forest Hills decided to close in 2008 ;
• Cabrini Medical Center in Manhattan closed in 2008 ;
• Victory Memorial Hospital in Bay Ridge closed in 2008 ; and
• St. Vincent's Midtown in Manhattan closed in 2007.

Last October, New York magazine published an exposé written by Mark Levine, which described the dangerous public health issues resulting from all the hospital closings.

"Last year, a pair of hospitals in Queens closed suddenly, just before the outbreak of H1N1, causing overflow conditions in the emergency rooms of nearby facilities, one of which set up a triage area on a loading dock."

In January, The New York Post has made a list of Bronx hospitals, which are in danger of closing, if New York State government makes major cuts in Medicaid funding :

• Westchester Square
• St. Barnabas

For more information, see : Governor's Medicaid cuts may kill 10 city hospitals.

Staten Island Hospital Closings

Last-minute deal saves Long Island College Hospital in Brooklyn. Can Staten Island continue to escape the spree of hospital closing ?

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has found enough state grant money to save Long Island College Hospital, NY1 reported. Because of the deal, 2,500 employees, who work at the Brooklyn hospital, will be able to keep their jobs.

In the time that Christine Quinn has been Speaker of the New York City Council, at least eight city hospitals have closed :

• North General Hospital in Harlem declared bankruptcy in 2010 ;
• St. Vincent's Hospital in the West Village was shut down in 2010 after shady backroom meetings ;
• St. John's Queens Hospital in Elmhurst went bankrupt in 2009 ;
• Mary Immaculate Hospital in Jamaica went bankrupt in 2009 ;
• Parkway Hospital in Forest Hills decided to close in 2008 ;
• Cabrini Medical Center in Manhattan closed in 2008 ;
• Victory Memorial Hospital in Bay Ridge closed in 2008 ; and
• St. Vincent's Midtown in Manhattan closed in 2007.

Last October, New York magazine published an exposé written by Mark Levine, which described the dangerous public health issues resulting from all the hospital closings.

"Last year, a pair of hospitals in Queens closed suddenly, just before the outbreak of H1N1, causing overflow conditions in the emergency rooms of nearby facilities, one of which set up a triage area on a loading dock."

In January, The New York Post has made a list of Bronx, Queens, and Brooklyn hospitals, which are in danger of closing, if New York State government makes major cuts in Medicaid funding :

Brooklyn:

• Brooklyn Center
• Brookdale
• Interfaith
• Kingsbrook
• Wyckoff

Queens:

• Jamaica
• Peninsula

Bronx:

• Westchester Square
• St. Barnabas

For more information, see : Governor's Medicaid cuts may kill 10 city hospitals.

Bloomberg Calls the Irish, "Inebriated"

Irish Eyes Not Smiling Over Mayor Bloomberg's Inebriated Insensitivity

Mayor Bloomberg described Irish New Yorkers as being ''inebriated,'' and he added that he was accustomed to seeing drunken Irish ''hanging out the windows'' of the American Irish Historical Society in their drunken state.

The mayor's insult came during a speech he gave at the American Irish Historical Society, and his disparaging remarks triggered boos from the audience.

In an article about the insult, The New York Times quoted John Dunleavy, the chairman of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade, said the mayor’s words were “outrageous and totally uncalled for.”

Democracy in Italy

#OpItaly : February 13 Countdown To Democratic Process that Can Only End With Berlusconi Resignation ; Will #OpCityHall Or #OpCityCouncil Be Next ?

News is spreading on the Internet that the combined impact of WikiLeaks documents and Anonymous will soon bring reform to the Italian government.

Although Prime Minister Silvio has weathered many corruption scandals, he has not been held accountable, ''because of his remarkable control of Italian television and the press.'' But the international mood is changing.

''Outsiders may find it easy to group all Italians as Berlusconi sympathizers or as passively resigned to their predicament. But there are many Italians who are fighting against him and the effect he has had on Italy,'' wrote Clare Watters in an opinion-editorial featured in The New York Times.

While we always hear international chatter about undemocratic leaders, as with the recent democratic revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt, we can safely bet that change will next come to Italy.

Look no further than here : Operation Italy Part 2 PRESS RELEASE English.

St. Vincent's Activist Get Out of Jail ; Give Press Conference

Why Are They Closing St. Vincent's Hospital ?

Four community activists were released from jail on Wednesday, following their arrest on Tuesday for having staged a sit-in at the former site of St. Vincent's Hospital, reported the Hedz-Up Report. Ms. Katz and the other activists were each charged with criminal trespass, but all they were trying to do was to bring a new hospital to the Lower West Side of Manhattan. Following is video of the a part of the press conference, where Evette Stark-Katz, one of the activists who was arrested, made a public statement.

