tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-40407700627686735572009-11-28T13:20:20.946-05:00Rafael Martínez Alequínhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11321757863793605043mariaraf@aol.comBlogger1579125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4040770062768673557.post-7413095893062685392009-11-28T11:05:00.003-05:002009-11-28T11:14:22.649-05:00<script type="text/javascript"> threeup_js('Politics', '371698', '1'); </script> <div id="curtain_wrapper" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 5px; display: none;"> </div> <script type="text/javascript"> (function() { ad_spec = { "zone_info": "huffpost.politics/news/curtain;politics=1;entry_id=371698;@yimages=1;@ypolitics=1;@yus-news=1;@yvideo=1;canadian-health-care=1;health-care-reform=1;marg-delahunty-sarah-palin=1;mary-walsh=1;mary-walsh-sarah-palin=1;sarah-palin=1;sarah-palin-canada=1;sarah-palin-candian-health-care=1;sarah-palin-tricked=1;this-hour-has-22-minutes=1", "tile": 2, "width": 938, "height": 200, "el_id": "interstitial_el", "interstitial": false, "class_name": "", "no_container": true, "type": "script" } HuffPoUtil.WEDGJE.write(ad_spec); })(); </script><div style="" class="" id="interstitial_el"><div id="defer-interstitial_el"><script type="text/javascript" src="http://ad.doubleclick.net/adj/huffpost.politics/news/curtain;politics=1;entry_id=371698;@yimages=1;@ypolitics=1;@yus-news=1;@yvideo=1;canadian-health-care=1;health-care-reform=1;marg-delahunty-sarah-palin=1;mary-walsh=1;mary-walsh-sarah-palin=1;sarah-palin=1;sarah-palin-canada=1;sarah-palin-candian-health-care=1;sarah-palin-tricked=1;this-hour-has-22-minutes=1;global=1;qcs=D;qcs=T;qcs=671;qcs=663;qcs=659;page_type=bpage;postload=1;tile=2;sz=938x200;ord=2634756189863646000?"></script><a target="_top" href="http://ad.doubleclick.net/click;h=v8/38f3/0/0/%2a/g;44306;0-0;0;41438682;25461-938/200;0/0/0;;%7Eokv=;politics=1;entry_id=371698;@yimages=1;@ypolitics=1;@yus-news=1;@yvideo=1;canadian-health-care=1;health-care-reform=1;marg-delahunty-sarah-palin=1;mary-walsh=1;mary-walsh-sarah-palin=1;sarah-palin=1;sarah-palin-canada=1;sarah-palin-candian-health-care=1;sarah-palin-tricked=1;this-hour-has-22-minutes=1;global=1;qcs=D;qcs=T;qcs=671;qcs=663;qcs=659;page_type=bpage;postload=1;tile=2;sz=938x200;bsg=101986;bsg=101987;bsg=101988;bsg=102016;bsg=102017;;%7Eaopt=2/0/ff/0;%7Esscs=%3f"><img src="http://static.2mdn.net/viewad/817-grey.gif" alt="Click here to find out more!" border="0" /></a></div></div> <!-- Modal --> <div id="huff_modal_common" class="light_box_modal" style="visibility: hidden;"> <div id="huff_modal_common_inner" class="light_box_modal_inner"> <script type="text/javascript"> document.write('Your request is being processed...'); </script>Your request is being processed </div> </div> <!-- /Modal --> <!-- SNN Modal --> <div class="sidebarHeader"><div class="forma_email"><!-- /Inline toolbox --> </div> </div> <p>Walsh is the co-creator and star of <em>This Hour Has 22 Minutes</em> -- a nightly news parody show in the same vein as <em>The Daily Show</em> -- and she arrived in character, as the conservative Marg Delahunty, to the Borders where Palin (the "Alaskan Aphrodite") was signing books.</p> <p>"I just wanted to ask you if you have any words of encouragement for Canadian conservatives who have worked so hard to try to diminish the kind of socialized medicine we have up there." Walsh <a href="http://rawstory.com/2009/11/palin-canada-health-care/">shouted</a> to Palin as she approached the table. </p> <p>Palin's handlers tried to help her by ushering Walsh out of the Borders, but Palin could not be deterred. When Palin left the signing, Walsh caught up with her in the parking lot, where Palin suggested that Canada should get rid of its public health care system. "Keep the faith" Palin said, "because common sense conservatism can be plugged in there in Canada too. In fact, Canada needs to reform its health care system and let the private sector take over some of what the government has absorbed."</p> <p><em>Raw Story</em> <a href="http://rawstory.com/2009/11/palin-canada-health-care/">points out</a> that it is unlikely this plan will go over well among Canadians -- even among conservatives.</p> <blockquote>A recent study found that 90 percent of Canadians support universal, single-payer health care. A poll taken last summer shows 82 percent of Canadians believe their health care system to be better than the US's, despite constant grumbling about waiting times for treatment of non-life-threatening conditions.</blockquote> <p>This is Palin's second brush with Canadian comedians. Last November a comedian from Montreal convinced the former governor she was speaking with French President Nicolas Sarkozy. </p> <p>Watch the video below.</p> <center><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/DC8w4DE2CwM&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1&amp;"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/DC8w4DE2CwM&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1&amp;" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="344" width="425"></embed></object></center> <p><br />Later, Walsh remarked to the <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5hfc-xBK6S_JKCRKXLJt8cx8eFPVg">Canadian Press</a> that "It was great fun, but also very strange." </p> <blockquote>Walsh said, she found it equally bizarre that no one was allowed to ask Palin any questions at the book-signing.... <p><br />"We're in a bookstore, at a public event, in a place one would think was a bastion of free speech. And no one was allowed to ask questions. What are they afraid of?"</p></blockquote><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4040770062768673557-741309589306268539?l=yourfreepress.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Rafael Martínez Alequínhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11321757863793605043mariaraf@aol.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4040770062768673557.post-91486222127937257322009-11-28T10:12:00.002-05:002009-11-28T10:15:44.993-05:00<div id="bookmarks_open" class="clear" style="display: none;"> <ul class="sharesb clearfix"><li><a href="javascript:popup('http://digg.com/remote-submit?phase=2&amp;bodytext='%20+%20encodeURIComponent(a_abstract)%20+%20'&amp;title='%20+%20encodeURIComponent(a_title)%20+%20'&amp;url='%20+%20encodeURIComponent(a_url));" title="digg this page" rel="nofollow"><span class="digg"></span>Digg</a></li><li><a href="javascript:popup('http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u='%20+%20encodeURIComponent(a_url)%20+%20'&amp;t='%20+%20encodeURIComponent(a_title)+%20'&amp;bodytext='%20+%20encodeURIComponent(a_abstract));" title="Add to Facebook" rel="nofollow"><span class="facebook"></span>Facebook</a></li><li><a href="javascript:popup('http://www.newsvine.com/_tools/seed?popoff=0&amp;u='%20+%20encodeURIComponent(a_url)+%20'&amp;h='%20+%20encodeURIComponent(a_title)%20+%20'&amp;e='%20+%20encodeURIComponent(a_abstract));" title="Seed this article" rel="nofollow"><span class="newsvine"></span>Newsvine</a></li><li><a href="javascript:popup('http://www.furl.net/savedialog.jsp?&amp;r=&amp;v=1&amp;c=&amp;p=1&amp;u='%20+%20encodeURIComponent(a_url)%20+%20'&amp;t='%20+%20encodeURIComponent(a_title));" title="Add to furl" rel="nofollow"><span class="furl"></span>Furl</a></li><li><a href="javascript:popup('http://mini.mixx.com/submit/story?page_url='%20+%20encodeURIComponent(a_url)%20+%20'&amp;title='%20+%20encodeURIComponent(a_title)%20+%20'&amp;description='%20+%20encodeURIComponent(a_abstract));" title="Mixx this article" rel="nofollow"><span class="mixx"></span>Mixx</a></li><li><a href="javascript:popup('http://reddit.com/submit?url='%20+%20encodeURIComponent(a_url)+'&amp;title='%20+%20encodeURIComponent(a_title));" title="Add to Reddit" rel="nofollow"><span class="reddit"></span>Reddit</a></li><li><a href="javascript:popup('http://www.stumbleupon.com/submit?url='%20+%20encodeURIComponent(a_url)%20+%20'&amp;title='%20+%20encodeURIComponent(a_title));" title="Add to StumbledUpon" rel="nofollow"><span class="stumble"></span>Stumble</a></li><li><script type="text/javascript" src="http://d.yimg.com/ds/badge.js" badgetype="text" showbranding="0" id="yahooBuzzBadge-1">new_york_dail167:www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2009/11/28/2009-11-28_mayor_bloomberg_spends_102m_to_win_third_term__or_175_per_vote_.html</script><span class="yahooBuzzBadge-form" id="yahooBuzzBadge-form"><a href="http://buzz.yahoo.com/buzz?publisherurn=new_york_dail167&amp;guid=www.nydailynews.com%2Fny_local%2F2009%2F11%2F28%2F2009-11-28_mayor_bloomberg_spends_102m_to_win_third_term__or_175_per_vote_.html"><span style="cursor: pointer; position: relative; padding-left: 20px; line-height: 16px;"><span style="background: transparent url(http://l.yimg.com/ds/orion/1.0.12/img/badge-logo.png) no-repeat scroll left top; cursor: pointer; display: block; position: absolute; top: 0pt; left: 0pt; -moz-background-clip: border; -moz-background-origin: padding; -moz-background-inline-policy: continuous; height: 16px; width: 16px;"></span>Yahoo! Buzz</span></a></span></li><li><a href="javascript:popup('http://del.icio.us/post?v=2&amp;url='%20+%20encodeURIComponent(a_url)%20+%20'&amp;title='%20+%20encodeURIComponent(a_title)%20+%20'&amp;bodytext='%20+%20encodeURIComponent(a_abstract));" title="Add to Delicious" rel="nofollow"><span class="delicious"></span>Delicious</a></li><li><a href="javascript:popup('http://www.propeller.com/submit/?U='%20+%20encodeURIComponent(a_url)+'&amp;T='%20+%20encodeURIComponent(title));" title="Propeller this page" rel="nofollow"><span class="propeller"></span>Propeller</a></li></ul> </div> <script type="text/javascript"><!-- jQuery('a#show-bookmarks').click(function() { jQuery('div#bookmarks_open').toggle('fast'); }); //--></script> <div id="art_body_inner"> <div id="art_story"> <div id="art_header"> <p class="byline">BY <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/authors/Celeste%20Katz">Celeste Katz</a> <br /><span style="font-size:78%;">DAILY NEWS CITY HALL BUREAU </span></p> <p class="datestamp"><span style="font-size:85%;">Saturday, November 28th 2009, 4:00 AM</span></p> </div> <div class="art_img_lrg"> <img src="http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2009/11/28/alg_bloomberg_bakery.jpg" alt="Mayor Bloomberg's third campaign for mayor has become the most expensive political campaign in American history." title="Mayor Bloomberg's third campaign for mayor has become the most expensive political campaign in American history." /> <div class="art_img_lrg_txt"> <div class="art_img_lrg_credit"><span style="font-size:78%;">S</span><span style="font-size:78%;">howalter for News</span></div> <span><span style="font-size:85%;">Mayor Bloomberg's third campaign for mayor has become the most expensive political campaign in American history</span>.</span> </div> </div> <!-- ARTICLE CONTENT START --> <p><a title="Michael Bloomberg" href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Michael+Bloomberg">Mayor Bloomberg</a>'s 2009 campaign spending of more than $102 million to win a third term shatters a record previously set by ... Mayor Bloomberg. </p><p>The mayor - who has spent more of his own cash pursuing elected office than anyone in <a title="United States" href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/United+States">U.S.</a> history - blazed through $18.7 million between Oct. 20 and Thursday, new figures show. </p><p>Bloomberg, whose worth has been pegged at $17 billion, prevailed by less than 5 percentage points despite wildly outspending city <a title="Bill Thompson" href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Bill+Thompson">Controller William Thompson</a>, who ran on private donations and public matching funds. </p><p>The win cost Bloomberg about $174.53 per vote, much of it on his ubiquitous TV ads. </p><p>Thompson's official numbers come out Monday, but an aide said he spent about $8.3 million - or about $15.51 per vote. That would mean Bloomberg outspent Thompson by about 12 to 1. </p><p>Bloomberg shelled out $74 million in 2001 and $85 million on his 2005 reelection. </p><p>Campaign spokesman How-ard Wolfson said this year's record price tag was "absolutely" worth it in a election season with a national anti-incumbent undercurrent. </p><p>"In a climate in which people are unhappy - [with] the economy especially - campaigns have to start early, and they have to reach out to voters in many different ways," <a title="-ard Wolfson" href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/-ard+Wolfson">Wolfson</a> said. </p><p>A Thompson aide said the controller made it a close race by focusing on core issues like the high cost of city living. </p><p>There's a mixed message in the bang Bloomberg got for his buck this year after angering some voters by pushing the City Council to overturn the two-term limit for mayors, said <a title="David Birdsell" href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/David+Birdsell">Prof. David Birdsell</a> of <a title="Baruch College" href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Baruch+College">Baruch College</a>. </p><p>Although it may be "bad for democracy" to have one candidate with so much more financial firepower than any rival, he said, the slim margin suggests there's "hope for people who can run tough, effective campaigns to exploit the weaknesses of even extraordinarily well-financed candidates." </p><p>As yet unrevealed is how the big-bucks mayor may reward his staff for this year's narrow victory. </p><p>In 2005, Bloomberg lavished 79 campaign staffers with a total of $1.55 million in bonuses. </p><p>The mayor gave 11 members of his staff a total of $850,000 in bonuses after his 2001 underdog win.</p><p><a href="mailto:ckatz@nydailynews.com">ckatz@nydailynews.com</a></p> </div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4040770062768673557-9148622212793725732?l=yourfreepress.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Rafael Martínez Alequínhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11321757863793605043mariaraf@aol.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4040770062768673557.post-37925688415148785632009-11-25T10:52:00.004-05:002009-11-25T11:03:03.238-05:00<h2 class="date-header"><span style="font-size:78%;">Tuesday, November 24, 2009</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><br /></span></span></h2>By Gary Tilzer<br /><h2 class="date-header"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"> Breaking News:</span> <a target="_self" class="usg-AFQjCNF-Gf7Na8IffNJA55dSR1c36IYaxA " href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/25/nyregion/25yards.html">Atlantic Yards Project in Brooklyn Clears Legal Hurdle</a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ZT01xeO3Ex4/SwvwJ8Ee_KI/AAAAAAAAA00/YR-TrfYfBPE/s1600/edit11.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 394px; height: 281px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ZT01xeO3Ex4/SwvwJ8Ee_KI/AAAAAAAAA00/YR-TrfYfBPE/s320/edit11.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5407679831122836642" border="0" /></a> ***<a href="http://wcbstv.com/breakingnewsalerts/paterson.budget.emergency.2.1331288.html"> Gov. Paterson Calls For Budget Power</a></span><br /></h2><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />In 2005 Bruno is passing lobbying and ethic reform at the same time he using his government position to rip off the tax payers according to federal prosecutors. He either has a large set of balls or he knows the game is fix and nothing is illegal in Albany.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">From the NYP</span> "For if the "historic" package on lobbying and ethics "reforms" trumpeted by Pataki, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno and glowingly approved by several good-government groups is anything at all, it is - like the desert mirage - a chimera, the political equivalent of a Las Vegas magician's trick designed to shift an audience's attention away from an otherwise obvious sleight-of-hand. <a name="ALBANY'S EMPTY ETHICS REFORM.(PostOpinion)">ALBANY'S EMPTY ETHICS REFORM</a><span class="citation Generated">(NYP) June 23, 2005 (notice how the good government group always do the bidding of the leaders)<br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/24/opinion/24tue1.html?ref=opinion"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">NYT Today:</span> Albany’s ‘Ethics’ on Trial</a>The trial of former State Senator Joseph Bruno makes clear that state law and its enforcers have too often allowed ethics in Albany to be optional (NYT Ed)</span> The <em>Times</em> writes: "If Mr. Bruno broke no laws - something a jury will probably decide very soon - that would only confirm what many other New Yorkers have long thought: the problem is not what's illegal in Albany but what's legal."<br /><span class="citation Generated"><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">The NYT Editorial Board</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Problem is NYT has tried but failed over the years to change Albany</span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">The real question now is the old gray lady ready to go to war with a new generation who runs Albany, who see the press as weak and not a factor in their governing or reelection. Now with thousands of less readers, it will be a tall order for the NYT to change the way Albany works</span><br /></span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">"Reformers' Feud." </span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">(Series Fixing Albany)</span><span style="font-weight: bold;" class="citation Generated"> March 4, 2004</span> "It would certainly be a crisis. Anyone who is familiar with Albany knows it's dangerous to presume that the Legislature will rise to an occasion, or do anything quickly. In the meantime, there would be no way for the public to have any idea of what lobbyists were up to."