Hillary Clinton vs. Christine Quinn

The story that seems to have been intentionally leaked, or planted in The New York Times, that Mayor Michael Bloomberg approached Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to run for mayor in 2013 is full of half-truths. First, it was an attempt to saddle Mrs. Clinton in another public office, so that she would not run for president in 2016, a win for Republicans. Second, it was an attempt to make it appear that Mayor Bloomberg was not so invested in electioneering machinations to clear the Democratic Primary field for the mayoralty, so that Speaker Christine Quinn could have an easier time at winning, because, as we all know, the only way that she can win is if a billionaire Republican with his own Super PAC would interfere with the election process.

From The Wall Street Journal :

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg organized an awkward show of unity with City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, standing side by side at a press conference Tuesday following reports that he had discussed next year’s mayoral race with Hillary Clinton.

Quinn, of course, is the mayor’s political ally and the potential candidate widely viewed as his favored successor. Bloomberg on Tuesday didn’t confirm or deny a report in the New York Times that he has sought to lure Clinton into the race.

When asked why he recommended that the current U.S. secretary of state consider running for mayor, Bloomberg replied: “Why do you think I encouraged Hillary Clinton to run for mayor? I mean, were you — did you hear me say that?”

“I have run for mayor three times, successfully each one,” he added. “I considered a fourth. Chris [Quinn] and I talked about it. She kept urging me to do it. But I said, ‘No. It’s enough.’ ”

The mayor was joking about running for a fourth term. As he did so, Quinn made a face and motioned with her hand to suggest Bloomberg was talking crazy.

In 2008, Quinn reversed her position on term limits and persuaded her colleagues in the City Council to overturn the law, paving the way for the Bloomberg to run for a third term in 2009. As she pursues an expected mayoral campaign in 2013, her position on term limits will certainly be brought up by her opponents.

On Tuesday morning, however, Bloomberg focused more on extolling Quinn’s leadership. He said her role in the council had been a major factor in his success at City Hall.

The two politicians were speaking at a news conference marking the ground breaking at a 26-acre development on Manhattan’s West Side. During the mayor’s first term in office, he attempted unsuccessfully to win approval to build a stadium at this location — marking one of his biggest setbacks. Quinn, who was not yet speaker, fought aggressively against the stadium.

Bloomberg did not dwell on that Tuesday. “This woman has made an enormous difference in this city,” he said of Quinn. “She’s a leader and I have nothing but respect for her.”

When asked if he’s dissatisfied with the current crop of mayoral candidates, the mayor said: “I don’t know who’s going to run. But if you want to start a fight between me and Chris Quinn, you’re not going to do it. It’s cheap, lousy journalism.”

For her part, Quinn said she thought Clinton would make an excellent mayor. Clinton, a former U.S. senator from New York, is planning to step down as secretary of state next year and is being discussed as a potential Democratic candidate for president in 2016.

“You know, I think Hillary Clinton would excel in any position she ever takes. And why do I say that? Because she has,” Quinn said. “I don’t think there’s anything Hillary Clinton would put her mind to that she wouldn’t do extremely, extremely well — better than maybe anybody else who’s ever done it.”

Hurricane Sandy Hospital Crisis Grows

From True News From Change NYC :

Closing of NYU and Bellevue Hospitals Because of Sandy Should Have Been A Wakeup Call That NYC Has A Hospital Crisis.

New Yorkers are Getting Sicker and Even Dying (esp. the poor) Because of A Hospital Crisis Made Worse by the Floods . . . Where is the Pols, Media and Activist Outrage?

Nobody Notices Hospital Crisis Or Sandy's Wake Up Call

With Some Hospitals Closed After Hurricane, E.R.’s at Others Overflow (NYT) Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn had 1,100 more emergency patients last month than in November 2011; the increase was mostly attributed to a hospital shut by the storm. * Hospital in Brooklyn Files for Bankruptcy Protection (NYT) Some New York medical centers are adding extra shifts and converting offices and lobbies into space for patients as emergency room visits surge. * Half of Brooklyn hospitals on life support | Crain's New York Business

The Angry New Yorker's Who Demanded Their Rights is Gone

Where are the Mayoral Candidates on the Hospital Crisis?

Why Is There No Movement To Save These Hospitals Like There Was in 1980 Against the Closing of Sydenham Hospital? 3 hospitals closed in Queens, St Vincent's murdered for a Co-op in Manhattan, 5 hospitals in trouble in Brooklyn. The activist and progressives are all over Facebook and twitter demanding pay for fasttfood workers because it is being pushed by unions looking for membership. It is very stranged that these same activists are silent on the health care needs of many of these workers who depend on the hospital system for all their health care needs. Could it be that the help unions provide the reason the activist are supporting their issues?

Will Hillary Clinton Speak Out On The "Kill The Gays" Bill In Uganda ?

Why isn't Secretary of State Hillary Clinton talking about the Uganda "Kill The Gays" Bill ?

Time is running out for thousands of Ugandans, who face the death penalty or life in prison if "convicted" of being gay.

It's time for the United States to escalate its diplomatic efforts to protect the human rights of LGBT Ugandans.

Forward the link to this blog post to your friends, and then sign and share these to petitions :

Our allies on the ground tell us that if Pepsi, which has a huge presence in Uganda, speaks out against the "Kill The Gays" Bill and the harmful effect it would have on investment and economic development in Uganda, it would force Ugandan officials to put the bill on hold -- or even pull it entirely. Sign the Pepsi Petition.

Citibank and Barclays -- two of the largest banks in the world -- have major operations in Uganda. Ask Citibank and Barclays to publicly condemn Uganda’s “Kill The Gays” Bill, and send a loud message to Ugandan legislators that criminalizing homosexuality with lifetime prison sentences and the death penalty won’t be supported by major international businesses. Sign the Citibank and Barclays Petition.

Meanwhile, New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn has no opinion about whether Secretary of State Hillary Clinton should escalate diplomatic efforts to protect the human rights of LGBT Ugandans.