Why Are They Closing St. Vincent's Hospital? (Pt. 18) - Arrest & Release (Clip 1) from g. sosa on Vimeo.

Mike Bloomberg John Haggerty hold the bull!

Four Activists Were Arrested at Sit-In at St. Vincent's Hospital

This morning, NYPD arrested four activists, who protested the closing of St. Vincent's Hospital. Politicians, on whose watch the hospital closed, remain at-large.

Watch a YouTube video of the protesters, as they were taken into police custody. While they were being put into the back of the police van, the activists shouted : "Land-lock St. Vincents ; Trauma 1 now !"

A group called Hands Off St. Vincent's held a sit-in Tuesday morning at the shuttered medical center. At approximately 10:30 a.m., four activists were arrested. It is not known how many other activists took part at the demonstration.

Among the protesters, who were arrested, were LGBT civil rights activists Iana Di Bona and Alan Bounville. Following is the statement from a press release, which was distributed to the media, by one of the group's members :

New York, NY – On February 8, at 10:30 am, four former patients and impassioned community members entered the building at the location of the closed down Saint Vincent's Hospital. These activists then sat on the ground, unfurling a banner that read, "Guilty : Neglect !" and began to chant - refusing to move. Saint Vincent's personnel closed off that section of the building - currently operating as a Credit Union - and refused entry to members of the credit union as well as persons employed within the building. Two hours after their arrival, the four activists were arrested and taken away by the police.

For 284 days, 1.3 million New Yorkers have been without a hospital in the West Village. Since St. Vincent’s illegal closure on April 30, 2010, the community has been laden with false promises, patronized with a bogus needs assessment and forced, with tragic consequences, to seek emergency or medical care at already overcrowded uptown or East-side hospitals.

“Everyday that passes is critical,” said Iana Di Bona, one of the arrested activists, “Our elected officials have the ability to turn things around, yet they do nothing. It is so important to speak out and to continue to pressure and hold them accountable to service the needs of our community.”

Commitment for a New Village Hospital by the people of the West Village and all of New York City has not wavered. Any politician not actively working to get a new hospital is a target. That is a promise the St. Vincent’s Hospital Community Activists intend to keep.

Before the sit-in took place, it appears that the activists held a "peoples trial" of politicians, on whose watch St. Vincent's closed. According to the description of the YouTube video, an unidentified Hands Off member made the following statement : "We hold the elected officials responsible for betraying their very own constituency."

On her blog, the artist and political commentator Suzannah B. Troy broke the news of the activists getting arrested at St. Vincent's. Ms. Troy made the observation that Mayor Michael Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn recently pushed through a new smoking ban in public parks as a sign of their concern for public health, but Ms. Troy questions their commitment if politicians have made no commitment to save city hospitals from closing.

Christine Quinn, Ms. Slush and Intimidation wants to be Mayor! by Suzannah B. Troy

http://www.nypost.com/p/pagesix/quinn_cash_U8m3A7r3ur4ZUF5FrZfpsK

Christine Quinn, Ms.Slush and Intimidation, aka as Mike Bloomberg's mini-me will never be mayor. I am waiting for an App, a NY Post ticker of how much corrupt politicians lawyers are costing tax payers. Here legal team must be working over-thttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEaki2DQ0_wime. I hope she gets a subpoena so she has to explain under oath how she brushed aside 2 investigations in to CityTime and if she used intimidation to prevent a 3rd? Quinn also pushed the great lie we needed Mike for a third term to help the economy. Look at the list of her campaign donors -- that is who she helped. She is all talk but her actions speak louder and she belongs in jail. The slush $ investigations are moving slower than a turtle in molasses.

p.s. Page 6 keeps doing phony p.r.. for Quinn just like the do for guess who's love life which is a big farce...gee wonder what that is all about?

Bloombo Dicto Hosni Bloomberg

Maybe after #OpEgypt and #OpItaly, we'll have #OpCityHall or #OpCityCouncil ?

After Mayor Michael Bloomberg insulted parents who heckled Chancellor Cathleen Black, Michael Mulgrew, president of the teachers union, compared Mayor with Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak, reported The New York Post.

Ms. Black's ''Awwwwwww'' moment came when she mocked parents, who were going to desperate measures to save several schools from closing, and her insensitive mocking and juvenile immaturity has inflamed the anger of parents and has shocked the conscious of even some school officials. In response to the despair of parents, Mayor Bloomberg has predictably unleashed a ridiculous backlash against Ms. Black's critics.