<br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span><h3 style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a name="The 'Then What?' Problem.(SERIES: FIXING ALBANY)(Editorial Desk)(reform bill)(Editorial)">"The 'Then What?' Problem" (Series Fixing Albany) Feb 16, 2004 </a><span style="font-weight: normal;">"It's the ''then what?'' in Albany that seldom gets asked and almost never gets answered by New York's 212 legislators. Bills aimed at cleaning up Albany's governmental stables tend to disappear into legislative limbo. History suggests that the State Senate will pass an equally impressive-sounding but somewhat different batch of reforms and that the two versions will never be reconciled."</span></span></h3><br /><a style="font-weight: bold;" name="Pledges of Reform in Albany Stumble in a Familiar Whirl of Politics.(Metropolitan Desk)">Pledges of Reform in Albany Stumble in a Familiar Whirl of Politics</a><span style="font-weight: bold;"> December 8, 2004</span> Lawmakers in both parties pledged in their November re-election campaigns to overhaul the notoriously dysfunctional state budget process, but by the time the dust had cleared in Albany yesterday, they had failed to fulfill this campaign promise. . . So, as with many things in Albany, the fate of the Legislature's promises to reform itself seemed caught in a net of complicated politics, entangled in the mostly contentious negotiations over a host of other proposals that seemed to swirl like the snow outside the State Capitol. . . ''The pre-election rhetoric has fallen far short of the post-election reality,'' said Blair Horner, a lobbyist with the New York Public Interest Research Group, who observed the events firsthand by stalking the hallways, as is his custom. ''Today was Albany at its most typical: secretive insider deal-making.''<br /><span class="citation Generated"><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />"THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK" (NYT) March 13, 2007 </span></span>It comes down to this: Can Spitzer force lawmakers, finally, to act responsibly - on behalf of all New Yorkers? . . . The Senate, nominally in Republican hands, vowed yesterday to resume spending at the unsustainable rates of the past, despite Spitzer's efforts not to cut spending, but to slow its growth. . .Spitzer promised that everything would change on "Day One" - a grand, if wholly rhetorical, notion. Day 90 - April 1, the budget deadline - is a different matter. If Spitzer hasn't prevailed by then, he never will.<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">It Not Just the NYT </span></span><a name="TO MAKE ALBANY WORK - WITHOUT REFORM, MESS SET TO WORSEN.(PostOpinion)"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Editorial Board that is ignored<br /><br />TO MAKE ALBANY WORK - WITHOUT REFORM, MESS SET TO WORSEN May 30, 2006 (NYP)</span></a> 'We've gone beyond dysfunctional - to chaotic.'NEW York state now passes budgets on time - but that doesn't mean it's not still dysfunctional. The current state budget, for example, boosts spending much faster than revenues, raises our sky-high debt even higher - and relies on more than $3 billion of one-shots that plug today's budget holes while increasing future budget gaps. Result: The state now faces gaps totaling at least $9.8 billion (and as much as $12.8 billion) in the 2007-08 and 2008-09 budgets."<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Media Master <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Bloomberg</span></span></span> tell the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">NYP</span> "If you want great services, you have to have good people . . . You have to pay them fairly." At the same time according to newspaper reports the city is looking to layoff workers to close a 4.1 Billion dollar budget gap, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Bloomberg</span> is working to pay back the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">UFT</span> for staying out of the mayoral campaign with higher pay. 4% increases is the buzz. Today's <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">NYP</span> Editorial <a href="http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/editorials/mayor_creampuff_MEE47BaV9v0zxLyrGyVE7M">Mayor <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">creampuff</span></a> makes the case that the mayor has already increased teacher pay 43% during his watch<br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Stuy</span> Town: </span>High Finance Continues to Manipulates Government </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span><span style=";font-family:&quot;;font-size:100%;" >Fannie Mae </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><em>created in</em> 1938 as part of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal m</span><span style=";font-family:&quot;;font-size:12pt;" ><span style="font-size:100%;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">ission</span> is to tear down barriers, lower costs, and increase the opportunities for home ownership and affordable rental housing for all Americans<span style="font-weight: bold;">. </span></span></span>Freddie Mac's mission is to provide liquidity, stability and affordability to the housing market. Effort by several New York legislators to get bondholders <span class="topiclink">Fannie Mae</span> and <span class="topiclink">Freddie Mac</span> to include them in any restructuring, hit a wall. In separate letters to the group of legislators, the two lenders said that while they "understand" and "support" tenants concerns, they are in no position to help <a href="http://truenewsfromchangenyc.blogspot.com/2009/10/wall-street-hijacks-federal-agencies.html">Wall Street Hijacks Federal Agencies Created to Provide Affordable Housings</a> * <a href="http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/black_eye_over_stuy_sGxKzD2lBAdE91eywhKzqL#ixzz0XmIdRRVe">Black eye over <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Stuy</span></a><span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Tishman</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Speyer</span> mortgage default imminent as the owners work with the pension funds to try to restructure the debt with their bondholders. The California pension fund has already written off the billion they contributed to the 5.4 <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">Stuy</span> purchase price. Reports are today that after the court ruling that <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">Stuy</span> rents were illegally raised and the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">colapse</span> of New York housing market that the complex is now worth $1.8 billion, a third of the purchase price.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Update Daily News continues to beg Albany</span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> November 15, 2009 Editorial </span><a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2009/11/15/2009-11-15_masters_of_disaster_state_senate_fiddles_while_fiscal_armageddon_gets_closer_.html">Masters of disaster: State Senate fiddles while fiscal Armageddon gets closer</a> <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">True News November 11, 2009</span></span><a href="http://truenewsfromchangenyc.blogspot.com/2009/11/greatest-generation-vs-todays-take.html"> The Greatest Generation vs. Today's Take Albany Generation</a> It is funny how the Daily News Editorial Board continues to beg to a generation that has tuned them out. It not denial when you don't care <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2009/11/11/2009-11-11_nothing_from_nothings.html#ixzz0WYn1Yl21">Nothing from nothings: State Senate <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_49">Dems</span></span> again fail to do their duty to New Yorkers</a><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">Above the Fold </span></span><a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125907445356162357.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLTopStories">Court: Land Can Be Seized for Arena </a>The 6-1 ruling by the New York State Court of Appeals allows the contentious $4.9 billion, 22-acre Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn to proceed. The project includes a new arena for the New Jersey Nets *** <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheat-sheet/item/obama-sets-dec-1-troop-deadline/afghanistan/?cid=cs:headline1" class="cheat_strip_p first_cheat">Obama Sets Dec. 1 Troop Deadline</a><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"> * </span></span><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091124/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_us_afghanistan" class="showtt" rel=":ap:20091124:ap_on_go_pr_wh:us_us_afghanistan">Obama promises to 'finish the job' in Afghanistan </a><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">More Coming soon on the following issues</span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/quinn_rails_on_yard_plan_ib64PnCjjII2z0NyLyKN9I">Quinn rails on yard plan</a><br /><a href="http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/suit_put_cork_in_it_jugheads_GvF3qaHCib8Xh5AY86i68O#ixzz0Xm8JulOV">Homeless beggar jars a sham:</a> AG<span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span>Andy rips sidewalk beg 'con' * <a href="http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/24/homeless-organization-called-fraud/">Homeless Organization Is Called a Fraud</a><a href="http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/wheels_come_off_gOQMqBYuNUPHCWZIroDy7L#ixzz0XmHSWoe4">Wheels come off!</a><span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span><br />Pedicabs few &amp; far between as crackdown takes effect<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Gov of La <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">Mancha</span> Albany</span></span> <a href="http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/new_york_state_must_cut_spending_Iyu7uyPVYZla5RYIThoucJ">New York state must cut spending</a> By SHELDON SILVER ***<br /><a href="http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/more_budget_talks_EyjPn6oDAYlNxFNznT3jhI">More budget talks</a> last night *** <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/24/nyregion/24aqueduct.html?ref=nyregion">Aqueduct Racetrack Still Awaits a Decision</a> ***<a href="http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%253A%252F%252Fwww.cityhallnews.com%252Fnewyork%252Farticle-1039-former-bush-treasury-official-eyeing-self-financed-gop-run-for-governor.html&amp;h=300ff1e4f381b295c84d92457cf6b100&amp;ref=nf" target="_blank" onclick="'ft(">Former Bush Treasury Official Eyeing Self-Financed GOP Run For Governor</a> *** <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2009/11/24/2009-11-24_budget_deal_squeeze_play_shelly_may_make_pact_with_gov_leave_senate_on_the_spot.html">Sheldon Silver may make pact with Gov. Paterson, leave Senate on the spot</a> (NYDN) *** <a href="http://www.theithacajournal.com/article/20091123/NEWS01/911230351/1126/news/Paterson++lawmakers+fail+again+to+strike+budget+deal">Paterson, lawmakers fail again to strike budget deal</a>*** <a href="http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=869700&amp;category=MONEDIT">The <em>Times Union</em> says</a> we should listen to Moody's ***<a name="&amp;lid=tab_region_link&amp;lpos=" href="http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/ag_received_defense_cash_MEgAcpvyJMgy4vPCvgnbiO">AG received defense cash</a> <span style="font-weight: normal;font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">campaign fund took tens of thousands of dollars from law firms representing clients that his office was investigating, records show ***<a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&amp;sid=aO94CZjHKCJs&amp;pos=14"> </a></span></span><span style="display: inline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-weight: normal;font-family:arial;" class="news_story_title" ><a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&amp;sid=aO94CZjHKCJs&amp;pos=14">Cuomo Took Cash From Lawyers With Matters Before Him (Update4) </a>(Bloomberg News) *** </span><a href="http://www.buffalonews.com/home/story/871696.html">Paterson was in Buffalo at two fund-raisers</a> *** <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__t_a7cD9T4&amp;feature=player_embedded">Video of the Monserrate Inquisition Panel's second meeting</a> *** Special interests <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2009/11/23/2009-11-23_gambling_industry_others_help_line_pols_campaign_coffers_because_hes_got_their__.html">have helped fill</a> Sen. Carl Kruger's campaign coffers *** <a href="http://www.observer.com/2009/politics/paterson-cut-my-way-or-give-me-power-cut-my-way">Paterson: Cut My Way, Or Give Me the Power to Cut My Way</a> *** <a href="http://www.observer.com/2009/politics/reaction-paterson-declaration">Reaction to the Paterson Declaration</a> *** <a href="http://www.observer.com/2009/politics/skelos-paterson-wants-credit-downgrade">Skelos: Paterson Wants a Credit Downgrade</a>*** <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2009/11/whats-next-martial-law.html" rel="bookmark">'What's Next, Martial Law?' </a><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">*** PM</span></span> <a href="http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/24/let-me-cut-budget-paterson-says-no-lawmakers-reply/">Let Me Cut Budget, Paterson Says; No, Lawmakers Reply (NYT)</a> *** <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2009/11/skelos-and-sampson-albanys-new.html" rel="bookmark">Skelos And Sampson, Albany's New BFFs</a> *** <a href="http://www.observer.com/2009/politics/paterson-softens-education-cuts-new-plan">Paterson Softens School Cuts in New Plan</a> *** <a id="ctl00_contPlace1_ShowTopStoriesList_dataListTopStories_ctl00_ctl00_HeadLInk" href="http://ny1.com/1-all-boroughs-news-content/top_stories/109434/paterson-proposes-emergency-legislation-to-close-budget-gap">Paterson Proposes Emergency Legislation To Close Budget Gap</a> (NY1) ***Gov. David Paterson modified his deficit reduction plan <a href="http://polhudson.lohudblogs.com/2009/11/24/gov-s-revised-proposal-would-cut-health-care-education-less/">to reduce cuts</a> to education and health care *** <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2009/11/1199-and-gnyha-remain-dissatis.html" rel="bookmark">1199 And GNYHA Remain Dissatisfied</a><div id="TixyyLink" style="border: medium none ; overflow: hidden; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span></div><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">Pay to Play Bruno</span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"> </span><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/24/nyregion/24bruno.html?ref=nyregion">In Closing Arguments, Bruno as Bully or Honest Worker</a> (NYT) *** <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2009/11/23/2009-11-23_defense_rests_in_corruption_trial_of_exsenate_majority_leader_joseph_bruno.html">Defense rests in corruption trial of ex-Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno</a> ***<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/24/opinion/24tue1.html?ref=opinion">Albany’s ‘Ethics’ on Trial</a>The trial of former State Senator Joseph Bruno makes clear that state law and its enforcers have too often allowed ethics in Albany to be optional (NYT Ed) *** <a class="" href="http://blog.timesunion.com/bruno/bruno-case-in-hands-of-jury/1855/" target="_top">Bruno case in hands of jury</a> *** Analysis of some of the <a href="http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=869678"><strong>points of contention</strong></a> in the case. (TU) *** <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/24/opinion/24tue1.html?ref=opinion">The Times asks</a>: "What happened to the Albany district attorney, David Soares, who promised to go after the scandals in the State Capitol? It took the federal authorities to pursue Mr. Bruno?" *** <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/25/nyregion/25golf.html?_r=1&amp;ref=nyregion">Golf Was Central to Bruno, in Politics and in Busines</a> *** <span style="font-size:100%;"><a href="http://stonezone.com/"><span style="letter-spacing: -1px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:georgia;font-size:26px;" >Bruno Jury Out</span></a></span> By Roger J. Stone<br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Inspector Clouseau </span></span> <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2009/11/another-troopergate-chapter-cl.html" rel="bookmark">Another Troopergate Chapter Closed</a> *** <a href="http://www.observer.com/2009/politics/felton-admits-troopergate-role-wont-be-fined">Felton Admits Troopergate Role, Won't Be Fined</a><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">Inside City Hall</span></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"> </span><a name="&amp;lid=top_story_&amp;lpos=headline" href="http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/rise_dine_for_mike_2N4zo8lsI4DadjxBJqzaDK">O invites mayor to state-dinner gala</a> ***<a href="http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%253A%252F%252Fwww.cityhallnews.com%252Fnewyork%252Farticle-1038-gaming-out-the-bloomberg-iii-cabinet-schools-parks-fdny-and-dep.html&amp;h=300ff1e4f381b295c84d92457cf6b100&amp;ref=nf" target="_blank" onclick="'ft(">Gaming Out The Bloomberg III Cabinet: Schools, Parks, FDNY and DEP</a> *** "<a href="http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/rise_dine_for_mike_2N4zo8lsI4DadjxBJqzaDK#ixzz0XmX8mLSE">He wouldn't share a stage with fellow Democrat Bill Thompson, but President Obama invited Thompson's campaign rival, Mayor Bloomberg, to attend a White House state dinner tonight</a>." *** <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2009/11/24/2009-11-24_security_guard_witnesses_d_train_bloodbath_up_close_says_he____slammed_brakes_on.html">Bloomberg defended the move</a> of trapping straphangers in the train where a murder took place *** <a href="http://www.metro.us/us/article/2009/11/24/08/2016-82/index.xml">Metro says</a> "Bloomberg angrily defended" the move to lock the train doors *** <a href="http://www.philly.com/dailynews/national/20091124_Mayor_defends_arrest_tactic.html">A Philadelphia newspaper carries</a> the news of Bloomberg defending the closing of the D train doors after the stabbing *** <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1230457/Horrified-passengers-forced-stay-subway-carriage-man-stabs-stranger-death-row-seat.html">British media picks up</a> the story of "horrified passengers forced to stay" in the D train *** <a href="http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2009/1124/1224259337047.html">A woman at Bloomberg's campaign headquarters said</a> Africans "were exercised that the campaign had not produced a separate poster for them." *** <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/bronx/2009/11/24/2009-11-24_mike_bloomberg_now_.html#ixzz0Xn31MZ7v">Mayor Mike Bloomberg should meet with common folk after buzz about campaign trickery</a> *** <a href="http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/fea/20091123/202/3110">Is New York Ready for Instant Runoffs?