NYPD Arrest Political Drone Poster Artist

From Gawker :

Essam Attia is the New York street artist responsible for placing fake NYPD ads reading "Drones: Protection When You Least Expect It" around town. In September, he gave a video interview to Animal NY, with his identity and voice obscured, in which he discussed this project and his art in general. Wednesday morning, the NYPD arrested him at home.

The NYDN reports that he's charged with "56 counts of criminal possession of a forged instrument, grand larceny possession of stolen property and weapons possession," the last (and possibly worst) charge coming because cops found an unloaded .22 pistol under his bed when they arrested him. On a practical level, Attia was not the most careful art criminal. He signed his work "ESSAM;" and he told Animal that he was a "a 29-year-old art-school grad from Maine, who served in Iraq as a 'geo-spatial analyst.'" It probably did not take an incredible amount of police work to narrow down the possibilities.

Still—great work by the NYPD to prove Essam's point: you are all being watched. Poke humor at the ALL SEEING GOVERNMENT EYE, and it will make you pay. IT KNOWS ALL. In the Animal interview, author Matt Harvey noted, "He agrees that there is an inherent irony in his spoofs: the very fact that the NYPD (which claims to be strongly pursuing him with their 'counter terrorism squad') hasn't caught him yet, is proof that we have not reached a state of Orwellian control."

Ah.... cancel that.

[Photo via Animal]

Still no statement by New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn about whether the New York Police Department will ever put into active use a squadron of unmanned drones against its own citizens, much less about the First Amendment violations stemming from the NYPD's arrest of the street artist.

Interfaith To File For Bankruptcy, May Become Tenth Hospital To Close Under Christine Quinn

Related : J31 Rally to Save Interfaith and LICH outside Gov. Cuomo's Office - Stop Hospital Closings

Interfaith Medical Center Plans To Declare Bankruptcy This Week.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo empaneled a consulting group called the Medicaid Redesign Team headed by investment banker Stephen Berger. The last consulting group headed by Mr. Berger came to be known as the Berger Commission. The tasks of both groups was the same : to identify hospitals to close down, so that New York State could implement cuts to the state's healthcare budget.

In the latest development, it was announced today that Interfaith Medical Center in Brooklyn plans to file for bankruptcy. The Medicaid Redesign Team has identified three hospitals in Brooklyn, which serve uninsured and underinsured patients for closing ; one of these was Interfaith.

How the Cuomo administration plans to carry out the closings is to merge the financially unstable hospitals together in some combinations, so that that the hospitals can hemorrhage money faster, so that they can end up collapsing under the weight of their combined debts.

Interfaith officials told The New York Times that turning over operational control to Brooklyn Hospital without the state’s first promising the financing needed to keep Interfaith going would be tantamount to a covert plan to close Interfaith in a year and a half or so.

A similar money-losing arrangement was made between a string of hospitals lead by St. Vincent's, which lead to the financial collapse of each hospital : St. Vincent's, St. Johns Queens Hospital, and Mary Immaculate Hospital.

Because the Medicaid Redesign Team's sole purpose has been to make even deeper cuts to the state's healthcare budget, Gov. Cuomo's austerity plan is responsible for the bankruptcy filing. In letters to state officials, Nathan M. Barotz, the chairman of Interfaith's board of trustees, has said that a 2010 cut in Medicaid reïmbursement rates cost Interfaith 40 percent of its inpatient revenue and precipitated its current crisis.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, so many New York City hospitals endured damage. There is a shortage of functioning hospitals right now.

One hospital executive, Michael Dowling, is trying to profit from the disaster that Hurricane Sandy has caused to his competition. Mr. Dowling is head of the parent-holding company of Lenox Hill Hospital. Mr. Dowling opposes opening anymore hospitals, because Lenox Hill Hospital is now making record amounts of money from an influx of patients from the damaged hospitals with which he competes.

NYU Langone Hospital, Bellevue Hospital, and Coney Island Hospital were evaucated after each hospital suffered damage and power failures. None of these hospitals have been able to return to 100% functioning levels. How can it make sense for Gov. Cuomo to keep forcing hospitals to close ?

Related : With Some Hospitals Closed After Hurricane, E.R.’s at Others Overflow

If Interfaith does indeed close, it will become the tenth hospital to close since Christine Quinn became speaker of the New York City Council in 2006.

Accused WikiLeaks Whistleblower Bradley Manning Testifies He Thought He Would "Die in Custody"

Bradley Manning, the U.S. Army private accused of leaking hundreds of thousands of classified documents to the whistleblowing website WikiLeaks, has testified for the first time since he was arrested in May 2010. Speaking on Thursday, November 29, 2012, at a pretrial proceeding, PFC Manning revealed the emotional tumult he experienced while imprisoned in Kuwait after his arrest in 2010, saying, "I remember thinking, ’I’m going to die.’ I thought I was going to die in a cage."

Read more : Accused WikiLeaks Whistleblower Bradley Manning Testifies He Thought He Would "Die in Custody"

Will Mayor Bloomberg Evict Occupy Sandy Hurricane Relief Volunteers From Staten Island Hub ?

Is Mayor Michael Bloomberg getting ready to evacuate the most successful volunteer hurricane relief response in New York City ? The New York Times City Room blog looks into the mayor's questionable moves against Occupy Sandy.

RELATED : Bloomberg’s stealth visit to the Rockaways, and join Occupy Sandy for a call to action on 12/15 http://bit.ly/Tth0sQ #occupysandy #ows

Mayor Bloomberg just can't help it : he does not believe that government should provide a safety net for the average person, much less to hurricane survivors. But we do have a choice : why do we accept less ? We don't have to accept less from our publicly elected officials.

The @nytimes covers the @nycmayorsoffice's puzzling moves to shut down @occupysandy + @redcross hubs: ow.ly/fKBG1

— Occupy Wall Street (@OccupyWallStNYC) December 2, 2012

Remember, Mayor Bloomberg initially said we didn't need help from FEMA ; consequently, thousands of Hurricane Sandy survivors went without any assistance, since it is Mayor Blooomberg's sick and twisted billionaire worldview that government is not supposed to help people in need. And in that vacuum of cruelty came forth Occupy Sandy volunteers, to not only fill the void, but to also lead by example : humanity means caring for one another.