Mayor Bloomberg, who subverted a public referendum to run for a third term as mayor, went on to say that angry parents were acting unpatriotic. "This is not democracy -- letting people yell and scream. That's not freedom of expression," Mayor Bloomberg said. "That's just trying to take away somebody else's rights. And if we want to attract good people to come and work for the public, you don't do this."

Under his tight fist of ''mayoral control'' over the school system, Mayor Bloomberg wields totalitarian control over the Panel for Educational Policy, which votes to close schools ; the Panel operates under the appearance of independence, but in reality the Panel is ''entirely undemocratic'' and takes its ''marching orders only from Bloomberg,'' according to the Post Mr. Mulgrew noted that if the Panel doesn't vote the way that the Mayor wants, he retaliates against them. ''The last time they voted against him, he fired them,'' Mr. Mulgrew said.

Even The New York Times Agrees : the ''Fix'' Was In.

Meanwhile, at a meeting on Thursday night, where more schools were voted to be closed, City Councilmember Charles Barron said, “You will let us scream until we get hoarse, and then we know what will happen — you’ll shut all our schools down.”

''The closing of struggling schools has been a key piece of Mr. Bloomberg’s agenda, and his eight-person majority has stood behind him, phasing out more than 100 schools, often replacing them with small schools and charter schools,'' reported The Times.

Update on Christine Quinn

While Mayor Bloomberg spent the week closing schools, firing teachers, and getting rid of classrooms and school lunches, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn was using NYPD as enforcers against activists outside a fundraiser for her presumed candidacy for Mayor in 2013.

Christine Quinn Avoids Public Audit of St. Vincent's Hospital Closing

The City Council Sneaker Investigates the Very Idea That Wal-Mart Will Open a Store in New York City, but She Won't Investigate Why St. Vincent's Hospital Closed ?

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn called Wal-Mart a ''union-busting, tax-evading, wage-correcting, job-destroying, civil-rights-abusing, food-stamps-denying multinational corporation.'' But Speaker Quinn won't investigate the shady and rapid closing of St. Vincent's Hospital.

If Comptroller John Liu were to launch an investigation into St. Vincent's Hospital, he could count on the support of a few hundred thousand New Yorkers, who live in the former St. Vincent's catchment area, who have been left with no hospital in the Lower West Side of Manhattan. That area also happens to coïncide with what would be considered Speaker Quinn's strongest base of support, if she were to run for mayor of New York in 2013.

At Quinn Protest, A Use of City Resources for Campaign Activities ?

Is Speaker Quinn using city resources, and police,
for campaign activities ?

At a political fundraiser on the evening of Feb. 2, 2011, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn deployed a large team of police officers. Three peaceful protesters, myself included, gathered to hold up a banner, asking for a new hospital for the Lower West Side of Manhattan, to replace St. Vincent's. Police told us to move, and one officer pushed me to get me to move, even though we were on a public sidewalk and not blocking traffic. Plus, there were no barricades, to indicate that there was a restricted zone. Is Speaker Quinn using city resources, and police, for campaign activities ? Who is instructing NYPD to intimidate protesters ?

David Kato : Vigil and March in NYC to Demand Hate Crimes Investigation

NYC vigil and march in memory of David Kato on Thursday, February 3

Last Wednesday, Ugandan gay activist David Kato was beaten to death in a brutal hate crime. Even after David was deliberately marked as a target in a newspaper’s controversial campaign that called for gays to be executed, police in Uganda are refusing to investigate David’s suspicious murder as an act of homophobia.

Here in New York, the LGBT community and our allies are outraged at the continuation of human rights violations against David, even after his death, and against LGBT people everywhere.  We invite all New Yorkers to participate in a vigil and march on Thursday, February 3.

For more information about the vigil and march, please visit the Facebook page. The vigil will begin at 4 pm at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza (885 Second Avenue), and, from there, mourners will begin a march that will pass in front of the United Nations Headquarters and end at the Uganda Mission to the United Nations (336 East 45th Street).

Date : Thursday, February 3, 2011
Start Time : 4 p.m.
Meeting Place : 1 Dag Hammarskjold Plaza (885 Second Avenue), New York City
Please Bring : Signs and Banners to remember David Kato

David’s life work was to courageously fight for the human rights of LGBT people in Uganda. In the time leading up to his murder, David had been working to defeat the widely controversial Anti-Homosexuality Bill in Uganda.  Under the proposed bill, some LGBT people would become subject to the death penalty.  In David’s name, we demand that the Ugandan government abandon this bill.