</a><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);"></span></span></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4040770062768673557-3792568841514878563?l=yourfreepress.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Rafael Martínez Alequínhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11321757863793605043mariaraf@aol.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4040770062768673557.post-58295187982555381592009-11-24T08:15:00.001-05:002009-11-24T08:17:46.184-05:00In May of 2001, President George Bush nominated Miguel Estrada to a key federal appeals court position.The court is very influential, and is widely seen as a stepping stone to the Supreme Court. He received a unanimous "well-qualified" rating from the <a title="American Bar Association" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Bar_Association" target="_blank">American Bar Association</a>.<br />Democratic Senators opposed the nomination, noting Estrada's lack of any prior judicial experience at the local, state, or federal level. Democratic Senators also objected to the refusal by the Office of the Solicitor General to release samples of Estrada's writings while employed there. Republicans, however, stated that the Democratic concerns were actually just an attempt to deny Estrada a circuit court seat because of his conservatism.Undaunted by the opposition, Bush had another strategy.<br />A look behind the scenes would reveal an FCC review of a $2.4 billion merger between Univision, the nation's largest Hispanic television network and Clear Channel, a leading owner of Spanish-speaking radio stations. It was by no coincidence that both companies were owned by White, male, Republicans who were staunch Bush supporters. Opponents of the merger said that the combined company would control 70 percent of the Hispanic television network and radio stations. Good news for Bush who could then enlist their favor to promote the nomination of Miguel Estrada.<br />Then, New Jersey Democrat, Bob Menendez and New York State Senator Efrain Gonzalez, strongly advocated against the merger. Gonzalez headed up a little known agency called The National Hispanic Policy Institute. He placed print ads in Capitol Hill publications charging that the merger would create an unstoppable progression in the Spanish -speaking media that would drive out all other groups such as the Spanish Broadcasting System. Bob Menendez was equally strident.<br />He was the only member of the Hispanic Caucus to go public with allegations that Univision had blocked Democrats and their complaints about the Estrada nomination. Several other House Democrats supported Menendez's complaint but refused to record their charges.On September 4, 2003, Miguel Estrada withdrew his name from the nomination as a federal judge. A swirl of controversy surrounded him including a rarely invoked filibuster by the Democratic opposition. One could consider the case closed.<br />But, on September 8, 2006, Senator Robert Menendez was placed under investigation for allegedly collecting rent from an organization headed by a political supporter for whom he secured funds through a federal earmark. And only days prior to that, New York State Senator Efrain Gonzalez was indicted on August 25, 2006 on charges that he fraudulently took $37,000 from a community organization for Yankees tickets, a Caribbean residence and clothing.<br />All charges have yet to be substantiated. Some speculate that Bush had unleashed his "dog of war." Rover, minus the R, i.e. Karl Rove. The ever faithful aide possibly played a vengeful hand in the demise of both Menendez and Gonzalez. Bush does not like to lose. The case against Menendez found him innocent of criminal charges. The case against Gonzalez has moved at a snail's pace. Predictions of a trial date vary from October to January, 2009. The prosecution lacks evidence.<br />Stay tuned and pay close attention. Very close attention.........<br />Posted by Rafael Martínez Alequín at <a class="timestamp-link" title="permanent link" href="http://yourfreepress.blogspot.com/2008/08/anatomy-of-accusation.html" rel="bookmark">5:16 PM</a> <a class="comment-link" onclick="'javascript:window.open(this.href," toolbar="0,location=" statusbar="1,menubar=" scrollbars="yes,width=" height="450" href="https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=4040770062768673557&amp;postID=6745192911712408869&amp;isPopup=true">0 comments</a> <a title="Email Post" href="http://www.blogger.com/email-post.g?blogID=4040770062768673557&amp;postID=6745192911712408869"></a><a title="Edit Post" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=4040770062768673557&amp;postID=6745192911712408869"></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4040770062768673557-5829518798255538159?l=yourfreepress.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Rafael Martínez Alequínhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11321757863793605043mariaraf@aol.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4040770062768673557.post-3711657491751188092009-11-23T09:09:00.001-05:002009-11-23T09:11:49.345-05:00<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; "><div id="art_header" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 486px; display: inline-block; "><h1 style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: normal; font-style: inherit; font-size: 3em; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(40, 40, 40); line-height: 1; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(78, 78, 78); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; text-transform: uppercase; ">BY <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/authors/Bill%20Egbert" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 11px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(1, 95, 182); ">BILL EGBERT</a> </span></h1><p class="byline" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.8em; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(78, 78, 78); text-transform: uppercase; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER</span></p><p class="datestamp" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.8em; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(122, 120, 120); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Monday, November 23rd 2009, 4:00 AM</span></p></div><div class="art_img_lrg" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 11px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 485px; "><img src="http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2009/11/23/alg_kingsbridge.jpg" alt="City council members could vote to kill the Kingsbridge Armory project, which would turn the fortress into a $310 million shopping mall." title="City council members could vote to kill the Kingsbridge Armory project, which would turn the fortress into a $310 million shopping mall." style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 11px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; " /><div class="art_img_lrg_txt" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 5px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 5px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 11px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(237, 239, 241); color: rgb(102, 102, 102); "><div class="art_img_lrg_credit" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 11px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 475px; text-align: right; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); ">Schwartz for News</div><span style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 11px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">City council members could vote to kill the Kingsbridge Armory project, which would turn the fortress into a $310 million shopping mall.</span></div></div><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.8em; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(78, 78, 78); "><a title="Joel Rivera" href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Joel+Rivera" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(1, 95, 182); "><br />Council Majority Leader Joel Rivera</a> (D-<a title="The Bronx" href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/The+Bronx" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(1, 95, 182); ">Bronx</a>) told the Daily News he has the support of enough members of the subcommittee on zoning and franchises, meeting Monday, to block plans to turn the 575,000-square-foot fortress into a $310 million shopping mall.Monday could be the turning point for the embattled Kingsbridge Armory redevelopment plan, with critical City Council members now claiming to have the votes to kill the project.</p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.8em; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(78, 78, 78); ">"We have the votes to pass it, or to kill it," said Rivera, who noted not just Bronx members on the committee are ready to vote the proposal down.</p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.8em; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(78, 78, 78); ">At issue is whether the developer, <a title="The Related Companies LP" href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/The+Related+Companies+LP" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(1, 95, 182); ">The Related Companies</a>, will agree to require retail tenants to pay workers a living wage. Related has said it would have to walk away from the project because it would be unable to get bank financing under such terms.</p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.8em; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(78, 78, 78); ">Sources said that Related's options are to either offer some compromise on the wage issue, see the subcommittee kill the proposal or withdraw its application and let the city issue a new request for proposals to develop the armory.</p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.8em; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(78, 78, 78); "><a title="Robert Lieber" href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Robert+Lieber" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(1, 95, 182); ">Robert Lieber</a>, deputy mayor for economic development, sided with Related at last Tuesday's subcommittee hearing, saying a wage requirement would scuttle the project.</p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.8em; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(78, 78, 78); ">Rivera and other Council members are set to meet privately with Lieber this morning prior to the hearing in what could be make-or-break negotiations, with Related officials expected to be standing by.</p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.8em; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(78, 78, 78); ">"They have a decision to make," Rivera said of Related. "Do they want to see this project move forward? If they don't budge, we have the votes to block it."</p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.8em; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(78, 78, 78); ">Calling opposition to the project "unprecedented," subcommittee <a title="Tony Avella" href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Tony+Avella" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(1, 95, 182); ">Chairman Tony Avella (D-Queens)</a> agreed the armory proposal could be doomed.</p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.8em; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(78, 78, 78); ">Opposition to the project has been building since <a title="Ruben Diaz" href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Ruben+Diaz" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(1, 95, 182); ">Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr.</a> recommended nixing the project if Related does not sign a binding community benefits agreement with the living wage in it.</p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.8em; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(78, 78, 78); ">A living wage is generally defined as $11.50 an hour without benefits or $10 an hour plus benefits, compared to a $7.25 an hour minimum wage.</p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.8em; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(78, 78, 78); ">Though some <a title="United States" href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/United+States" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(1, 95, 182); ">U.S.</a> cities have imposed citywide living wage mandates, <a title="New York" href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/New+York" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(1, 95, 182); ">New York</a> has yet to adopt one.</p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.8em; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(78, 78, 78); "><a href="mailto:wegbert@nydailynews.com" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(1, 95, 182); ">wegbert@nydailynews.com</a></p><br /><br /><br /></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4040770062768673557-371165749175118809?l=yourfreepress.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Rafael Martínez Alequínhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11321757863793605043mariaraf@aol.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4040770062768673557.post-51942803482386631072009-11-22T11:29:00.001-05:002009-11-22T11:30:53.863-05:00<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(78, 78, 78); font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; "><div id="art_story" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 485px; "><div class="clearfix" id="art_header_columnist" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block; width: 486px; "><div id="art_columnist" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: right; "><a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/authors/Adam%20Lisberg" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(1, 95, 182); "><img src="http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/static/columnists/new-col-hdr_adam-lisberg.jpg" alt="Adam Lisberg" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; " /></a></div><div id="art_info" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 385px; float: left; "><p class="byline" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.8em; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 11px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(78, 78, 78); text-transform: uppercase; "><a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/authors/Adam%20Lisberg" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 13px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(1, 95, 182); ">ADAM LISBERG</a></p><p class="datestamp" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.8em; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 11px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(122, 120, 120); ">Sunday, November 22nd 2009, 10:07 AM</p></div></div><div class="art_img_lrg" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 11px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 485px; "><img src="http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2009/11/22/alg_palin_bloomberg.jpg" alt="Then-governor of Alaska Sarah Palin met with Mayor Bloomberg in October 2007. Daily News asked for copies of these photos on July 8, but received them after Bloomberg was elected for the third time." title="Then-governor of Alaska Sarah Palin met with Mayor Bloomberg in October 2007. Daily News asked for copies of these photos on July 8, but received them after Bloomberg was elected for the third time." style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 13px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; " /><div class="art_img_lrg_txt" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 5px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 5px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 13px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(237, 239, 241); color: rgb(102, 102, 102); "><div class="art_img_lrg_credit" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 13px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 475px; text-align: right; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); ">Tucker/Mayor's Office</div><span style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Then-governor of Alaska Sarah Palin met with Mayor Bloomberg in October 2007. Daily News asked for copies of these photos on July 8, but received them after Bloomberg was elected for the third time</span></span><span style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 13px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">.