Is Mayor Bloomberg really getting ready to evacuate the most successful, compassionate, and heroic volunteer hurricane relief response in New York City ?

NASA Mission Measures Major Glacial Ice Sheet Break In Antartica

NASA has a special arctic project called Operation IceBridge which monitors the sea ice, icebergs, and glaciers in the poles. One of its missions is called its Antarctic 2012 campaign, and its mission members fly high-priority missions measuring polar ice from a base of operations at the tip of Patagonia on the Strait of Magellan. They have even made a return visit to the Pine Island Glacier, the site of last year's discovery of a massive rift in the ice.

Sea ice doesn't always hold the allure of a massive ice sheet, or a crevassed blue glacier spilling between mountains, but it comes in array of shapes and sizes and has its own ephemeral beauty. Operation IceBridge studies sea ice at both poles, and also runs across interesting formations on route to other targets. Operation IceBridge returned to the Pine Island Glacier twice in 2012, and NASA glaciologist Kelly Brunt discusses the implications of the glacier's impending calving event.

Operation IceBridge has now returned to the Pine Island Glacier, not once, but twice in 2012. And the year-old giant crack in the glacier, poised to create an iceberg the size of New York City? Well it's still there, and that iceberg has yet to break free. But the rift has grown longer, much wider, and spawned a secondary crack. Before we talk about when that mighty berg will be born, let's take a look at the IceBridge missions themselves. IceBridge's first return to the region was a high altitude flight over the entire region, including the Thwaites, Smith, and Kohler glaciers. After this campaign is over, scientists will be able to compare this broad survey with previous years' measurements in order to better document the rapid and widespread changes in the region over time.

Activist And Blogger Arrested For Photographing Wiener in Men's Room

Activist Michael Petrelis Arrested Over Privacy Violation Involving San Francisco Supervisor Scott Wiener

From The New Civil Rights Movement :

In what appears to be an act of heavy-handed political retribution, longtime activist, muckraker and citizen journalist Michael Petrelis yesterday surrendered to the San Francisco Sheriff’s Department in response to the District Attorney issuing a warrant for his arrest, after being charged with allegedly violating the privacy of Supervisor Scott Wiener.

The DA alleged Petrelis broke Section 647(j) sub-section (1) of the penal code.

A simmering feud between the Supervisor and Petrelis over a range of issues from a public nudity bill to control over the rainbow flag in Harvey Milk Plaza has raged for over two years. The charge stems from a photograph Petrelis snapped, and subsequently published on his blog, of the supervisor at a wash basin in a public restroom at City Hall on Friday, October 26.

Petrelis voluntarily turned himself in for booking on Thursday afternoon after posting bond, was cited and released.

“I am dealing with this legal matter head on,” said Petrelis following his ordeal. “I voluntarily surrendered to the San Francisco sheriff. I have a court date set for December 5th at 9 am, and I look forward to it.”

The incident occurred at City Hall, where Petrelis was staging a photo-op for visiting gay Honduran dignitary Erick Martinez, an activist whose life has been threatened by the rightwing junta ruling his country. Through Petrelis’ political organizing, Martinez was introduced to gay Supervisor David Campos and bisexual Supervisor Christina Olague, in front of the Harvey Milk Bust in the Grand Rotunda on the second floor.

Petrelis had been taking photographs of the activities in the Grand Rotunda before he walked into the public men’s room noticed Wiener and proceeded to photograph him. An image of Wiener standing in front of the sink, holding a toothbrush later appeared on Petrelis’ blog.

Two weeks after the photo appeared on his blog, in what looks like an act of political retribution, Wiener appears to have abused his power as a San Francisco Supervisor by involving the sheriff’s department, who in turn assigned two senior detectives to investigate the Petrelis.

“I am surprised the DA charged this case,” said Petrelis’ attorney, Derek St. Pierre.

A local fight over control of the giant rainbow flag that flies over the Castro, located in Harvey Milk Plaza, has been simmering for over two years between activists and the politically powerful Merchants of Upper Market and Castro (MUMC), over an alleged “agreement” with the city’s Department of Public Works (DPW). Wiener failed to mediate the dispute in his district, instead siding with MUMC.

At a September 11th commemoration in honor of Mark Bingham, a microphone was intercepted by Petrelis, an organizer of the event, before Wiener reached it. Excoriating him for his hypocrisy and lack of leadership, in front of media hordes, San Francisco mayor, Ed Lee, and other San Francisco power brokers, Wiener’s subsequent speech was an excruciating, cringe-inducing embarrassment, and one Wiener was not likely to forget any time soon. A meeting between activists and DPW scheduled for October 26, 2011 at City Hall was abruptly canceled at Wiener’s behest.

More recently, Wiener has been under considerable fire for the anti-nudity legislation he authored; an aggressive attempt to impose curfews on public plazas in the Castro that critics decry as openly hostile to the district’s homeless population; the erosion of San Francisco’s once-powerful Sunshine laws; and his strenuous opposition to free Muni rides for minors. A growing chorus of irate constituents has begun protesting the Supervisor’s activities and speaking engagements. ...

California Penal Code Section 647
(j) (1) Any person who looks through a hole or opening, into, or otherwise views, by means of any instrumentality, including, but not limited to, a periscope, telescope, binoculars, camera, motion picture camera, camcorder, or mobile phone, the interior of a bedroom, bathroom, changing room, fitting room, dressing room, or tanning booth, or the interior of any other area in which the occupant has a reasonable expectation of privacy, with the intent to invade the privacy of a person or persons inside. This subdivision shall not apply to those areas of a private business used to count currency or other negotiable instruments.

Click here and here for background on this matter.

FastFoodFWD Living Wage

RT @stopchrisquinn: #FastFoodFWD workers : "We're hungry." @chriscquinn : "Eat some fried chicken." #livingwage #RealTalk

— Occupy Wall Street (@OccupyWallStNYC) November 29, 2012

What ever happened to that living wage bill that New York Speaker Christine Quinn watered down ? Remember how Speaker Quinn stalled, delayed, thwarted, and then revised the living wage bill until she and lobbyists watered it down soooo much until it would only benefit, according to her very own calculations, perhaps as few as 400 New York City jobs -- all this to please the Partnership for New York City and campaign contributors ?