The Anti-Homosexuality Bill was introduced in the Ugandan Parliament by David Bahati, who is associated with ‘’The Family,’’ a fringe group of right-wing politicians and businessmen, who inject their fundamentalist beliefs into government matters, including civil rights and reproductive freedoms. Mr. Bahati reportedly first proposed the idea of executing gays during The Family's Uganda National Prayer Breakfast in 2008.

We stand up to the bigotry of and interference by groups, like The Family. We also join others in calling for the Ugandan government to recognize LGBT equality as a universal human right, to fully investigate all hate crimes, and to take action against institutions, which create campaigns that are only meant to incite discrimination and violence against LGBT people.

The campaign against LGBT Ugandans was being lead by other social and cultural institutions, including the media. It is unacceptable that a newspaper would publish a list of LGBT people and mark them as targets for death. As we hold our vigil and march near the United Nations, we also ask the U.N. to continue to put pressure on the Ugandan government to thoroughly investigate David’s killing, as well as to investigate and prosecute any institution, which is responsible for advocating for the execution, discrimination, or harassment of LGBT people.

We ask everyone to join us in this vigil to demand that all cultural- and government-sanctioned discrimination and violence against LGBT persons come to an end.

Egypt And The U.S. : Interference With The Internet #LeakSpin

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak :
The Countdown To Regime Change

The right to Internet access is so critical to citizens' participation in their own governments that the revolution taking place in Egypt has implications for the United States. Tonight, U.S. President Barack Obama addressed the bloody crackdown on the protests in Egypt.

From The New York Times :

Mr. Obama also said that Egyptian officials should "reverse the actions that they have taken to interfere with the Internet, cellphone service, social networks that do so much to connect people in the 21st century." He added, "going forward, this moment of volatility has to be turned into a moment of promise."

In a 2007 editorial ABC News online, Internet access was described as an important underpinning to democracies. When the governments of Burma and China restricted Internet access, the consequences to freedoms were indisputable. ''Democratic governments understand the connection between human rights and Internet freedom. They have been quick to condemn the Internet crackdown in Burma and China and the lack of Internet freedom in much of the world,'' wrote Leslie Harris.

Remember that before the Egyptian government suspended Internet access inside its country, ''President Bush secretly authorized the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on Americans and others inside the United States ... .''

Remember that before the Egyptian government shut down cellphone service, President Obama ordered the Justice Department to obtain a secret court order to demand that Twitter turn over, among other things, the ''subscriber names'' of the five individuals associated with WikiLeaks, an act that would blatantly deny subscribers their rights to due process.

Earlier today, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also made a statement to express her request that the Egyptian government restore Internet access.

''Mrs. Clinton also urged the government 'to reverse the unprecedented steps it has taken to cut off communications,' referring to its decision — apparently unprecedented — to cut off all Internet services in the country, as well as mobile phone networks in some areas,'' reported The Times.

For the U.S. government to actualise the exceptionalism that we know it to have, and for the U.S. government to truly support democracy in Egypt, it must be more honest about the dishonesty of the Egyptian government (''GOE''). Today, WikiLeaks published new U.S. Embassy cables, including one that gave some perspective into the inside information available to the U.S. government.

''The GOE has not begun serious work on trying to transform the police and security services from instruments of power that serve and protect the regime into institutions operating in the public interest, despite official slogans to the contrary.''

#CableGate, #LeakSpin, #09CAIRO79

Egypt Takes Actions To Shut Down The Internet

Egypt Uprising : Government Shuts Down The Entire Internet

''Confirming what a few have reported this evening: in an action unprecedented in Internet history, the Egyptian government appears to have ordered service providers to shut down all international connections to the Internet,'' reported the blog, AnonOps Communications. In a separate media report, it was confirmed that internet services and cell phone text messaging have been cut across the African country to prevent the organizers of the protests from further connection, AFP reported on Friday.

Courageous Egyptian Protesters

من مظاهرات يوم الغضب - شاب شجاع جدا

A courageous Egyptian protester stops an armoured truck bearing a water cannon on protesters on what appears to be Qasr al-Ayn Street in Cairo, Egypt.

Similar to the Tiananmen Square hero from the 1989 protests, in Cairo today a hero-protester stood in front of an armoured truck.

BREAKING : Wal-Mart Shooting

''A shoot-out in front of a Wal-Mart in Washington state left two people dead and two sheriff's deputies wounded Sunday afternoon,'' the Associated Press has reported.

One of the dead was a man who shot at deputies, said Scott Wilson of the Kitsap County Sheriff's Office. The other victim was a young woman who died after she was taken to a Tacoma hospital, he said. ...

Wilson said details were sketchy, but the sheriff's office received a call about a suspicious person at the store in Port Orchard. He said the man ran and started shooting when three deputies tried to talk to him. The deputies, including the two who were wounded, returned fire. ...