</span></div></div><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.8em; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(78, 78, 78); "><br />• The city budget deficit isn't as bad as he said.Here's what you missed while <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Michael+Bloomberg" title="Michael Bloomberg" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(1, 95, 182); ">Mayor Bloomberg</a> was running for a third term - because he kept it under wraps until after the ballots were counted:</p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.8em; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(78, 78, 78); ">• The <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/New+York+City+Police+Department" title="New York City Police Department" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(1, 95, 182); ">NYPD</a> was quietly exempted from the budget cuts at almost every other agency.</p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.8em; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(78, 78, 78); ">• A $60 million tax loss that gave Bloomberg a soap box to rail against the state Senate has magically vanished.</p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.8em; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(78, 78, 78); ">But that's all just numbers. What really drives the point home is the photo of Bloomberg and <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Sarah+Palin" title="Sarah Palin" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(1, 95, 182); ">Sarah Palin</a> hanging around in City Hall.</p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.8em; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(78, 78, 78); ">The picture - and six others - was shot Oct. 10, 2007, when the then-governor of <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Alaska" title="Alaska" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(1, 95, 182); ">Alaska</a> was on a visit to <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/New+York" title="New York" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(1, 95, 182); ">New York</a>.</p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.8em; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(78, 78, 78); ">Bloomberg hosts visiting pols all the time for short meet-and-greets, and nobody knew at the time that, a year later, Palin would become a controversial Republican icon.</p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.8em; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(78, 78, 78); ">The photos might have been inconvenient for Bloomberg while he was running against Democrat <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Bill+Thompson" title="Bill Thompson" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(1, 95, 182); ">Bill Thompson</a> in a heavily Democratic city, but they belong to the taxpayers.</p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.8em; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(78, 78, 78); ">The Daily News asked for copies of the photographs July 8. Under the state Freedom of Information Law, Bloomberg's lawyer <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Anthony+Crowell" title="Anthony Crowell" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(1, 95, 182); ">Anthony Crowell</a> had to respond within five days.</p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.8em; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(78, 78, 78); ">He handed them over two weeks after the election.</p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.8em; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(78, 78, 78); ">"There is simply no good reason for delaying disclosure," said the state's top public records watchdog, <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Robert+Freeman" title="Robert Freeman" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(1, 95, 182); ">Robert Freeman</a>, of the <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/New+York+State+Committee+on+Open+Government" title="New York State Committee on Open Government" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(1, 95, 182); ">Committee on Open Government</a>. "Embarrassment is not one of the grounds."</p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.8em; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(78, 78, 78); ">The photos are just a sideshow, though, compared to the city's improving financial picture.</p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.8em; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(78, 78, 78); ">In the campaign, Bloomberg and Thompson were pressed on how they would fill the $4.9 billion hole in next year's budget.</p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.8em; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(78, 78, 78); ">Documents released last week show a huge increase in tax revenues - cutting the hole down to $4.1 billion. Bloomberg knew that when he made his campaign pledge not to raise taxes; Thompson was in the dark.</p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.8em; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(78, 78, 78); ">"These are enormous numbers of great concern. Whether you have to walk 1,000 miles or 1,200 miles, either way, it's a long walk," said Bloomberg spokesman <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Stu+Loeser" title="Stu Loeser" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(1, 95, 182); ">Stu Loeser</a>. "We've made no secret of the fact that we have a very conservative budget."</p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.8em; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(78, 78, 78); ">The new budget figures also showed the NYPD was allowed to rescind $120 million in budget cuts, despite Bloomberg's tough talk about making painful decisions.</p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.8em; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(78, 78, 78); ">And perhaps you remember Bloomberg's July complaints about how the Senate's refusal to raise the city sales tax would cost the city $60 million a month.</p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.8em; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(78, 78, 78); ">The tax was raised in August instead. The new estimates show the $60 million gap has disappeared, which a spokesman attributed to more commerce in the city than expected.</p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.8em; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(78, 78, 78); ">Even if New Yorkers had known all of this, it may not have done much to change the outcome of a relatively close election. Still, Bloomberg used the power of his office to lessen the risk.</p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.8em; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(78, 78, 78); ">"That's the advantage of being in power," <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Baruch+College" title="Baruch College" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(1, 95, 182); ">Baruch College</a> <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Doug+Muzzio" title="Doug Muzzio" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(1, 95, 182); ">Prof. Doug Muzzio</a> said. "If knowledge is power, this is a perfect example of it."</p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.8em; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(78, 78, 78); "><a href="mailto:alisberg@nydailynews.com" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(1, 95, 182); ">alisberg@nydailynews.com</a></p></div><div class="clearfix" id="art_mod_topics" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block; "><div id="topics_col_a" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 162px; float: left; "><ul style="padding-top: 0em; padding-right: 0em; padding-bottom: 0em; padding-left: 0em; margin-top: 0em; margin-right: 0em; margin-bottom: 0em; margin-left: 0em; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style-type: none; "></ul></div></div></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4040770062768673557-5194280348238663107?l=yourfreepress.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Rafael Martínez Alequínhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11321757863793605043mariaraf@aol.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4040770062768673557.post-70396896403401808512009-11-21T20:05:00.016-05:002009-11-22T11:12:04.032-05:00<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; line-height: 19px;font-family:arial,helvetica,clean,sans-serif;"><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.22em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman',helvetica,clean,sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 13px;font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:11px;"><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.22em;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.22em;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.22em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">New developments in federal corruption case involving former state Senator Efraín González, Jr. may yield a plea nix. González has been awaiting sentencing for taking a plea deal after being pressured to do so by his counsel. That was back in May of 2009. He may have been improperly advised.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.22em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.22em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">On November 9, 2009, Federal Justice William H. Pauley held an emergency hearing in his chamber after receiving correspondence from González' son, Carlos González (41). YFP has learned that Carlos described an impasse to the judge between Efraín González, Jr. and his counsel, Murray Richmond, and alleged this impasse existed from January of 2009, five months prior to his plea.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.22em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.22em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Carlos González also stated that Richmond has never been in the possession of discovery information turned over for the case by the government after the indictment was unsealed. That amounts to an approximate 23 boxes of evidence since 2006, and an additional 104 boxes turned over by the government in March of 2008. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.22em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.22em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">It would seem impossible for counsel to adequately prepare for trial if no due diligence of critical documents were ever properly inspected. We were able to reach Carlos González, but he declined discussion on the matter. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.22em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.22em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Nevertheless, Judge Pauley dismissed Murray Richmond from the case. and appointed new counsel, Lance Croffet Suade of Linklaters, a well-known law firm representing clients worldwide.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.22em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.22em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">In Suade's first appearance in court on Friday, November 20, 2009, Suade successfully argued that time was necessary for him to review the case. Suade's first course of action is to review all evidence, to include all items of discovery. The next court appearance is scheduled for January 29, 2010. At that date, the judge will possibly entertain new motions. All options are available. One of the options on the table may be to rescind the original plea, especially if it's determined by Suade that González was wrongfully persuaded. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.22em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.22em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">We'll just have to wait and see.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.22em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.22em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">In the meanwhile, Justice Pauley ordered both the government and defense to get together and bring each other up to speed about the circumstances that lead to the original plea. In addition, the government needs to explain how they arrived at the alleged $200,000 they're claiming González, Jr. benefited from, and show specifics on how they reached that conclusion.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.22em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 1.22em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">This amount is vastly different compared to the original charge of $423,000 that was presented to the Grand Jury leading to the original indictment. What were the reasons that caused the government to drop $200,000 plus from the case? Were they fishing originally? Could it be that the remaining $200,000 falls under the same fishing expedition? Is there clear evidence that member item monies were misappropriated and used to benefit González? That's something I'm sure that Mr. Suade will get to the bottom of.</span></span></div></span></span></span></div></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4040770062768673557-7039689640340180851?l=yourfreepress.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Rafael Martínez Alequínhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11321757863793605043mariaraf@aol.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4040770062768673557.post-68091105967633991832009-11-20T22:28:00.001-05:002009-11-20T22:34:08.101-05:00<span class="Apple-style-span" style=" border-collapse: collapse; line-height: 16px; font-family:Arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif;font-size:13px;"><div class="messageHeader" style="line-height: 1.22em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 5px; padding-right: 10px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 10px; background-color: rgb(244, 242, 240); border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(216, 214, 211); clear: both; "><table class="messageListTable" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="99%" style="font-size: inherit; line-height: 1.22em; border-collapse: collapse; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; clear: both; "><tbody style="line-height: 1.22em; "><tr style="line-height: 1.22em; "><td class="headerRight" style="line-height: 1.22em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 1px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 7px; width: 970px; "></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div id="_aolWebSuiteMsgBody" class="msgBody" style="line-height: 1.22em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 10px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); width: auto; zoom: 1; position: relative; "><div id="AOLMsgPart_2_55eb515e-2a82-4630-a676-06825523b290" style="line-height: 1.22em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; "><span id="role_document" style="line-height: 1.22em; font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;color:#000000;"><div style="line-height: 1.22em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; "><h3 class="post-title entry-title" style="line-height: 1.22em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; "><a target="_blank" href="http://truenewsfromchangenyc.blogspot.com/2009/11/controlling-news-what-happen-to-council.html" style="line-height: 1.22em; text-decoration: underline; color: blue; cursor: pointer; ">Controlling the News: What Happen to the Council Slush Fund Investigation?