And then remember how Speaker Quinn stormed out of the farcical living wage press conference, after somebody referred to the mayor by the moniker, "Pharaoh Bloomberg" ?

One of the major puppet masters behind Speaker Quinn's opposition to a real living wage law is the lobbyist Emily Giske. Ms. Giske represents the parent-holding company of the fast food restaurant chains Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell. Ms. Giske’s firm, Bolton St. John, has also lobbied against the paid sick leave bill.

Many campaign donors, who give tens of thousands in electioneering payments to Speaker Quinn, belong to the Chamber of Commerce, such as Rudin Management Company. Members of the Chamber of Commerce try to subvert campaign disclosure laws and unfairly try to influence legislation so that the City Council agenda only promotes big business interests, instead of protecting workers' rights or union rights.

How sincere is it, when Speaker Quinn issues a message of solidarity with #FastFoodFWD workers, but it was she herself who watered down this year's living wage bill. Is this acceptable to you ?

Read more : New York Is Site of Nation’s Biggest Drive to Unionize Fast-Food Workers

AIDS Activists Storm Boehner's Office

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

The Naked Truth about AIDS Budget Cuts

AIDS activists entered the office of Speaker of the House John Boehner and demanded no budget cuts to domestic or global AIDS programs. Protesters also called for a Robin Hood Tax on Wall Street trades.

Video streaming by Ustream

Activists chanted, "Boehner, Boehner don't be a d-ck, budget cuts will make us sick."

“The naked truth is that if President Obama and Congressional leaders like Speaker Boehner allow these budget cuts to lifesaving programs, global health programs will lose $689 million, while domestic AIDS programs will lose $538 million,” said Eustacia Smith from ACT UP New York, according to the group's press release. (Queerty).

United States of America HIV & AIDS Statistics

From Avert.org :

1.2 million people are living with HIV in the United States of America, with a fifth unaware of their status. Since the epidemic began, an estimated 1,129,127 people in the USA have been diagnosed with AIDS.

During 2010 : (i) 47,129 people were diagnosed with HIV infection in the 46 states which report diagnoses ; and (ii) 33,015 people throughout the USA were diagnosed with AIDS.

The activists today took the radical step of stripping naked to draw attention to the negative consequences that healthcare cuts will create for Americans. The "Fiscal Cliff" of automatic budget cuts will reduce billions of dollars from healthcare and other social services and safety net programs, which would severely impact people living with HIV and AIDS, activists say. A Robin Hood Tax would create new sources of revenue for the government to fund health, social services, and safety net programs.

Seven Risk Arrest in a Naked Protest in Speaker Boehner’s Longworth Office

Washington, DC: Tuesday, November 27, a few days before World AIDS Day, seven AIDS activists entered House Speaker Boehner’s Office and stripped naked demanding a meeting with the Congressmember. The activists from Queerocracy, ACT UP NY, and ACT UP Philadelphia painted slogans on their bodies instead of holding signs: “AIDS Cuts Kill” and “Fund PEPFAR, Fund Ryan White, Fund Global Fund, Fund Medicaid, Fund HOPWA.”

“When you strip away the rhetoric of the fiscal cliff and the grand bargain, you see that these terms are a way to thinly veil draconian budget cuts that will leave millions around the world with absolutely nothing,” said Cassidy Gardner from Queerocracy.

Police arrested three activists for indecent exposure : Cassidy Gardner - 23 yrs old, from NYC, Community Organizer for Queerocracy ; Megan Mulholland - 23 yrs old, from NYC, Community Organizer for Queerocracy ; and Jennifer Flynn - 40 yrs old, from Rhode Island, from Health GAP. The ACT UP NY website reported that the three arrested individuals were later released.

Read more : AIDS Activists Expose Themselves And The Naked Truth About AIDS Budget Cuts

ACT UP/NY Will Protest Against Fiscal Cliff Budget Cuts In Washington

Follow today's actions in Washington, DC on Ustream :

Video streaming by Ustream

ACT UP/NY is planning a pre-World AIDS Day action in Washington, DC to prevent AIDS budget cuts. We will march with activists from other ACT UP chapters, V.O.C.A.L. New York, Housing Works, and Queerocracy demanding that Congress not touch AIDS/Healthcare spending.

Where is Occupy Going ?

Everybody wants to know where Occupy is heading. Why aren't they getting pepper sprayed on the news anymore?? Here's your answer. [more at LeeCamp.net]

Mark Sanchez Fumbles Lineman’s Rear End

On Thanksgiving Day, New York Jets Mark Sanchez fumbling after he ran directly into the rear end of guard Brandon Moore and fumbled, leading to a New England Patriots touchdown. LOLZ

Are NYPD Cyber Searching Political Blogs ?

NYPD Violate #Handschu and Deny #FOIL Request by @maslowsneeds christine-quinn-sold-out.blogspot.com/2012/11/NYPD-V… #FirstAmendment #FreeSpeech #dueprocess

— Stop Christine Quinn (@stopchrisquinn) November 25, 2012

NYPD continue to monitor peaceful activists in violation of the Handschu Agreement. In this latest case, NYPD officials are visiting this blog even though NYPD refuse to answer to a Freedom of Information request by the author of this blog.

Remember, this is on top of the fact that there have been allegations that Speaker Quinn has instructed the NYPD to use physical force against the author of this blog.

If Speaker Quinn can't find a way to violate due process by firing you, then she puts the NYPD on the case, to harass and cybermonitor you ?

2012 11 24 NYPD Cybermonitoring Louis Flores Handschu Agreement

Quinnipiac Poll : Lhota and Carrion Non-Starters

If the election were held today, MTA boss Joe Lhota would lose to the Democratic nominee 60% to 9%, according to the Quinnipiac University poll. Another potential Republican candidate, former Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion, would not fare much better than Lhota, the poll found: Carrion would lose 62% to 11% if he ran on the Republican ticket.

(Source : The New York Daily News)

Obama's First Drone Attack Policy

Since Barack Obama became President, there have been more than 300 drone strikes and some 2,500 people killed by the Central Intelligence Agency and the U.S. military, The New York Times has reported.