The store was immediately locked down, and customers weren't being allowed to leave. ...

Michael Moore Discusses WikiLeaks On Rachel Maddow Show

On the December 21, 2010, episode of the Rachel Maddow Show, Rachel sat down with Michael Moore in front of a live audience at the 92nd Street Y in New York City, to discuss U.S. Embassy cables that discussed the documentary, Fahrenheit 9/11. Their interview also included the subject of WikiLeaks.

Keith Olbermann Ends MSNBC Show

Updated : MSNBC and Keith Olbermann have ended their contract.

From The Huffington Post :

Keith Olbermann and MSNBC have ended their contract, according to a statement from MSNBC. The last episode of "Countdown" will air this evening, Friday, January 21.

MSNBC's statement reads as follows:

''MSNBC and Keith Olbermann have ended their contract. The last broadcast of "Countdown with Keith Olbermann" will be this evening. MSNBC thanks Keith for his integral role in MSNBC's success and we wish him well in his future endeavors.''

It has been reported that Mr. Olbermann's contract was being terminated midway through a four-year deal worth an estimated $30 million. Rumours on the internet indicate that Mr. Olbermann was fired as a consequence of Comcast's acquisition of NBC.

Sarah Palin Harper Valley PTA Parody Video

''The Ballad of Sarah Palin,'' by Lady Bunny

Lady Bunny has socked it to the Sarah Palin-Tea Party hypocrites.

John Liu : CityTime Developer Is Holding NYC Hostage

Without Naming SAIC Directly, A Report By The Comptroller's Office Finds That The Faulty CityTime Project Allows The Developer To Hold New York City Hostage ''In Perpetuity.''

“The CityTime product as it currently stands may allow the vendor to maintain an indefinite monopoly on the development and maintenance of New York City’s timekeeping system,” New York City Comptroller John Liu said in a statement issued today.

Mr. Liu released his statement in connection with a review of the technology behind the CityTime payroll system. The Comptroller's Office, in Mr. Liu's statement, says that the review ''casts serious doubts on whether the system could be run independently without the project’s developer.''

“The emerging product holds the client -- the City of New York -- hostage to one company, the project’s developer," Mr. Liu said, in his statement.

The development contracts behind the CityTime payroll system has involved the theft of $80 million dollars, and Mr. Liu asked that two city agencies to scrutinise the failed system.

According to the statement, ''Subsequent to the assessment, Comptroller Liu instructed his representatives on the Office of Payroll Administration and the Financial Information Services Agency Boards of Directors to ensure that all deficiencies caused by the vendor are cured at no additional cost to taxpayers, and to explore all options including ceasing deployment of new users.''

Do Something About Marriage Equality

Op-Ed : Hold Speaker Quinn Accountable For Lack Of Marriage Equality In New York City

Over the last year, a prominent campaign was announced, encouraging ''... LGBT Americans and straight allies to withhold time and money from political entities that are not fighting as hard for our equality ... .''

''Democrats and Republicans are holding our equality hostage -– promising progress if we vote them back into office year after year, but never actually delivering on those promises. It’s time for us to call them on their game of chicken. We are insisting on progress before we will prop up political parties and committees that expect us to donate while they fund anti-equality candidates and fail us time after time.'' This includes, New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who is presumed to be aggressively raising money and support in preparation to mount a 2013 campaign for New York City's mayoral office.

On 13 January 2011, Speaker Quinn attended an event sponsored by Freedom To Marry, a national marriage equality organisation. Speaker Christine Quinn shows up to gay rights events -- or gay engagement announcements, like the one that took place on the evening that this YouTube was made -- but Speaker Quinn has never introduced any law to establish marriage equality in New York City. In contrast, Gavin Newson helped to reshape marriage equality for the United States by allowing same-sex couples to receive marriage licenses in San Francisco. New York voters need to hold Speaker Quinn accountable for having taken no action during all her years as Speaker to make marriage equality a reality.

At a time when, if we expect to make real progress in terms of gay civil rights, we need ''All Hands On Deck,'' here we find that, instead, Speaker Quinn still has her hands in the cookie jar. If gay marriage ever becomes legal in New York City, it won't be because of Speaker Quinn.

Christine Quinn - Corruption Protest - 13 January 2011

Stringer Raising Millions For Potential Mayoral Campaign In 2013

Potential New York City 2013 Mayoral Candidates Raising Money ; Sitting On Millions Of Campaign Cash.

Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer raised approximately $1 million dollars in 2010 in what is being called a preparation to run for Mayor of New York City in 2013, reported The Wall Street Journal.