</a></h3><div class="post-header-line-1" style="line-height: 1.22em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; "></div><div class="post-body entry-content" style="line-height: 1.22em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; "><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;"> </span><a target="_blank" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZT01xeO3Ex4/SwVXzXQLooI/AAAAAAAAA0M/MCdNxVagY2Q/s1600/FBI+bbbb.png" style="line-height: 1.22em; text-decoration: underline; color: blue; cursor: pointer; "><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5405823467654980226" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZT01xeO3Ex4/SwVXzXQLooI/AAAAAAAAA0M/MCdNxVagY2Q/s320/FBI+bbbb.png" border="0" style="line-height: 1.22em; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; float: left; margin-top: 0pt; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0pt; width: 250px; cursor: pointer; height: 320px; " /></span></a><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;"> </span></span><br /><span style="line-height: 1.22em; "><span style="line-height: 1.22em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;"><b></b></span></span><span style="line-height: 1.22em; "><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-family:arial;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The Daily News reported on June 24, 2008 that U.S. Attorney Michael Garcia asked the NYS Supreme Court to delay for 90 days a special inquiry into the city council pork spending and slush fund, for fear it would derail their case. The inquiry requested by civil rights lawyer Norman Siegel under an arcane law, would require a parade of public officials to publicly testify under a grant of immunity. It not about Siegel ongoing suit which seeks to invoke a a rarely used City Charter provision to combat Tammany Hall corrupt in the 1870s but what happen to the U.S. Attorney Investigation. We know that since then Both Garcia and Lev Dassin have left to white shoe law firms. With the new U.S. for New York's Southern District </span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Preet Bahrara responsibilities with the terror trials we wonder if he has any time for the council investigation or if we will ever see a report if they decide not to indict the big fish. </span><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><br /><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:180%;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 0, 0); ">Only True News Keeps This Story Alive</span><br /><span style="line-height: 1.22em; color: rgb(0, 153, 0); ">August 7, 2009</span></span></span><a target="_blank" href="http://truenewsfromchangenyc.blogspot.com/2009/08/new-yorks-watergate-several-slush-fund.html" style="line-height: 1.22em; text-decoration: underline; color: blue; cursor: pointer; "> NY's Watergate: Several Slush Fund Cover-up</a><br /><span style="line-height: 1.22em; color: rgb(0, 153, 0); font-size:17px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:180%;">July 15, 2009</span></span><a target="_blank" href="http://truenewsfromchangenyc.blogspot.com/2009/07/city-council-slush-fund-scandal-is-way.html" style="line-height: 1.22em; text-decoration: underline; color: blue; cursor: pointer; ">The City Council Slush Fund Scandal Is Way Bigger Than Miguel Martinez</a><br /><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 153, 0); ">March 6, 2009 </span><a target="_blank" href="http://truenewsfromchangenyc.blogspot.com/2009/03/mike-pulls-council-money-for-groups.html" style="line-height: 1.22em; text-decoration: underline; color: blue; cursor: pointer; ">Cover Up At City Hall Continues</a><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 153, 0); ">J<br />January 12, 2009 </span><a target="_blank" href="http://truenewsfromchangenyc.blogspot.com/2009/01/inspector-clouseau-investigate.html" style="line-height: 1.22em; text-decoration: underline; color: blue; cursor: pointer; ">Inspector Clouseau Investigates</a><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 153, 0); "> <span style="line-height: 1.22em; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); ">NYC Political Corruption</span><br />January 4, 2009</span><a target="_blank" href="http://truenewsfromchangenyc.blogspot.com/2009/01/what-if-media-blackout-watergatge.html" style="line-height: 1.22em; text-decoration: underline; color: blue; cursor: pointer; "> Member Item Slush Fund Cover Up</a><br /><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 153, 0); ">November 11, 2009</span> <a target="_blank" href="http://29councilmembers.blogspot.com/2008/11/dishonor-role-shame-of-new-york.html" style="line-height: 1.22em; text-decoration: underline; color: blue; cursor: pointer; ">The Dishonor Roll - The Shame of New York</a><br /><strong style="line-height: 1.22em; ">The 29 Councilmembers who voted to extend their term in office</strong><br /><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 153, 0); ">November 8, 2008</span> <a target="_blank" href="http://truenewsfromchangenyc.blogspot.com/2008/11/scandal-that-could-bring-down.html" style="line-height: 1.22em; text-decoration: underline; color: blue; cursor: pointer; ">Massive Lobbyist Scandal at City Hall</a><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:17px;"><br /><br /></span><p style="line-height: 1.22em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; "><strong style="line-height: 1.22em; "><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:17px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:180%;">Media Switch On Then Off</span></span></strong> - <span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:180%;"><strong style="line-height: 1.22em; "><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:31px;">Slush Fund Story</span></strong><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">From a period of two weeks before the </span><a target="_blank" href="http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/04/city_council_workers_indicted.html" style="line-height: 1.22em; text-decoration: underline; color: blue; cursor: pointer; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">indictments of two city council aides </span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">to about a month after the arrests, the newspapers hammered away almost every day at the slush fund scandal. From the beginning of April to the the end of May over 100 story and several editorials were published about the scandal and the need for reform, including over two dozen investigative reports that exposed how </span><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" style="line-height: 1.22em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">councilmembers</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> used member items for family, friends and </span><a target="_blank" href="http://www.dailygotham.com/blog/gary_tilzer/a_letter_to_garcia_michael_garcia_u_s_attorney" style="line-height: 1.22em; text-decoration: underline; color: blue; cursor: pointer; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">paid off lobbyists for their campaign help</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">. Since the end of May less than a handful of stories have been written about the slush fund, none during and since the debate and vote extending the council's term limits. It is inexplicable that challengers who use the Internet and </span><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" style="line-height: 1.22em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Facebook</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> for requests for funding, have not tried to use the online community against the media blackout, and to organize against the council's term limits vote.</span></p><p style="line-height: 1.22em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; "><br /></p><strong style="line-height: 1.22em; "><span style="line-height: 1.22em; color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-size:17px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:180%;">Slush Fund Coverage Day by Day, April - May</span></span></strong><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;"> Pork handouts offered to pressure council </span></span><a target="_blank" href="http://29councilmembers.blogspot.com/2008/11/joel-rivera.html" style="line-height: 1.22em; text-decoration: underline; color: blue; cursor: pointer; "><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">members to OK congestion plan</span></span></a><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">, April 2, 2008 *** </span></span><a target="_blank" href="http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/local&amp;id=6060290" style="line-height: 1.22em; text-decoration: underline; color: blue; cursor: pointer; "><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">City Council investigated</span></span></a><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;"> for slush fund, April 3, 2008 *** City Council Speaker's "</span></span><a target="_blank" href="http://gothamist.com/2008/04/03/city_council_sp_2.php" style="line-height: 1.22em; text-decoration: underline; color: blue; cursor: pointer; "><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">Slush Fund" Investigated</span></span></a><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">, April 3, 2008 ***</span></span><a target="_blank" href="http://video.aol.com/video-detail/slush-fund-scandal-may-drag-quinn-to-court/10690000" style="line-height: 1.22em; text-decoration: underline; color: blue; cursor: pointer; "><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">Slush Fund Scandal </span></span></a><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">May Drag Quinn To Court *** City Council invented </span></span><a target="_blank" href="http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2008/04/04/2008-04-04_city_council_invented_phony_charities_to-1.html" style="line-height: 1.22em; text-decoration: underline; color: blue; cursor: pointer; "><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">phony charities to hide</span></span></a><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;"> more than $17M, aides say, April 3 *** Christine Quinn </span></span><a target="_blank" href="http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2008/04/christine_quinn_joins_the_scan.html" style="line-height: 1.22em; text-decoration: underline; color: blue; cursor: pointer; "><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">Joins the Scandal Bandwagon</span></span></a><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">, April 3, 2008 *** </span></span><a target="_blank" href="http://blog.silive.com/politics/2008/04/the_perils_of_christine.html" style="line-height: 1.22em; text-decoration: underline; color: blue; cursor: pointer; "><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">The Perils of Christine</span></span></a><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">, April 4, 2008 *** NYC City Council Hiding Taxpayer Money,</span></span><a target="_blank" href="http://rabidliberal.com/2008/04/04/nyc-city-council-hiding-taxpayer-money-created-a-slush-fund/" style="line-height: 1.22em; text-decoration: underline; color: blue; cursor: pointer; "><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">Created a Slush Fund</span></span></a><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">, April 4, 2008 *** NYC pol caught in slush fund probe - April 5, 2008 *** City Comptroller To Audit Council Over Slush Fund - April 9, 2008 *** Discretionary funds in City Council </span></span><a target="_blank" href="http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/06/discretionary_funds_in_city_co.html" style="line-height: 1.22em; text-decoration: underline; color: blue; cursor: pointer; "><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">must now be <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" style="line-height: 1.22em; ">OK'd</span></span></span></a><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">, April 11, 2008 </span></span><a target="_blank" href="http://feeds.gothamistllc.com/click.phdo?i=2f19d99b2f32e83a410065284230cb0c" style="line-height: 1.22em; text-decoration: underline; color: blue; cursor: pointer; "><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">Speaker Quinn Decides to Talk to a Lawyer</span></span></a><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">, April 12, 2008 *** *** </span></span><a target="_blank" href="http://christinequinn.com/content/slush-probers-eye-fraud-rap-quin" style="line-height: 1.22em; text-decoration: underline; color: blue; cursor: pointer; "><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">Slush <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4" style="line-height: 1.22em; ">Probers</span> Eye </span></span></a><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">Fraud Rap for Quinn, April 13, 2008 *** Unanswered Questions: </span></span><a target="_blank" href="http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/issueoftheweek/20080414/200/2492" style="line-height: 1.22em; text-decoration: underline; color: blue; cursor: pointer; "><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">City Council's Phantom Funds</span></span></a><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;"> - April 14, 2008 *** 2 NYC Council workers </span></span><a target="_blank" href="http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-04-16-4271129950_x.htm" style="line-height: 1.22em; text-decoration: underline; color: blue; cursor: pointer; "><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">indicted in slush fund probe </span></span></a><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">-April 16, 2008 *** </span></span><a target="_blank" href="http://www.onnyturf.com/blogs/view_post.php?content_id=18627" style="line-height: 1.22em; text-decoration: underline; color: blue; cursor: pointer; "><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">What Roll Did Chuck Meara </span></span></a><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">Have In Creating The City Council Speaker's Slush Fund, April 16, 2008 *** </span></span><a target="_blank" href="http://29councilmembers.blogspot.com/2008/11/carmen-arroyo.html" style="line-height: 1.22em; text-decoration: underline; color: blue; cursor: pointer; "><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">Council member in funding flap</span></span></a><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">, April, 17, 2008 *** SLUSH-FUND </span></span><a target="_blank" href="http://www.nypost.com/seven/04172008/postopinion/editorials/slush_fund_shenanigans_106832.htm" style="line-height: 1.22em; text-decoration: underline; color: blue; cursor: pointer; "><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">SHENANIGANS</span></span></a><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;"> - April 17, 2008 *** Lobbyists’ Role in </span></span><a target="_blank" href="http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/archives/2008/04/melting_the_cit.php" style="line-height: 1.22em; text-decoration: underline; color: blue; cursor: pointer; "><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">Council Slush Fund Scandal Probed </span></span></a><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">- April 17, 2008 *** AIDS Groups Have Doubts On </span></span><a target="_blank" href="http://www.gaycitynews.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19494035&amp;BRD=2729&amp;PAG=461&amp;dept_id=569341&amp;rfi=6" style="line-height: 1.22em; text-decoration: underline; color: blue; cursor: pointer; "><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">Quinn Reforms</span></span></a><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">, April 17, 2008 *** </span></span><a target="_blank" href="http://chelseanow.com/cn_82/indictment.html" style="line-height: 1.22em; text-decoration: underline; color: blue; cursor: pointer; "><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">Indictments fall as Quinn</span></span></a><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;"> eyes reforms in slush fund scandal - April 18, 2008 *** NYC pol caught in slush fund probe, April 18, 2008 ***</span></span><a target="_blank" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/18/nyregion/18quinn.html?_r=1&amp;hp" style="line-height: 1.22em; text-decoration: underline; color: blue; cursor: pointer; "><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;"> Quinn Offers Apologies</span></span></a><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;"> to Council, April 18, 2008 *** City Council scandal has </span></span><a target="_blank" href="http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2008/04/19/2008-04-19_city_council_scandal_has_nonprofits_nerv.html" style="line-height: 1.22em; text-decoration: underline; color: blue; cursor: pointer; "><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">nonprofits nervous, hampers budget talks</span></span></a><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">, April 19, 2008 *** CITY HAUL POLS WANT </span></span><a target="_blank" href="http://29councilmembers.blogspot.com/2008/11/oliver-kippell.html" style="line-height: 1.22em; text-decoration: underline; color: blue; cursor: pointer; "><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">YOU TO PAY LAW BILLS</span></span></a><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">, April 19, 2008 *** </span></span><a target="_blank" href="http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2008/04/21/2008-04-21_da_weighs_charges_in_city_council_slush_.html" style="line-height: 1.22em; text-decoration: underline; color: blue; cursor: pointer; "><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">DA weighs charges</span></span></a><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;"> in City Council slush fund scandal - April 21, 2008 *** Quinn would flush ‘</span></span><a target="_blank" href="http://www.thevillager.com/villager_259/quinnwould.html" style="line-height: 1.22em; text-decoration: underline; color: blue; cursor: pointer; "><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">slush fund’ in a budget overhaul proposal </span></span></a><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">- April 22, 2008 *** Daily News Editorial: All in the family - April 22, 2008 *** </span></span><a target="_blank" href="http://29councilmembers.blogspot.com/2008/11/erik-dilan.html" style="line-height: 1.22em; text-decoration: underline; color: blue; cursor: pointer; "><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">Brooklyn Pol Put $187G of Your Dough into Wife's Nonprofit</span></span></a><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">, April 22, 2008 *** City Freezes Bronx Councilman’s </span></span><a target="_blank" href="http://www.talkbx.com/tag/united-states-attorney-michael-garcia/" style="line-height: 1.22em; text-decoration: underline; color: blue; cursor: pointer; "><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">Million-Dollar Non-Profit Play</span></span></a><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">, April 24, 2008 *** The City Council Operates Under "</span><a target="_blank" href="http://www.nycivic.org/articles08/Bison/080425B.html" style="line-height: 1.22em; text-decoration: underline; color: blue; cursor: pointer; "><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5" style="line-height: 1.22em; ">Afikomen</span> Rules", </span></a><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">April 25, 2008 *** Councilman sent $406G to nonprofit </span></span><a target="_blank" href="http://29councilmembers.blogspot.com/2008/11/miguel-martinez.html" style="line-height: 