Supposedly, the Obama administration is "still pushing to make the rules formal and resolve internal uncertainty and disagreement" about when drone attacks are justified. Prior to his reëlection, the Obama administration was in a rush to put together some kind of manual or standard operating procedure for drone attacks, to deflect criticism by liberals and progressives, of the Obama administration's reckless use of drone attacks.

Now that he has been safely reëlected, there's no more pressure on the Obama administration to finalise the administration's first formal drone attack policy. For example, The Times reported that "Mr. Obama and his advisers are still debating whether remote-control killing should be a measure of last resort against imminent threats to the United States, or a more flexible tool, available to help allied governments attack their enemies or to prevent militants from controlling territory."

Will the Obama administration finally deliver a doctrine on its use of extra-judicial "remote-control killing" ?

Read also : The Long War Journal

2013 NYC Mayoral Dowry

In 2006, when she was elected to become Speaker of the New York City Council, Christine Quinn turned to help from Vito Lopez in Brooklyn, for the votes of Brooklyn councilmembers, in an effort to thwart Bill De Blasio, who (no surprise) failed in his campaign to become Speaker. Like then, Speaker Quinn is now turning to extending favours to Mr. Lopez. Only now, what is at stake is not the speakership, but the mayoralty.

Speaker Quinn needs to pump the political machine in Brooklyn for votes, because she has angered so many voters in her own City Council District over community-crushing development that is allowing New York University to overwhelm the special social fabric of Greenwich Village, that closed St. Vincent's Hospital, and that is going to destroy the character of Chelsea Market.

And, in exchange, Speaker Quinn is being suspected of delivering to Mr. Lopez a redistricted seat in Brooklyn, to give him a soft landing, once he gets kicked out of the New York State Assembly.

Facebook proposes to end voting on privacy issues

Mark Zuckerberg and other executives at Facebook are proposing to end the publicly-traded corporation's practice of letting users vote on changes to Facebook's privacy policies, though Facebook will still go through the motions and continue to let users comment on proposed updates, for now.

USA WikiLeaks CableGate Detainee Policies

Manual (SOP) for procedures for medical evaluation of detainees Iraq | http://wikileaks.org/detaineepolicies/doc/US-DoD-Detainee-In-Processing-TFM-115-SOP-2005-02-12.html

Manual (SOP) for detainee dispensary services, Iraq | http://wikileaks.org/detaineepolicies/doc/US-DoD-Detainee-Dispensary-Services-TFM-115-SOP-Draft-2005-02-12.html

Manual (SOP) for dental personnel, Iraq | http://wikileaks.org/detaineepolicies/doc/US-DoD-Detainee-Dental-Inprocessing-TFM-115-SOP-Draft-2005-02-12.html

Manual (SOP) for duties in event of detainee death, Iraq | http://wikileaks.org/detaineepolicies/doc/US-DoD-Detainee-Death-Policy-Draft-2005-02-12.html

Manual (SOP) for detainee assault or abuse reporting, Iraq | http://wikileaks.org/detaineepolicies/doc/US-DoD-Detainee-Assault-or-Abuse-Reporting-Policy-Draft-2005-02-12.html

Bangor, Maine News Anchors Cindy Michaels And Tony Consiglio Resign

During their 6 p.m. newscast last night, Bangor-based TV news anchors Cindy Michaels and Tony Consiglio resigned on air, citing, as the Bangor Daily News has described it, "a longstanding battle with upper management over journalistic practices at their Bangor TV stations."

Black Friday Mic Check at Maryland Walmart

From Occupy Wall Street :

According to the Organization United for Respect at Walmart, 1,000 protests occurred at Walmart stores across 46 states, with hundreds of workers walking off the job in an unprecedented decentralized, open-source strike at the retail giant.

David Tovar, the Vice President for Communications, spoke with Carol Costello from CNN on Tuesday, November 20, before the Black Friday actions took place across the nation.

Ray Kelly Stop And Frisk Awards Ceremony

Members of Stop Stop & Frisk, #OWS, and students at Columbia present NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly with the 2011 Bull Connor Award, for excellence in cracking down on people of color. At Columbia University's SIPA, Matthew Swaye thanks the world's top cop for the privileges his administration affords heterosexual white men.

Bull Connor was the Commissioner of Public Safety for the city of Birmingham, Alabama, during the American Civil Rights Movement. He took covert actions to enforce racial segregation and deny civil rights to African American citizens

Nobel Peace Laureates Slam The U.S. Over Bradley Manning Case

Nobel Peace Prize winners Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Northern Irish activist Mairead Maguire, and Argentine artists Adolfo Pérez Esquivel have authored a statement to be published in an upcoming issue of The Nation that condemns the United States’ persecution of the 24-year-old Army private and implores the rest of America to question the country’s secretive torture of a soldier that the prize winners say defended democracy.

“As people who have worked for decades against the increased militarization of societies and for international cooperation to end war, we are deeply dismayed by the treatment of Pfc Bradley Manning,” the laureates write.

Left unaddressed by the Nobel laureates was why supposedly progressive, LGBT politicians, such as Christine Quinn, are questionably silent about the persecution of PFC Manning.

Read more : Nobel laureates slam the US over Bradley Manning case

Hurricane Sandy Occupy Thanksgiving Feast

Organisers at St. Mark's Church in the East Village were hosting a Thanksgiving feast for survivors of Hurricane Sandy.

Russian Lawsuit Against Madonna Is Dismissed

A Russian court rejected a $10 million lawsuit against Madonna on Thursday by a group of anti-gay activists who accused her hurting their feelings by promoting homosexuality at a St. Petersburg concert. Judge Vitaly Barkovsky did not explain his decision but also ruled the activists should compensate legal expenses to companies which organized Madonna's concert. The activists said they will appeal the court ruling. Homosexuality, punished with jail terms in the Soviet Union, was decriminalized in Russia in 1993, but much of the gay community remains underground as prejudice runs deep. (Reuters)

GHV2 BY MADONNA (CD) (Google Affiliate Ad)

Line Clogging Demonstration At Golden Farm (Nov. 21)

On the busy day before Thanksgiving, activists demonstrated for union rights at Golden Farm grocery store in Brooklyn.