The Journal reported that in the final 6 months of 2010, Mr. Stringer raised nearly $400,000, while City Council Speaker Christine Quinn raised $121,000. During the same period, each of Rep. Anthony Weiner and 2009 Mayoral candidate William Thompson did not raise any money.

While Mr. Stringer had a definite fundraising advantage in 2010, his rumoured competition for the Demorcratic nomination have piles of campaign cash that can be funneled into a mayoral campaign. Together with his 2010 fundraising, Mr. Stringer has a combined balance of approximately $2 million, Ms. Quinn has approximately $2.8 million available to her, and Mr. Weiner has almost $4 million on hand.

New York City Comptroller John Liu and Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, each of whom are also considered potential mayoral candidates, have not released their fundraising activities for the latter part of 2010, The Journal reported.

Secret FBI Subpoenas

The NYTimes doesn't believe that the U.S. Justice Department is conducting an illegal investigation of WikiLeaks. Oh, really ?

Running contrary to the characterisation of Birgitta Jonsdottir, a former WikiLeaks activist who is also a member of Iceland’s Parliament, that U.S. prosecutors were using a court order to collect ''personal information from an elected official without having any case,'' The New York Times has reported that the scope of the court order was not unlawful.

''The news that federal prosecutors have demanded that the microblogging site Twitter provide the account details of people connected to the WikiLeaks case, including its founder, Julian Assange, isn’t noteworthy because the government’s request was unusual or intrusive. It is noteworthy because it became public.''

Let's examine just a couple of aspects of the court order :

(i) ''The order asks for subscriber names, user names, screen names, mailing addresses, residential addresses and connection records along with other information related to the accounts.''

(ii) ''Stating that information held by Twitter was "relevant and material" to the WikiLeaks investigation, the district court ordered the startup to hand over:

• session times and connection records
• telephone numbers
• credit card information
• e-mail and IP addresses
• correspondence and notes of record''

What would the U.S. government be gaining from conducting a court-sanctioned surveillance for this kind of social media account information? Not for nothing, by focusing on subscribers and connection records, among other things, the U.S. government is casting a wide, indiscriminate net into cyberspace, and it is hoping to pull in something -- legal or otherwise, relevant or otherwise, applicable or otherwise. There is no focus to the court order ; its only objectives are to spy and to collect surveillance over both foreigners, over which the U.S. may have no jurisdiction, and citizens, who are being denied due process.

On a blog of a WikiLeaks supporter, someone asked, ''Is this not the same type of action that you, DOJ, find reprehensible in other countries?''

(As an aside, I wonder if The Times even appreciates the fact that, after the U.S. government's secret investigation of WikiLeaks has become ''public,'' those being targeted by the court order can now reasonably fight the unreasonableness of the indiscriminate scope of the court order. The owners of the social media accounts, on Twitter, Facebook, and Google, have legal rights, according to the law. How would the owners of the social media accounts know to fight the government's court order, if the government doesn't even serve the court order on the account owners? Look at how wikipedia gives context to due process violation : ''When a government harms a person, without following the exact course of the law, then that is a due process violation which offends the rule of law.'')

Violence in American Politics

Will The Arizona Shooting Rampage Create A Period of Political Instability In The United States ?

The New York Times reported that the Arizona shooting rampage has exposed the fact that politics in the United States has been becoming more vitriolic -- and violent.

''The shooting of Representative Gabrielle Giffords and others at a neighborhood meeting in Arizona on Saturday set off what is likely to be a wrenching debate over anger and violence in American politics,'' reported The New York Times.

The impact that the alleged shooter, Jared Lee Loughner, wanted to have on the U.S. political system is unmistakable.

''Along with being accused of trying to kill Ms. Giffords, Mr. Loughner was charged with killing or attempting to kill four other United States government officials : United States District Judge John M. Roll and Gabriel Zimmerman, an aide to Ms. Giffords, who were killed, and two more Congressional aides, Pamela Simon and Ron Barber, who were wounded.''

The Times even went so far as to compare the Arizona shooting rampage with an act of domestic terrorism.

''Not since the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 has an event generated as much attention as to whether extremism, antigovernment sentiment and even simple political passion at both ends of the ideological spectrum have created a climate promoting violence.''

WikiLeaks Twitter Subpoena Denies Subscribers Their Right To Due Process

The First item listed in the secret Order signed by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia demands that Twitter turn over ''subscriber names'' of the five individuals associated with WikiLeaks.

On Saturday night, the WikiLeaks Twitter feed included this ominous message : ''Too late to unfollow; trick used is to demand the lists, dates and IPs of all who received our twitter messages.''