1.22em; text-decoration: underline; color: blue; cursor: pointer; "><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">with sister on board</span></span></a><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">, April 25, 2008 *** </span></span><a target="_blank" href="http://westbronxnews.blogspot.com/2008/04/baez-tied-to-council-slush-fund-scandal.html" style="line-height: 1.22em; text-decoration: underline; color: blue; cursor: pointer; "><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">Baez Tied to Council Slush Fund Scandal</span></span></a><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;"> - April 30, 2008 *** Daily News Editorial: All in the family - April 22, 2008 *** </span></span><a target="_blank" href="http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/archives/2008/04/feds_probing_la.php" style="line-height: 1.22em; text-decoration: underline; color: blue; cursor: pointer; "><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">Feds Probing Larry <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6" style="line-height: 1.22em; ">Seabrook</span> Non-Profits</span></span></a><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;"> in Council Slush Fund Inquiry - April 30, 2008 *** Slush pols </span></span><a target="_blank" href="http://29councilmembers.blogspot.com/2008/11/leroy-comrie.htm" style="line-height: 1.22em; text-decoration: underline; color: blue; cursor: pointer; "><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">look after their own</span></span></a><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">, -April 30, 2008</span></span> ***<a target="_blank" href="http://www.amny.com/news/politics/am-slush0502,0,5943104.story" style="line-height: 1.22em; text-decoration: underline; color: blue; cursor: pointer; "><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7" style="line-height: 1.22em; ">Bloomberg</span> downplays slush fund scandal</span></span></a><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">, May 2, 2008 *** </span></span><a target="_blank" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/03/nyregion/03council.html" style="line-height: 1.22em; text-decoration: underline; color: blue; cursor: pointer; "><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">Papers Filed for Judicial Hearing </span></span></a><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">on City Council Spending, May 3, 2008 *** </span></span><a target="_blank" href="http://queenscrap.blogspot.com/2008/05/more-slush-fund-shadiness-exposed.html" style="line-height: 1.22em; text-decoration: underline; color: blue; cursor: pointer; "><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">More slush fund shadiness exposed</span></span></a><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">, May 5, 2008 *** Gifford Miller: Slush-Fund Refugee, May 6, 2008 *** WHILE THE </span></span><a target="_blank" href="http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-1488446261.html" style="line-height: 1.22em; text-decoration: underline; color: blue; cursor: pointer; "><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">COUNCIL ROILS IN SCANDAL</span></span></a><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">, THE FORMER SPEAKER STAYS MUM, HANGS WITH DEVELOPER CHUM - May 7, 2008 *** Brooklyn councilwoman Darlene <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8" style="line-height: 1.22em; ">Mealy's</span> </span></span><a target="_blank" href="http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/brooklyn/2008/05/11/2008-05-11_brooklyn_councilwoman_darlene_mealys_25g.html" style="line-height: 1.22em; text-decoration: underline; color: blue; cursor: pointer; "><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">25G for nonprofit run by sister tabled,</span></span></a><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;"> May 11, 2008 *** Once Again, </span></span><a target="_blank" href="http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/issueoftheweek/20080510/200/2521" style="line-height: 1.22em; text-decoration: underline; color: blue; cursor: pointer; "><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">Quinn Tries to End the Funding Furor</span></span></a><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">, May 12, 2008 ***Quinn: </span></span><a target="_blank" href="http://29councilmembers.blogspot.com/2008/11/speaker-chritine-quinn.html" style="line-height: 1.22em; text-decoration: underline; color: blue; cursor: pointer; "><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">SLUSH FUND HELPED ME</span></span></a><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">, May 12, 2008 *** Slush Probers </span></span><a target="_blank" href="http://29councilmembers.blogspot.com/2008/11/speaker-chritine-quinn.html" style="line-height: 1.22em; text-decoration: underline; color: blue; cursor: pointer; "><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">Eye Fraud Rap for Quinn</span></span></a><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">, May 13, 2008 *** More City Hall Slush, </span></span><a target="_blank" href="http://gothamist.com/2008/05/14/more_city_hall.php" style="line-height: 1.22em; text-decoration: underline; color: blue; cursor: pointer; "><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">This Time From Mayor <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9" style="line-height: 1.22em; ">Bloomberg</span></span></span></a><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;"> - May 14, 2008 *** </span></span><a target="_blank" href="http://queenscrap.blogspot.com/2008/05/council-slush-fund-quid-quo-pro.html" style="line-height: 1.22em; text-decoration: underline; color: blue; cursor: pointer; "><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">Council slush fund quid <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10" style="line-height: 1.22em; ">quo</span> pro</span></span></a><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">, <em style="line-height: 1.22em; ">- May 15, 2008</em> ***</span></span><a target="_blank" href="http://www.commonblog.com/story/2008/5/15/184748/957" style="line-height: 1.22em; text-decoration: underline; color: blue; cursor: pointer; "><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;"> Slush Fund Follies</span></span></a><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;"> in New York - May 15, 2008 *** </span></span><a target="_blank" href="http://queenscrap.blogspot.com/2008/05/vallone-sr-subpoenaed-in-slush-probe.html" style="line-height: 1.22em; text-decoration: underline; color: blue; cursor: pointer; "><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11" style="line-height: 1.22em; ">Vallone</span>, Sr. subpoenaed in slush probe</span></span></a><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">, May 19, 2008 *** </span></span><a target="_blank" href="http://queenscrap.blogspot.com/2008/06/council-slush-funds-date-back-to-1998.html" style="line-height: 1.22em; text-decoration: underline; color: blue; cursor: pointer; "><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">Council slush funds date back to 1998</span></span></a><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;"> - June 1, 2008 *** </span></span><a class="l" target="_blank" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kendall_Stewart" style="line-height: 1.22em; text-decoration: underline; color: blue; cursor: pointer; "><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">Kendall Stewart - <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12" style="line-height: 1.22em; ">Wikipedia</span>, the free encyclopedia</span></span></a><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">, June 11, 2008 *** </span></span><a target="_blank" href="http://www.nysun.com/new-york/role-of-lobbyists-examined-in-council-slush-fund/80413/" style="line-height: 1.22em; text-decoration: underline; color: blue; cursor: pointer; "><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">Lobbyists' Role in Council Slush Fund</span></span></a><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;"> Scandal Probed, June 20, 2008 *** Role of Lobbyists Examined in Council Slush Fund Scandal - June 20, 2008 *** Baez Silent </span></span><a target="_blank" href="http://29councilmembers.blogspot.com/2008/11/maria-baez.html" style="line-height: 1.22em; text-decoration: underline; color: blue; cursor: pointer; "><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">Amid Sea of Controversy</span></span></a><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:11px;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size:100%;">, July 10, 200</span></span></div></div></span></div></div></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4040770062768673557-6809110596763399183?l=yourfreepress.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Rafael Martínez Alequínhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11321757863793605043mariaraf@aol.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4040770062768673557.post-56312312802017704112009-11-19T21:16:00.002-05:002009-11-19T21:19:17.144-05:00<div id="art_story"> <div id="art_header"> <p class="byline">By <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/authors/Kenneth%20Lovett">Kenneth Lovett</a> and <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/authors/Elizabeth%20Benjamin%20In%20Albany">Elizabeth Benjamin In Albany</a> and <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/authors/David%20Saltonstall%20In%20New%20York">David Saltonstall In New York</a> <br /><span style="font-size:85%;">DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS </span> </p> <p class="datestamp"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span class="datestamp_original">Originally Published:Thursday, November 19th 2009, 2:15 PM</span><br />Updated: Thursday, November 19th 2009, 5:27 PM</span></p> </div> <div class="art_img_lrg"> <img src="http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2009/11/20/alg_rudy_giuliani.jpg" alt="Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani will run for U.S. Senate, not governor's seat." title="Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani will run for U.S. Senate, not governor's seat." /> <div class="art_img_lrg_txt"> <div class="art_img_lrg_credit"><span style="font-size:85%;">Giancarli for News</span></div> <span><br />Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani will run for U.S. Senate, not governor's seat.</span> </div> </div>Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani has decided against running for governor, but is strongly considering running for <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/U.S.+Senate" title="U.S. Senate">U.S. Senate</a> instead, sources told the Daily News. <p>The Republican heavyweight was considered the <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/U.S.+Republican+Party" title="U.S. Republican Party">GOP</a>'s best shot at reclaiming the governor's mansion. </p> <p>The only declared candidate on the Republican side is little-known former <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Rick+Lazio" title="Rick Lazio">Long Island Rep. Rick Lazio</a>. </p> <p>One source said Giuliani is prepared to run for U.S. Senate against <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Kirsten+Gillibrand" title="Kirsten Gillibrand">Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand</a> in 2010 to fill out the remaining two years of <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Hillary+Clinton" title="Hillary Clinton">Hillary</a>'s Clinton's term. </p> <p>But a number of sources close to the former mayor said no decision has been made and a Giuliani spokeswoman downplayed the reports. </p> <p>"Rudy has a history of making up his own mind and has no problem speaking it," she said. "When <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Rudolph+Giuliani" title="Rudolph Giuliani">Mayor Giuliani</a> makes a decision about serving in public office, he will inform New Yorkers on his own." </p> <p>Former <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Guy+Molinari" title="Guy Molinari">Staten Island Borough President Guy Molinari</a>, a close Giuliani pal, said the former mayor has shared doubts with him for months about running for governor. </p> <p>"What he said to me is that he doesn't think he's going to do it," Molinari told The News about an early November conversation with the former mayor. </p> <p>"It just didn't make any sense to him." </p> <p>Molinari said the ongoing circus in the state <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/New+York+State+Senate" title="New York State Senate">Senate</a>, combined with <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Shelly+Silver" title="Shelly Silver">Democratic Assembly Speaker Shelly Silver</a>'s iron grip on Assembly matters, had convinced Giuliani that a Republican governor would have little ability to get things done quickly in <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Albany" title="Albany">Albany</a>. </p> <p>"The big drawback for him was -- could I really be effective?" Molinari said. "He saw too many hang-ups there. He's not running for the title, that's for sure." </p> <p>His absence from the governor's race would be a boon -- and a bow -- to <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Andrew+Cuomo" title="Andrew Cuomo">Attorney General Andrew Cuomo</a>, who is considering a run for the office. </p> <p><a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/David+Paterson" title="David Paterson">Gov. Paterson</a>, who trails Cuomo by up to 59 points in a hypothetical matchup in some polls, insists he is running, even though the <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/The+White+House" title="The White House">White House</a> has pointedly told him <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Barack+Obama" title="Barack Obama">President Obama</a> would "prefer" he didn't. </p> <p>A Marist poll yesterday showed Giuliani losing to Cuomo 53% to 43% in a race for governor, but he is beating Gillibrand 54% to 40%. Molinari said he favors the idea of Giuliani running for U.S. Senate. </p> <p>"Some of us, including myself, feel like that would be a better fit because he could use his talents there almost immediately," Molinari said. "You get the sense that he'd be a major player [in the U.S. Senate] from day one." </p> <p>Several weeks ago, after the idea of Giuliani running for the Senate was first floated, one of the former mayor's closest associates shot it down. </p> <p>"He has said time and again that the Senate is not a job for him," said <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Tony+Carbonetti" title="Tony Carbonetti">Tony Carbonetti</a>. </p> <p>"He is a chief executive, and a damn good one." </p> <p>If elected to the Senate, one source said, Giuliani could use that as a stepping stone to run for President in 2012 - rather than run for re-election to the Senate. </p> <p>Running for office would mean Giuliani would have to give up his lifestyle: He's a hot commodity on TV talk shows, he rakes in big bucks for speeches and his law firm is doing well.</p> <p>Democratic consultant <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Hank+Sheinkopf" title="Hank Sheinkopf">Hank Sheinkopf</a> said a race against Gillibrand would be no cake-walk. </p> <p>She has the ability to raise lots of cash and "she's no <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Girl+Scouts+of+the+United+States+of+America" title="Girl Scouts of the United States of America">Girl Scout</a>. She'll break his back," Sheinkopf said. </p> <p>A spokesman for former <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/George+Pataki" title="George Pataki">Gov. Pataki</a>, who has been eying a run for U.S. Senate, said Giuliani's decision would have no impact on his decision.</p> <p class="tagline"> With Michael Saul </p> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4040770062768673557-5631231280201770411?l=yourfreepress.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Rafael Martínez Alequínhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11321757863793605043mariaraf@aol.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4040770062768673557.post-41141846988181113662009-11-19T21:06:00.003-05:002009-11-19T21:14:23.549-05:00<div id="art_info"> <p class="byline"><a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/authors/Errol%20Louis">Errol Louis</a> </p><br /><p><img style="width: 565px; height: 420px;" alt="http://graphics7.nytimes.com/images/2003/11/16/nyregion/armory.large.jpg" src="http://graphics7.nytimes.com/images/2003/11/16/nyregion/armory.large.jpg" /></p></div> <!-- ARTICLE CONTENT START --> <p>The pitched battle over how, when and whether to develop the Kingsbridge armory in the Bronx brings New York City to a crossroads.</p><p>Either we commit to fighting for jobs that pay a decent, living wage, or we watch an ever-larger section of our populace take a slow tumble into a life of working full-time for poverty pay.</p><p>The Kingsbridge fight throws these matters into sharp relief. The deal, currently awaiting action by the City Council, calls for a private developer, the Related Cos., to get $17 million in tax incentives on top of $25 million the city has already spent to fix up the dilapidated facility.</p><p>In exchange for the $42 million in public benefits, Related wants to buy the armory for $5 million, then round up another $300 million or so to convert the 500,000-square-foot site into a mall and recreation center.</p><p>The project would create around 1,000 construction jobs and 1,200 retail jobs.</p><p>The sticking point is a longstanding demand by local residents and elected officials that Related commit to requiring all commercial tenants at the site to pay a living wage of at least $10 an hour plus benefits, or $11.50 if no benefits are included.