The owner of a YouTube channel called Matt H. posted this video yesterday of a direct action demonstration in support of employees, who want to unionise at the Golden Farm grocery store in Brooklyn.

On November 21, I stopped by a picket being held outside the Golden Farm grocery store on Church Ave and 4th St. The group was picketing in support of workers rights and union benefits. Their demands were : fair pay and compensation for when they made below minimum wage ; holidays off ; and personal days off. The majority of the time was spent with a picket outside the store. About 12 Minutes were spent inside the store doing what was called a "line clog." It was hilarious...

Among the activists, who took part in this demonstration, were members of OccuEvolve.

The History and Effects of Trade Unions in the United States (Google Affiliate Ad)

Christine Quinn Betrays The LGBT Community

Christine Quinn Betrays Gays, Lesbians, Bisexuals, and Transgenders :

What measurable, real, and tangible actions have openly lesbian City Council Speaker Christine Quinn taken in respect of LGBT civil rights ?

Let's examine the following examples of LGBT civil rights violations, to which City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, a high-profile openly lesbian politician, has been spineless in her response :

• When over 30 men where being entrapped and were the targets of sexual orientation profiling by the NYPD, what did Christine Quinn do ? That's right, she did nothing to hold the NYPD accountable for their systematic discrimination of LGBTQS men.
• In the interest of public health, New York City hands out free condoms, and then NYPD arrests LGBT New Yorkers for carrying condoms. And Speaker Quinn looks the other way, of course. Read more : New York City's Condom Bait-and-Switch
• Look at the case of Jabbar Campbell. If LGBT New Yorkers get beat up by haters, you can count on Speaker Quinn to elbow her way in for photo opportunities. But if the haters are NYPD officers, you can count on Speaker Quinn to look the other way.




• In her YouTube video announcing her mayoral campaign, Speaker Quinn did not say that she was a lesbian, and she did not mention her wife. Is this another case of self-hate or internalised homophobia ?
• Each year, Speaker Quinn allocates taxpayer money to support hate groups that discriminate against LGBT New Yorkers. Ask yourselves : What is an openly lesbian politician doing by funding groups that discriminate against LGBT New Yorkers ?
• On the evening when Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the historic marriage equality bill into law, the NYPD raided the Eagle Bar in yet another demonstration of sexual orientation profiling. What has Speaker Quinn done to hold the NYPD accountable for their systematic discrimination of the gay men patrons of the Eagle ? That's right, she's done nothing.
• Before New York State enacted its historic marriage equality law, Speaker Quinn was already being non-committal about fighting all the way to win, which is her usual strategy on everything.
• After the Obama administration violated the due process rights of an LGBT whistleblower, what did Speaker Quinn do ? She turned the other way and pretended not to look.
• When one of her own staffers, Tony Simone, dropped the F-bomb on gay rights leaders Allen Roskoff and Donny Moss, what did Speaker Quinn do ? She did nothing.
• When Mayor Michael Bloomberg appealed the 2005 landmark marriage equality ruling by Judge Doris Ling-Cohan, what did Christine Quinn do ? BINGO ! She did nothing.
• Speaker Quinn's position of Paid Sick Leave has ramifications for the LGBT community.
• Even though the stop-and-frisk policy of the NYPD targets the transgendered New Yorkers, Speaker Quinn supports NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly, who is adamant about maintaining the unconstitutional police program.
• When former Mayor Ed Koch passed away, lesbian NYC mayoral candidate Christine Quinn released a statement calling Koch a 'great mayor' and a 'great man,' even though Mr. Koch was mayor during a period of time during which the AIDS epidemic broke out -- a crisis that many have said Koch essentially ignored during his time in office. Many AIDS activists found Speaker Quinn's statement tone deaf and dismissive of the tens of thousands of local AIDS deaths attributable to the former mayor.
• Related : Two gay men explain their beef with Christine Quinn

With an LGBT record like this, LGBTQS New Yorkers would do good to question Speaker Quinn's integrity and commitment to LGBT civil rights.

Make a pledge today to support Roots of Betrayal : The Ethics of Christine Quinn on Kickstarter.

Hilarious Parody of Petraeus Scandal

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Rolling Jubilee $8 Million Update

(Revised : Thursday 22 Nov 2012 1:15 p.m. EDT) The Rolling Jubilee has now raised over $400,000, which is approximately enough money to abolish over $8,000,000 in notional debt !

Thomas Gokey, an artist who is one of the co-founders of the Rolling Jubilee movement, an Occupy Wall Street off-shoot that raises money to buy debt and then “forgive” what people owe rather than collecting on the bills. (Current TV)

Hurricane Sandy Healthcare Rally at City Hall

New York City doctors and nurses are sounding a public health alarm on the stressed hospital network after Sandy.

Healthcare activists held a rally on the steps of New York's City Hall to demand that Mayor Michael Bloomberg do more to improve healthcare for survivors of Hurricane Sandy.

Sandy's floodwaters severely damaged NYU Medical Center, Bellevue Hospital, Coney Island Hospital, and Manhattan's VA Medical Center. Patients who would have sought care at those facilities are now turning to other hospitals that remain open. (WNBC)

Emergency room doctor Marisa Fernandez, who has been volunteering in the badly damaged Rockaways neighborhood, said, "We're having to recreate an entire healthcare infrastructure from scratch—everything ranging from assessment and triage of newly housebound individuals, to mobile clinics." (Zimbio)

Despite what some hospital administrators have claimed, Sandy turned out to be exactly what weather forecasters were predicting, so while the Manhattan VA and NY Downtown were evacuated before the storm hit, Bellevue, Coney Island and NYU Langone waited until after. We can't say for sure why--but certainly the loss of revenue may have been a factor in that decision. Even public hospitals depend on reimbursements from patient visits to stay financially viable. (Socialist Worker)

City Hall Protest Against Bloomberg's Inadequate Healthcare Response To Hurricane Sandy

Meet at City Hall this Friday, 11/16, at 12:00 p.m. to tell Mayor Bloomberg that there are urgent unmet healthcare needs caused by Hurricane Sandy !