Not only have U.S. Justice Department prosecutors cast the data mining aspect of their court order on Twitter to include foreigners, but now prosecutors are trying to ensnare mere subscribers (or, in Twitter jargon, ''followers'') of the five individuals associated with WikiLeaks.

Whereas, the three foreigners, who are targets of the prosecutors' surveillance, have the option to object to the court order served on Twitter, the fact that followers have no say in fighting the reasonableness of the U.S. government's court order call into question the true scope of the legal witch hunt.

Since there appears to be a weak legal underpinning to the court orders, then, more and more, the investigations by U.S. prosecutors appear to be mere acts of retaliation against foreign political dissidents and WikiLeaks.

And caught in the middle are the followers on Twitter. If the followers are foreigners, then a U.S. court may have no jurisdiction over the free speech activities of those foreigners. And if the followers are Americans, then the Americans should be given due process, namely, an opportunity to challenge the court order. Except for harassment or retaliation, what is the purpose for the U.S. government to know who are the Twitter followers ? Certainly, there is no legal reasoning for the U.S. government to know who are the Twitter followers.

WikiLeaks Twitter Subpoena Targets Foreigners

A U.S. Court in Virginia issues Order for Production of Information that Ensnares Citizens of Australia, Iceland, and The Netherlands.

The issuance of a court order to Twitter confirms that prosecutors working for the United States Department of Justice are investigating WikiLeaks over the publications of thousands of classified U.S. embassy cables.

The court order specifically names three foreigners. It is unknown if a domestic U.S. court may extend its jurisdiction to cover the internet accounts of foreigners.

According to an analysis published by The New York Times on the subject of the application or validity of the U.S. court order on foreign individuals, Justice Department prosecutors might be violating the right of free speech of the foreign individuals. The three foreign individuals, who are the target of the Twitter court order, are : Julian Assange, the spokesperson and editor-in-chief for WikiLeaks; Birgitta Jonsdottir, a former WikiLeaks activist who is also a member of Iceland’s Parliament; and Rop Gonggrijp, a computer programmer.

''This raised the possibility of a diplomatic quarrel between the United States and allied nations whose citizens were among those covered by the subpoena. They could argue that American laws were being used to stifle free communications between individuals who were not American citizens, and who were not in the United States at the time of the messages.''

It is unclear whether court orders pursued by Justice Department prosecutors in their retaliatory persecution of WikiLeaks can apply U.S. law to foreigners. Indeed, according to The Times, in the case of Ms. Jonsdottir, ''Iceland’s foreign minister ... has requested a meeting with the American ambassador to Iceland to ask, among other things, whether a grand jury inquiry prompted the subpoena.''

If the legal underpinning of the court orders can be called into question, then do the investigations by U.S. prosecutors constitute acts of retaliation against foreign political dissidents and WikiLeaks ?

WikiLeaks Twitter Subpoena Scandal

UPDATE : The Guardian newspaper : WikiLeaks Demands That Google And Facebook Unseal U.S. Subpoenas

WikiLeaks is reportedly demanding that Google and Facebook unseal any secret court orders that the websites received in connection with the U.S. government's retaliation against WikiLeaks.

WikiLeaks' demand followed news that was reported that a court in Virginia had issued a secret order to Twitter to produce personal information belonging to accounts of five individuals associated with WikiLeaks.

All of the secret court orders are providing ''strong evidence'' that the U.S. government has empaneled a grand jury to begin a broad, large-scale data mining operation that seeks to collect surveillance in a retaliatory act against WikiLeaks. In late November, WikiLeaks began a coördinated reporting collaboration with several respected journalism outlets, including The New York Times, to publish thousands of United States embassy cables.

In A Clear First Amendment Violation, The U.S. Government Has Issued A Judicial Order To Twitter In An Effort To Collect Information About WikiLeaks And Its Supporters.

Officials from the United States Department of Justice have applied for, and received, a judicial order that has been issued to the social media website, Twitter, in an effort to collect information about political dissidents. In some countries, activists are under constant harassment from their governments.

In growing numbers of mainstream media reports, the news has been reporting that the U.S. government has served Twitter with what are being described as ''subpoenas'' for the private messages, contact information, and other personal forms of information belonging to Julian Assange, who is the spokesperson and editor in chief for WikiLeaks. Other targets of the subpoenas include Pfc. Bradley Manning, who is a U.S. Army intelligence analyst, and Birgitta Jonsdottir, who is a member of parliament in Iceland. Ms. Jonsdottir was also a former WikiLeaks volunteer. Also mentioned in the judicial order are other individuals currently or formerly associated with WikiLeaks, including Jacob Appelbaum and Rop Gonggrijp.