</p><p>Related - backed by high-ranking city officials up to and including Mayor Bloomberg - says asking possible tenants to pay employees at least $400 a week for full-time work is a deal-breaker because companies won't agree to rent space if they have to pay $10 an hour.</p><p>"The city is not in the business of guaranteeing people's wages, and in private development, we shouldn't be," said Bloomberg.</p><p>But this deal stopped being "private development" when the city committed $42 million in repairs and incentives. And it does guarantee people's wages - in the worst possible way.</p><p>Giving tens of millions in assistance to Related without demanding a reasonable base wage would guarantee that many of the resulting jobs would pay less than many New Yorkers need to afford living in this city.</p><p>Some jobs would be at the minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. That's $290 a week for full-time work. Before taxes.</p><p>Enough. Time and again, residents around the city are supposed to look the other way while bureaucrats and businessmen swap public money for crummy jobs that leave full-time workers using food stamps, soup kitchens and other welfare to survive.</p><p>The lawyers and paper-pushers who cut these deals hold grip-and-grin press conferences, congratulating one another on how "creative" they had to be to strike the final bargain. As if underpaying security guards and stockroom clerks were akin to composing a symphony on a bar napkin.</p><p>New Yorkers have wised up to this immoral foolishness. The Kingsbridge Armory Redevelopment Alliance, a coalition of community groups and unions, is calling Related's bluff, indicating they would rather have no deal than a guarantee of misery.</p><p>"The Bronx has the highest poverty rate of any urban county in the United States," Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., said in testimony to the Council this week. "It is time to demand that developers do better."</p><p>Damn straight. Let the "creative" geniuses figure out a new business model - one that doesn't depend on making sure working poor households stay poor.</p><p>Let all the hand-wringing over the possibility of businesses leaving New York be matched by more concern about 150,000 people who move out of the city each year. Let us talk about why so many of the record 39,000 people living in city homeless shelters actually hold full-time jobs.</p><p>Not only should Bloomberg and the Council support the community alliance, they should put living wage requirements in all city projects that receive significant public benefits, the way cities like San Francisco and Santa Fe, N.M., have already done.</p><p>That would be real creativity of the kind our city needs.</p><p><a href="mailto:elouis@nydailynews.com">elouis@nydailynews.com</a></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4040770062768673557-4114184698818111366?l=yourfreepress.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Rafael Martínez Alequínhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11321757863793605043mariaraf@aol.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4040770062768673557.post-61017397894905608052009-11-18T16:37:00.006-05:002009-11-18T16:45:37.905-05:00<h2 class="date-header"><span style="font-size:78%;">Wednesday, November 18, 2009</span></h2><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ZT01xeO3Ex4/SwQR-tdZ8xI/AAAAAAAAA0E/NP7iqozceds/s1600/blinders.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 266px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ZT01xeO3Ex4/SwQR-tdZ8xI/AAAAAAAAA0E/NP7iqozceds/s320/blinders.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5405465221803930386" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />By Gary Tilzer</span><br /><br />Governing by blinders simply means making budget decision disconnected from a single narrative which both the pols and the media are failing to give city residence. The media has allowed the pols to create a new culture that allows them to deliver government to their supports or good causes without taking responsibility for those actions on the city budget or the economic health of New York. It means <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/12/nyregion/12coney.html?_r=1&amp;ref=nyregion">paying a developer $95 million</a> while cutting the police force.<span style="font-weight: normal;"> Since 2001 the police force shrunk by over 6000 cops to 34,304 members</span> <span style="font-weight: normal;font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;">and we had to wait until after the election to find out what the city will cut because of the recession. <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/18/nyregion/18recruit.html?_r=1&amp;ref=nyregion">We used to have police classes of thousands of new office a year today we are down to a couple of hundred</a> a year. <a href="http://www.govtech.com/gt/104818?topic=117674">We are paying over a billion on a new police academy as we cut police officers.</a> </span></span><br /><br />New Yorkers want to pay a fair wage <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/18/nyregion/18unions.html?ref=nyregion">Paterson Prepares Wage Bill for Construction Sites</a> We are good people. It make sense to pay people not to go to work sick during the swine flu winter <a href="http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/editorials/making_business_sicker_2Te9r9vThuHqAno2cgZ45M">Making business sicker</a> We even hate traffic tickets<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/18/nyregion/18parking.html?ref=nyregion"> Traffic Agents and Politicians Debate Value of 5 Minutes</a>. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Bloomberg</span> is using the ticket blitz to pay for city services that would otherwise be cut. What is the cost of the council's parking bill and what will the council cut to make up the debt is never discussed. In other words the pols get away with being irresponsible to the city budget. Daily News Edit shows that the council bill to make a parking hour 65 minutes, does not even help motorists <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2009/11/18/2009-11-18_parking_space_cadets_city_council_pretends_to_befriend_beleaguered_motorists.html">Parking space cadets: City Council pretends to befriend beleaguered motorists</a><div id="TixyyLink" style="border: medium none ; overflow: hidden; text-decoration: none;color:transparent;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Question the Media Fails to Ask Over and Over</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> How we do balance the budget, continue to fix education and not tax the middle class and businesses out of New York? </span><a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" href="http://www.portfolio.com/views/blogs/market-movers/2009/02/05/new-york-city-datapoint-of-the-day?tid=true" id="title_permalink">NYC Faces Middle Class Exodus</a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> * </span><a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/18/education/18grades.html?ref=nyregion">Schools’ Grades Reflect Persistent Disparity</a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> * </span><a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" name="&amp;lid=tab_region_link&amp;lpos=ny_news" href="http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/businesses_rip_mandate_on_sick_days_oStHxxxTIDfo1tKOyxw5iK">Businesses rip mandate on sick days</a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> , </span><a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" href="http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2009/11/18/2009-11-18_small_biz_sick_days_showdown.html">Labor advocates, small business groups clash over proposed paid sick leave bill</a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> , </span><a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" href="http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/businesses_rip_mandate_on_sick_days_oStHxxxTIDfo1tKOyxw5iK">Businesses say</a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> paid sick days would cost $8.8 billion annually. Don't look for the media or pols to take off their blinders as today's Orwellian double speak Daily News headline proves </span><a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" href="http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2009/11/18/2009-11-18_layoffs_likely_mike_but_683m_tax_windfall_will_save_cop_firefighter__correction_.html">Mayor: Layoffs likely, but $683M tax windfall will save jobs</a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> Talk about blinders, only the Daily News editorial board covered the ongoing budget impasse in Albany </span><a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" href="http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2009/11/18/2009-11-18_the_worst_of_times.html#ixzz0XDnmn079">The worst of times: Legislature fiddles in Albany while mayor faces down city deficit</a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> * Gov. David Paterson </span><a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" href="http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=867189&amp;category=STATE"><strong><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">doesn</span>’t understand</strong></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> why people are sounding optimistic about budget negotiations — but if it’s an effort to cheer up the media, we appreciate it. (TU). As the state goes broke both and nobody will take the leadership in </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">balancing</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> the budget the </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">NYT</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> writes about </span><a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/18/nyregion/18albany.html?ref=nyregion">New York Is Set for Strict Stand on D.W.I. Cases</a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> and the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">NYP</span> does not even give an update of the budget stalemate in Albany today</span><br /></div><a name="&amp;lid=tab_region_link&amp;lpos=ny_news" href="http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/businesses_rip_mandate_on_sick_days_oStHxxxTIDfo1tKOyxw5iK"></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4040770062768673557-6101739789490560805?l=yourfreepress.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Rafael Martínez Alequínhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11321757863793605043mariaraf@aol.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4040770062768673557.post-77705683894634149622009-11-17T10:04:00.001-05:002009-11-17T10:06:40.032-05:00<p class="entry_author">By Elizabeth Benjamin</p> <div class="asset-content entry-content"> <div class="asset-body"> <p>He had to wait almost two weeks, but Mayor Bloomberg finally wrangled a photo-op - of sorts - out of Comptroller-elect John Liu. </p> <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/7762728@N03/4110445652/" title="11-16-09 meeting with John Liu by dnblog1, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2566/4110445652_ddb9d6bffe_m.jpg" class="left" alt="11-16-09 meeting with John Liu" height="227" width="240" /></a></p> <p>After being <a href="http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/mike_is_psyched_despite_thin_win_JNmlZa0d42KHetchVog4iN">snubbed by Liu</a> for a post-Election Day sit-down, the mayor met with the comptroller-to-be for a private coffee klatch at Gracie Mansion earlier today. </p> <p>The get-together was <a href="http://www.observer.com/2009/politics/liu-meets-bloomberg-non-photo-op">confirmed to Azi</a> by a Liu spokesperson. Unlike Bloomberg's high-public coffee with Public Advocate-elect Bill de Blasio, reporters were not summoned to view this chat. </p> <p>But, no matter, the Bloomberg administration was only all too happy to provide photographic evidence that the meeting had indeed taken place. </p> <p>Liu, who was initially too busy to meet with the mayor and seemed to resent the last-minute Nov. 4 summons from on high, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/05/nyregion/05bloomberg.html?ref=nyregion">telling a Times reporter</a>: "A long time ago, the people of New York decided there would be no king nor a monarch in New York City." </p> <p>Today, Liu said he thought meeting with the mayor was "the right thing to do, to really start by talking about some of the issues that are important." </p> <p>He declined to provide much in the way of details, saying only that the discussion had been "lengthy" and "good" and started out with talk of the budget and <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2009/11/more-budget-pain-on-tap-in-nyc.html">the latest round of mid-year cuts</a>. </p> <blockquote style="font-style: italic;">"The mayor intends to keep the city on track with a balanced budget and as comptroller, I'm going to do everything I can to provide the backup to ensure that the city stays on, stays with a balanced budget," Liu said. <p><br />"That may require some changes in the coming months. But we'll...the main thing is that we should work along, that we should work together. There are always concerns. You know, the important thing is that from the outset everybody keeps in mind that the most important people are the people of New York."</p></blockquote> <p>Liu said he will have more to say about the budget in the coming months. </p> <p>(Thanks to DN City Hall Bureau Chief Adam Lisberg who provided these quotes).<br /></p> </div> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4040770062768673557-7770568389463414962?l=yourfreepress.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Rafael Martínez Alequínhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11321757863793605043mariaraf@aol.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4040770062768673557.post-68544277186682874162009-11-17T09:53:00.003-05:002009-11-17T09:59:57.619-05:00<div id="art_info"> <p class="byline"><a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/authors/Bob%20Kappstatter">Bob Kappstatter</a> </p> <p class="datestamp"><span style="font-size:78%;">Tuesday, November 17th 2009, 4:00 AM</span></p><p class="datestamp"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size:180%;">Mayor Bloomberg on living wage: Drop dead</span><br /></span></p> </div> <!-- ARTICLE CONTENT START --> <p>Deputy Mayor for Economic Development <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Bob+Lieber" title="Bob Lieber">Bob Lieber</a> is reportedly set to oppose it today at a Council committee hearing, saying the Bloomberg camp fears a $10 an hour/and benefits wage deal would harm retail development citywide.</p> <p>Developer Related Cos. calls the plan by <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Ruben+Diaz" title="Ruben Diaz">Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.</a> and community supporters a deal breaker.</p> <p>On Saturday, Related nixed a compromise by Assemblyman and <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/The+Bronx" title="The Bronx">Bronx</a> Dem Boss Carl Heastie that would put community space outside the armory, and use the rent from the added retail space to offset the higher wages.<br /><br /><strong>Adios, Lou</strong></p> <p><a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/South+Bronx" title="South Bronx">South Bronx</a> <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Jose+Serrano" title="Jose Serrano">Rep. Jose Serrano</a> pretty much told immigrant-bashing commentator <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Lou+Dobbs" title="Lou Dobbs">Lou Dobbs</a> not to let the door hit him en el culo on the way out after Dobbs announced he was leaving <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Cable+News+Network+LP+LLLP" title="Cable News Network LP LLLP">CNN</a>.</p> <p>Officially, Jose toned it down in a press release, saying he was "not sad" to see him go.<br /><br /><strong>Bernie and Stanley</strong></p> <p><a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Stanley+Schiffman" title="Stanley Schiffman">Stanley Schiffman</a> tells us he and his cousin <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Bernie+Schwartz" title="Bernie Schwartz">Bernie Schwartz</a> from Vegas caught up with each other last week.</p> <p>Bernie, in this case, is former Hoe Ave. resident and act-uh <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Tony+Curtis" title="Tony Curtis">Tony Curtis</a>, now 84, here for a book signing and sale of some of his paintings.</p> <p>Stanley, a retired first grade detective now with the Bronx D.A.'s office, was the <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/New+York+City+Police+Department" title="New York City Police Department">NYPD</a>'s unofficial standup interrogator, working the ever-popular Interrogation Room at the 47th Precinct in Wakefield-<a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Williamsbridge" title="Williamsbridge">Williamsbridge</a>.</p> <p>His routine, known among Bronx detectives as the Schiffman Shuffle, involved a seemingly endless stream of one-liners, trivia questions and card tricks that left suspects begging for mercy and ready to confess.</p> <p>Being a longtime friend of Stanley's, our sympathies are with the suspects.</p> <p><strong>Adolfo job outlook</strong></p> <p><a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/The+White+House" title="The White House">The White House</a> has been keeping former Bronx <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Adolfo+Carrion" title="Adolfo Carrion">Borough President Adolfo Carrión</a> under fairly tight public exposure as director of its <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Office+of+Urban+Affairs" title="Office of Urban Affairs">Office of Urban Affairs</a> while that conflict-of-interest investigation into allegedly free work on his <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/City+Island+%28New+York%29" title="City Island (New York)">City Island</a> manse hangs over his head.