Date : Friday, November 16, 2012

Time : 12:00 Noon

Place : City Hall

2012-11-16 Mike Bloomberg City Hall - Hurricane Sandy Relief Rally Flyer

St. John's Episcopal Hospital At Capacity, Upper East Side Residents Complain About Hospital Crisis

After Peninsula Hospital closed, St. John's became the only full-service hospital in Far Rockaway. It is now operating at 100% capacity, meaning, it has no more room to take in patients. This condition is compounded by the fact that patients have nowhere to be discharged to, and by the fact that many of the employees have become homeless as a result of Hurricane Sandy.

Nearby nursing homes and adult homes have been evacuated and are not yet re-opened. Electricity continues to be a problem throughout the area and patients with special needs may have lost homes or cannot go back to homes without electricity or heat. Staff, many of them without homes or who have been evacuated, also need places to stay so they can continue to work. Homeless staff are given vouchers for hot meals.

St. John's has set up two funds for donations. To donate to St. John's Episcopal Hospital to continue its efforts to serve the community, please make a check out to St. John's Episcopal Hospital and mail it to St. John's Episcopal Hospital, 327 Beach 19th Street, Far Rockaway, NY 11691. To donate to the Hurricane Sandy Staff Relief Fund, please make the check out to St. John's Episcopal Hospital, and write in the memo "Hurricane Sandy Staff Relief Fund" and mail to the above-mentioned address. To pay by Paypal or Credit Card go to www.ehs.org.

Separately, WCBS 2 News did a piece about how the people in the Upper East Side are now beginning to complain about all the people from Lower Manhattan swarming their hospitals.

Maybe it is going to take complaints by UES residents to ring alarm bells about the uneven distribution of hospital beds in Lower Manhattan ?

NYY Langone Payroll Heard On The Street

NYU employees of the closed buildings will not be paid after November. Meanwhile, the Board Of Trustees are midway through a $3 billion capital raising program.

NYC Hurricane Sandy - Hospital Evacuations and Berger Commission - FAIL

Why is it acceptable for us to allow hospitals go through such desperate attempts to equally and adequately fund the healthcare needs of patients ? Look at the consequences of the blackouts of New York City hospitals in Lower Manhattan.

The issue before us is whether the rebuilding of our hospitals will continue to favour wealthy institutions, which primarily serve the well-insured, or will we use this opportunity to examine and fix the unequal distribution of healthcare in New York created by the Berger Commission ?

As it is, we are on a path that will continue to force us to accept less and less. Look at how nursing homes were instructed by health officials not to evacuate, and then they are criticised by the Department of Health for unacceptable conditions compounded precisely because they were instructed not to evacuate. Is this acceptable ?

If we believe in the dignity and equality of all people, then our healthcare system must be reformed to provide patient care-centered healthcare, to equally meet the needs of all patients. Please support a truly universal, single-payer healthcare system.

Obama Wins, reports CNN

CNN reports that it projects that President Obama wins.

Coney Island Election Problems

2013 New York City Mayoral Candidate Bill Thompson posted this photograph on Facebook with this caption :

"I just witnessed chaos at 2950 West 33rd Street poll site in Coney Island. The site didn't open until after 9 a.m., and then the machines were not ready. This is the line to vote."

I posted a comment on the photograph, thanking Mr. Thompson for sharing this information. I also asked Mr. Thompson if he would help bring reforms to the Board of Elections. Later in the day, when I went to blog this photo, I noticed that I had been unfriended by Mr. Thompson. So, I guess he won't agree to help bring reforms to the Board of Elections ?

Bellevue Morgue Under Water

In a post about the final two patients still remaining at Bellevue Hospital, The New York Times obtained details about some of the severe conditions inside the hospital's morgue :

The sources also said that after Hurricane Sandy hit, the Bellevue morgue was under water, so the bodies of patients who died of their illnesses after the storm had to be kept elsewhere. Ellen Borakove, a spokeswoman for the city medical examiner, confirmed that the Bellevue morgue had been flooded, but that with the assistance of the medical examiner, the bodies had been put on higher racks to keep them out of the water.

She did not know how many bodies there were. Ms. Borakove said the medical examiner’s morgue, which is separate, remained dry.

What is missing from these incremental reports about the deteriorating conditions at many hospitals in the wake of Hurricane Sandy is the failure of the mayor's emergency management plan that did not anticipate for infrastructure failures.

Not only that, but the New York State Department of Health has responsibility, for the irresponsible distribution of hospital beds in Manhattan. After nine New York City hospitals have closed, how do Gov. Andrew Cuomo ; Dr. Nirav Shah, the Secretary of the State Department of Health ; Stephen Berger, who continues to advocate for still yet more hospital closings ; and other statue health officials now view the issue of reducing the number of hospitals, when a mass civilian trauma event or natural disaster can destroy the infrastructure of the fewer remaining hospitals we have now ?

Here's an Associated Press video of the beginning of the evacuation of Bellevue Hospital :

Bill Rudin, Marathon Organisers Hoarding 41 Generators Whilst NYC Still In Dark

Related : NYC Hurricane Sandy - Hospital Evacuations and Berger Commission #EPICFAIL

Mayor Concedes To Critics : Cancels Marathon : What Took So Long ?

Race organisers, including the Rudin Family, the New York Road Runners Club, and ING, used Mayor Michael Bloomberg to be the fall guy for criticism about the city using valuable resources to hold the New York City Marathon. Yesterday, Mayor Bloomberg was forced to cancel the marathon after The New York Post reported that at least 41 generators were being hoarded by race officials. Meanwhile, large numbers of New York City residents were rendered homeless with little to no resources for food, shelter, heat, health, or safety in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.

Many storm victims were outraged at all the resources, not just power generators, that were being hoarded by marathon organisers for the sole benefit of runners.

"Runners were set to dine on a lavish Saturday-evening pre-race meal that included lemon-thyme chicken with shallot jus, and autumn vegetable bow-tie pasta primavera with extra virgin oil and fresh herbs — which most storm victims would have killed for," reported The New York Post.