According to Salon.com, the information demanded by the WikiLeaks subpoenas issued by the U.S. Department of Justice is ''sweeping in scope.'' Salon.com has posted online the Department of Justice order for the Twitter information.

Reporter Is Found Castrated ; Male Model Wanted For Questioning

Portuguese Journalist Carlos Antonio De Castro Found Dead In Times Square Hotel.

Carlos Antonio De Castro's dead body was discovered naked and lying face up in a room on the 34th floor of the Intercontinental New York Times Square about 7 p.m., sources told The New York Daily News.

The corpse was found in a pool of blood ; there were signs of massive trauma to the head. Sources said that Mr. De Castro's scrotum was cut off.

Mr. De Castro had checked into the hotel on Dec. 29 with the male model, Renato Seabra. Before Mr. De Castro's body was found, it was reported that the two men had been arguing. It is believed that Mr. Seabra fled the hotel room ; he is now being sought for questioning.

Mr. De Castro was 65 years old, whilst Mr. Seabra was in his 20's, The Daily News reported.

NY Senate Democrats Outraged by Bloomberg's Disgraceful Comment

Senate Democrats Didn't Take Kindly To Mayor Bloomberg Calling Their Time In The Majority "A Disgrace," Reported Celeste Katz.

Earlier today, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg was in Albany for Gov. Andrew Cuomo's State of the State address, after which the mayor insulted the Democrat Senators.

"I thought, if you take a look, it was a disgrace what happened in the last couple of years in the Senate. Most people, regardless of party, think that," said Mayor Bloomberg.

Upon hearing the mayor's insult, Senate Democrats reacted with anger.

"The actual disgrace is failing to manage a fatal blizzard because you and all of your top aides were on vacation and nobody was left in charge," a Senate Democratic source told Ken Lovett of The New York Daily News.

For the past two years, Democrats in the New York State Senate carried out Mayor Bloomberg's Republican agenda, and now Mayor Bloomberg has expressed a lack of gratitude by calling the Democrats a ''disgrace.'' Where have we heard the word ''disgrace'' come from the mayor before ? Oh, that's right. When the mayor was confronted with his ''rationale'' for extending term limits, Mayor Bloomberg called the brave reporter a ''disgrace.'' Here is that famous video :

Mayor Bloomberg where were u Blizzard 2010 people died! Call for Feds to investigate MTA as well as Sanitation Dept.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTw3x2bSX90

Assassination of Salman Taseer

Militants Set The Agenda

Salman Taseer, the governor of Punjab Province in Pakistan, was murdered earlier today by one of his police guards. The New York Times reported that today's killing has exposed that Pakistan is experiencing a political crisis.

In a past article, The Times reported that, ''officially,'' the U.S. did not want to be seen ''taking sides in Pakistan’s already chaotic internal politics.'' Yet, in the time leading up to Governor Taseer's assassination, The Times reported that the U.S. was having a greater public role in the affairs of Pakistan.

''Obama administration officials worry that even if Pakistan’s government survives the upheaval — which they believe it might, for a while — the turmoil could kill any chance for political and economic reforms. The assassination, one official said, leaves not only the repeal of the blasphemy laws in doubt, but also possible reforms to increase tax collection. Under pressure from Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and other American officials, the Pakistani government submitted a new tax law in Parliament. But it may abandon the push as a way to lure back coalition partners.''

At the end of the day, it's hard to tell if the U.S. is ''officially'' involved or uninvolved in the direction of Pakistan's government. And for the second time, since the spectacular security failure that lead to Benazir Bhutto's assassination, an investigation needs to be made to review those ''officially'' or ''unofficially'' responsible for providing security to key government leaders in Pakistan.

John Liu Exposes Another Technology Contract

NYC's Emergency Telephone System Contract Draws New Scrutiny

The CityTime technology contract scandal has cast many doubts on Mayor Michael Bloomberg's other expensive IT programs. The Gothamist has reported that suspicion has grown in connection with the out-of-control costs associated with a technology upgrade to New York City's 911 emergency telephone system.

''The City Time scandal had already been a point of contention between the Bloomberg administration and City Comptroller John Liu, and now their fight has spread to the City's emergency services. Yesterday Liu's office rejected a $286 million contract request for the city's Emergency Communications Transformation Program, (ECTP), an effort to update the city's 911 system—a project that, incidentally, was initially budged at $380 million and has since ballooned to $666 million.''

Now that the Comptroller Liu has finally started showing up to the office as Comptroller and not a candidate for mayor, maybe he will expose other black holes in the city budget ?