"More than 2,000 cops are typically assigned to work the marathon. About five years ago, the city started privatizing medical coverage at the event, although scores of city paramedics and EMTs are still assigned to the race," reported The New York Daily News.

Bill Rudin Hospital Evacuations and NYC Marathon Reality Check

Bill Rudin said that it would be safe to close St. Vincent's Hospital, which was the only Level I Trauma Center and full-service hospital in the Lower West Side of Manhattan. He and his billion-dollar real estate development company got easy building permits, zone-busting waivers, and approvals from New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn. At the time, Mr. Rudin and Speaker Quinn said that if people in Lower Manhattan became sick, or if there was a mass civilian trauma event, patients could be transported to Bellevue Hospital, which was the next closest Level I Trauma Center.

But the aftermath of hospital evacuations at NYU Langone and Bellevue Hospitals following destruction by caused by Hurricane Sandy expose the risks of the Rudin Condo Conversion Plan approved for St. Vincent's Hospital.

Note that the NYC Marathon would have three giant electricity generators, which would be used for the media tent, meanwhile, NYU Langone and Bellevue Hospitals had to be evacuated due to backup generator failures.

Watch this NBC News report about the hurricane destruction. Note that Mr. Rudin is a sponsor of the NYC Marathon, and he wants the Marathon to still take place this week-end, even though first responders haven't yet finished recovering all the dead bodies on Staten Island, or, for that matter, ensuring public safety or providing emergency care to the people rendered homeless by the tsunami of the storm surge and flooding.

When Will Mike Bloomberg Ring Opening Bell For NYU Langone, Bellevue Hospitals ?

Hurricane Sandy Bloomberg Nursing Home Evacuation Scandal

Rockaway Beach Nursing Homes Told Not To Evacuate Ahead Of Hurricane Sandy, Officials Say

Five nursing homes in floods zones in New York City were told by officials not to evacuate before Hurricane Sandy made landfall, The Huffington Post reported.

Residents of the nursing homes, which were located just blocks off the New York City coastline with the Atlantic Ocean, experienced the horror of Hurricane Sandy's destructive winds, rains, and storm surge.

"It was like Niagara Falls," said an employee, who asked to remain anonymous, about the four foot flooding on the first floor of Rockaway Care Center.

"The New York Office of Emergency Management did not return multiple calls or emails about the condition of the nursing homes, the status of the residents, or the decision not to evacuate prior to the storm," reported The Huffington Post.

While politicians, such as Mayor Michael Bloomberg, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, and Queens Borough President Helen Marshall tour some of the areas devastated by Hurricane Sandy, politicians are using the emergency with the subway system and the power outages to cover up for the hospital evacuation crisis, this nursing home crisis, and the upcoming Election Day voting crisis.

Gary Tilzer, the political journalist, posted a blog post in which he asked, "Why Is the Media Silent On the Board of Elections Lack of A Plan to Allow People to Vote in the Black Out Areas ?"

Hurricane Sandy - Bellevue, NYU, and Coler Hospital Evacuations - Political Accountability

Who is politically accountable for the failure of the emergency management plan in response to Hurricane Sandy that lead to infrastructure failure at New York City hospitals ?

Following the infrastructure failure of critical hospitals in New York City because of flooding and storm surge associated with Hurricane Sandy and related power failures, some healthcare activists began to demand answers for the failure of New York City's emergency management planning. The fault does not lie with the doctors and medical staff at the impacted hospitals ; rather, the politicians in charge of the city's emergency management plan must account for this irresponsible and dangerous situation. How could it be that New York City's resources would prioritise reopening business when critical hospitals could be left in the dark ? One activist has posted a new YouTube video requesting political accountability for the dangerous risks posed to public health by Mayor Michael Bloomberg's lack of real emergency planning.

Video Link : http://youtu.be/ggjOOjbTKZs

Background

In the community effort to demand a replacement hospital for St. Vincent's, politicians imposed on the community the burden of participating in a needs assessment to determine if a full-service hospital was required in the Lower West Side of Manhattan.

"The hospital evacuations following the destruction by Hurricane Sandy expose the risks of the Rudin Condo Conversion Plan approved for St. Vincent's Hospital," said Louis Flores, an activist who produced this YouTube video. "New York City needs a Level I Trauma Center and full-service hospital in the Lower West Side for disaster recovery efforts. And New York City needs real resources to improve the infrastructure of all of our hospitals, including Coler Hospital on Roosevelt Island and SUNY Downstate Hospital in Brooklyn."

Hurricane Irene

In 2011, St. Vincent's activists organized a mass civilian trauma event exercise to demonstrate what grassroots community activists described was a major risk to public health : where would sick and injured patients receive emergency and trauma care in the event of a major national disaster under conditions that had created an irresponsible geographic distribution of hospital beds in Manhattan.

See related link : http://thevillager.com/villager_443/traumadrama.html

Hurricane Sandy

In the time leading up to and following the landfall of the effects of Hurricane Sandy, the infrastructure of full-service hospitals on the East Side of Manhattan has failed. Hospital patients were forced to be evacuated from NYU Langone and Bellevue Hospitals.

To Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Speaker Christine Quinn, and Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, to City Planner Amanda Burden, Brad Hoylman, Bill Rudin, and to the Partnership for New York, where are New Yorkers supposed to go now, in case of a medical emergency ?

Hurricane Sandy Exposes Risks of Closing of St. Vincent's Hospital

Hurricane Sandy Exposes Risks Of Closing of St. Vincent's Hospital.

The New York City Fire Department is helping Bellevue Hospital evacuate some of it patients, the Associated Press has reported.

Bellevue Hospital lost power during the blackout created by the storm surge, flooding, and damage from Hurricane Sandy.

Even with backup power operating, the Associated Press reported that the power outage had left many sections of Bellevue Hospital in the dark and rendered major medical equipment unusable without access to electricity.

After St. Vincent's Hospital was closed, activists had demanded that politicians explain how mass trauma events would be handled with the irresponsible geographical distribution of hospital beds in Manhattan created by the Rudin Luxury Condo Conversion plan approved by New York City Council Christine Quinn.

After St. Vincent's Hospital closed, a Gross Imbalance in the Distribution of Hospital Beds in Manhattan