</p> <p>But he did emerge Friday at the Bloomberg Washington Summit to say the <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/United+States" title="United States">U.S.</a> is "going to continue to see a lag" on job growth even though "economists agree that the recession is pretty much over."<br /><br /><strong>Uh, dad . . .</strong></p> <p>State Sen. Ruben (The Rev) Diaz Sr. was quick to put out a press release after the election, calling "on all elected <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/U.S.+Democratic+Party" title="U.S. Democratic Party">Democrats</a> to line up to support <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Bill+Thompson" title="Bill Thompson">Bill Thompson</a> for mayor in 2013, now."</p> <p>That gave his BP son Ruben Jr. a chuckle, since his name's been floated out there as a possible mayoral candidate.<br /><br /><strong>Birthday cash bash</strong></p> <p>Venancio (Benny) Catala, male district leader of the 77th Assembly District in <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Morris+Heights" title="Morris Heights">Morris Heights</a>, celebrated his 40th birthday last week at Tah-bu/Sofa Lounge.</p> <p>The birthday presents were checks to his campaign committee, insurance for next year when district leaders loyal to Party Boss Carl Heastie are likely to see challenges from the Peter and <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Jose+Rivera" title="Jose Rivera">Jose Rivera</a> camp seeking to topple Carl.</p> <p>Then, again, those challenges could go both ways . . .<br /><br /><strong>Good cause</strong></p> <p><a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Ralph+Russo" title="Ralph Russo">Ralph Russo</a> of the new Sonora Southwest Grill in the old <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Venice" title="Venice">Venice</a> Restaurant on Williamsbridge Road hosted a fund-raiser last Tuesday for <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Calvary+Hospital" title="Calvary Hospital">Calvary Hospital</a>.</p> <p>Among those schmoozing in the crowd: Calvary prexy and <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Frank+Calamari" title="Frank Calamari">CEO Frank Calamari</a>, former state <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Guy+Velella" title="Guy Velella">Sen. Guy Velella</a>, biz- niz/political doyenne <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Kathy+Zamechansky" title="Kathy Zamechansky">Kathy Zamechansky</a>, 'Don't Worry' <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Murray+Richman" title="Murray Richman">Murray Richman</a>, and Liberty Dem Association State Committeeman Joe McManus.<br /><br />This works</p> <p>The <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Citizens+Advice+International" title="Citizens Advice International">Citizens Advice Bureau</a>, which runs a host of social service programs, officially changed its name Friday to BronxWorks at a ribbon-cutter at its new headquarters at 64 E. Tremont Ave.</p> <p>And no more confusion about people thinking they're calling CAB for car service . . .</p> <p><a href="mailto:rkappstatter@nydailynews.com" mce_real_href="mailto:rkappstatter@nydailynews.com">rkappstatter@nydailynews.com</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4040770062768673557-6854427718668287416?l=yourfreepress.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Rafael Martínez Alequínhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11321757863793605043mariaraf@aol.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4040770062768673557.post-73513975803554798802009-11-16T11:01:00.001-05:002009-11-16T11:03:32.934-05:00<div id="art_story"> <div id="art_header"> <p class="byline">BY <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/authors/Barbara%20Ross">Barbara Ross</a> <br />DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER </p> <p class="datestamp"><span style="font-size:78%;">Monday, November 16th 2009, 4:00 AM</span></p> </div> <div class="art_sidebar"> <div class="code_module"><div class="art_img_sm"> <img src="http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2009/11/16/amd_karla_giraldi.jpg" alt="Karla Giraldo" title="Karla Giraldo" /> <div class="art_img_sm_txt"> <div class="art_img_sm_credit"><span style="font-size:78%;">DelMundo for News</span><span> Karla Giraldo</span></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <!-- ARTICLE CONTENT START --> <p>After his assault arrest, <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Hiram+Monserrate" title="Hiram Monserrate">Sen. Hiram Monserrate</a> was ordered to have no contact with banged-up girlfriend <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Karla+Giraldo" title="Karla Giraldo">Karla Giraldo</a> - directly or indirectly.</p> <p>The goal was to protect her and keep him from trying to influence her testimony but, the Daily News has learned, one of Monserrate's best friends arranged security for Giraldo and escorted her to court during the trial. </p> <p>The arrangement raises questions about whether Monserrate violated the court's protective order and had improper indirect contact with a crucial witness. </p> <p>Giraldo changed her story after the Dec. 19 incident. First, she told doctors Monserrate attacked her with a broken glass. Later, she told grand jury it was an accident. </p> <p>Monserrate was cleared of the most serious charges and convicted only of misdemeanor assault for manhandling her out of the apartment to the hospital. </p> <p>Monserrate spokesman <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Mike+Nieves" title="Mike Nieves">Mike Nieves</a> admitted one of Giraldo's courthouse escorts was <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Luis+Castro" title="Luis Castro">Luis Castro</a>, a longtime friend and sometime employee of Monserrate. Sources said Castro and Monserrate often dined with Castro's wife and Giraldo before the assault. </p> <p>During the trial, one source said, Castro organized rallies ofMonserrate supporters outside <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Queens+Supreme+Court" title="Queens Supreme Court">Queens Supreme Court</a> and was"the liaison between Monserrate and Karla during the whole trial. ... He was in contact with Monserrate every day." </p> <p>Another source said Castro arranged for the security detail that surrounded Giraldo when the unemployed journalist arrived to testify in designer sunglasses, a sleek pantsuit and a trendy handbag. </p> <p>Nieves said Castro denied relaying messages between Monserrate and Giraldo. </p> <p>Nieves said Castro told him he's known Giraldo, a fellow Ecuadoran, for more than 20 years. </p> <p>Giraldo's lawyer <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Glenn+Marshall" title="Glenn Marshall">Glenn Marshall</a> said he believes Castro made Giraldo's security arrangements. </p> <p>"I don't think that's a violation of the order unless they're communicating through each other and I don't believe that went on," he said. </p> <p>Queens <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Richard+Brown" title="Richard Brown">District Attorney Richard Brown</a> has not accused Monserrate of trying to influence Giraldo through a third party. </p> <p><a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Kevin+Ryan" title="Kevin Ryan">Spokesman Kevin Ryan</a> said the office was unaware that Giraldo's escorts included the former Monserrate aide. </p> <p><a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Sonia+Ossorio" title="Sonia Ossorio">Sonia Ossorio</a>, president of the city chapter of the <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/National+Organization+for+Women" title="National Organization for Women">National Organization for Women</a>, urged the court to "examine the situation more thoroughly. ... He's a lawmaker and needs to be held to the highest standard." </p> <p>Castro worked for Monserrate on the City Council from 2002 through February 2007, left briefly but returned in January 2008 and stayed through August 2008, earning $10,000 a year. </p> <p>On Oct. 19, five days after theverdict in Monserrate's case, Monserrate hired Castro as a $60,000-a-year special assistant to the lawmaker's <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Senate+Consumer+Protection+Committee" title="Senate Consumer Protection Committee">Senate Consumer Protection Committee</a>, Nieves said. Monserrate faces up to a yearbehind bars when sentenced Dec.4.</p> <p><a href="mailto:bross@nydailynews.com">bross@nydailynews.com</a></p> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4040770062768673557-7351397580355479880?l=yourfreepress.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Rafael Martínez Alequínhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11321757863793605043mariaraf@aol.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4040770062768673557.post-45774518092841484222009-11-14T13:20:00.001-05:002009-11-14T13:22:59.411-05:00<p class="byline"><em>by</em> <strong><a href="http://www.parentdish.com/bloggers/tom-henderson/">Tom Henderson</a> <a href="http://www.parentdish.com/bloggers/tom-henderson/rss.xml"><br /></a></strong></p><p class="byline"><strong><a href="http://www.parentdish.com/bloggers/tom-henderson/rss.xml">(Subscribe to Tom Henderson's posts)</a> </strong></p><p class="byline"><span style="font-size:78%;">Nov 13th 2009 3:29PM</span></p><p class="filed-under">Categories: <a href="http://www.parentdish.com/category/in-the-news/">In The News</a>, <a href="http://www.parentdish.com/category/schools/">Education</a>, <a href="http://www.parentdish.com/category/amazing-kids/">Amazing Kids</a></p> <div class="postbody"><div class="classy"> <div class="captioncenter"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.parentdish.com/media/2009/11/will-phillips-425ds111409-1258147530.jpg" alt="" border="1" hspace="4" vspace="4" /> <p>Will Phillips refuses to say the Pledge of Allegiance. Credit: Arkansas Times</p> </div> </div> <p><strong>"Liberty and justice for all?"</strong></p> <p>Will Phillips doesn't believe that describes America for its gay and lesbian citizens. He's a 10-year-old at <a target="_blank" href="https://www.edline.net/pages/West_Fork_Public_Schools">West Fork Elementary School</a> in Arkansas, about three hours east of Oklahoma City. Given his beliefs, he refused to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.</p> <p>That did not go over well with the substitute teacher in his fifth-grade classroom.</p> <p>The Arkansas Times reports that <a href="http://www.arktimes.com/articles/articleviewer.aspx?ArticleID=2f5d7a3b-c72a-446b-8d20-3823aa79c021" target="_blank">he started refusing to say the pledge Mon., Oct. 5.</a> By Thursday, the substitute was steamed. She told Will she knew his mother and grandmother and they would want him to recite the pledge.</p> <p>Will told the Times the substitute got more and more upset. She raised her voice. By this point, Will told the newspaper, he started losing his cool too, adding: "After a few minutes, I said, 'With all due respect ma'am, go jump off a bridge.'"</p><br /><br />That got him sent to the principal's office. The principal made him look up information about the flag and what it represents. Meanwhile, there was the inevitable call to his mother. <p> </p> <iframe src="http://webcenter.polls.aol.com/modular.jsp?template=1772&amp;view=180289&amp;pollId=180581&amp;channel=aol_us_live%20&amp;popup=yes" style="border: 1px solid rgb(153, 153, 153); padding: 7px; display: block; margin-bottom: 7px; margin-left: 7px; float: right;" frameborder="0" height="250" scrolling="no" width="200"></iframe> <p>At first, mom<strong> </strong>Laura Phillips told the Times<em>,</em> the principal talked about Will telling a substitute to jump off a bridge. When pressed, the principal admitted the whole incident was sparked by the boy exercising his constitutional right not to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.</p> <p>Phillips suggested an apology was in order -- from the teacher. When the principal said that wasn't necessary, Will's mother started venting to friends via Twitter. Those friends, in turn, told the news media. And what would have been a minor classroom incident has people throughout Arkansas and beyond choosing sides.</p> <p>As for Will, he continues to exercise his right to remain silent. It can be rough at times, he and his family admit. He has his share of supporters, however, his critics are louder and nastier -- especially because he took his stand to defend gay rights.</p> <p>"In the lunchroom and in the hallway, they've been making comments and doing pranks, calling me gay," he told the Times. "It's always the same people, walking up and calling me a gaywad."</p> <p>Nonetheless, Will told the paper, he is sticking to his convictions. A reporter for the paper asked Will -- with all this talk about patriotism and the pledge -- what he thinks it means to be an American.</p> <p>"Freedom of speech," he responded. "The freedom to disagree. That's what I think pretty much being an American represents."</p> <p>His mother is proud.</p> <p>"He's probably more aware of the meaning of the pledge that a lot of adults," Phillips told the Times.<br /><br /><em>Related: </em><a target="_self" href="http://www.parentdish.com/2009/09/06/evolution-and-first-amendment-t-shirts-upset-schools-dress-code/"><em>Evolution and First-Amendment T-Shirts Upset Schools' Dress Code</em></a></p></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4040770062768673557-4577451809284148422?l=yourfreepress.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Rafael Martínez Alequínhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11321757863793605043mariaraf@aol.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4040770062768673557.post-25195959698368363162009-11-13T11:00:00.003-05:002009-11-13T11:12:15.968-05:00<table style="width: 88px; height: 97px;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.danielrose.org/Images/DRose2.jpg" id="thumbnail"><img src="http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:UVR_wR_tZvtWgM:http://www.danielrose.org/Images/DRose2.jpg" style="border: 1px solid ; margin: 10px 10px 0pt; float: left;" alt="See full size image" height="80" width="56" /></a></td><td><a href="http://gospelconnoisseur.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/derrionalbert-gospelconnoisseur.jpg" id="thumbnail"><img src="http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:SZRB7vnEyPU4SM:http://gospelconnoisseur.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/derrionalbert-gospelconnoisseur.jpg" style="border: 1px solid ; margin: 10px 10px 0pt; float: left;" alt="See full size image" height="79" width="115" /></a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-weight: bold;">By Daniel Rose</span><br /><br />The brutal murder of Derrion Albert, a 16-year-old honor student at Chicago’s Fenger High School, has focused national attention on the savage gang warfare that enveloped the school in an atmosphere of fear and despair.<br /><br />Recorded on an amateur’s cell phone video camera and seen nationally on the Internet, the murder was just another one of the 24 deadly student shootings in Chicago in 2006-2007, 23 in 2007-2008 and 34 deaths last year. More than 40 children under 18 have been murdered in Chicago so far this year.<br /><br />But this murder, seen nationally, immediately brought Jesse Jackson Sr. to the school to demand more job opportunities for the community (although two of the four arrested assailants had jobs) and Louis Farrakhan there to invoke God. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder appeared, stating that, “This is a wake-up call,” and Education Secretary Arne Duncan said that an emergency grant of $500,000 would go to Fenger High School for counselors and other programs. Mayor Richard Daley pledged more police officers at the school and announced plans to use one million dollars from Chicago’s parking meters for an after school jobs program. Fenger’s principal initially declined comment, but in her first public statement expressed her sympathy for Albert’s family.<br /><br />The normally vocal teachers union representatives were not heard from because Fenger’s teachers are well-paid ($59,950 average), the school’s class sizes (13 students per class) are at recommended levels, and Fenger’s annual per capita expenditures ($13,200 per student) are above Illinois and national averages.<br /><br />No one noted the absence of students’ fathers in the many interviews or news reports, and no one commented on Fenger’s documented 11th grade proficiency statistics, which show only 4% of Fenger students at grade level in mathematics and 9% in reading. Since it wasn’t on television, no one noticed that at nearby Paul Robeson High School, one out of eight girls was either pregnant or had children.<br /><br />Chicago’s tragic experience highlights the fact that America’s education establishment continues to misread the problem it faces. Teaching is what someone does at a blackboard, learning is what takes place in the head of a student. And before that student can learn, motivation and other complex psychological factors must come into play.<br /><br />The “cool” attitude cultivated in the inner city, with its exaggerated and misplaced sense of pride in manliness (demonstrated by impregnating girls, by self-destructive violence towards those supposedly showing “disrespect,” by flaunting contempt for all authority and by dismissing all “square” standards)—is a part of the problem we refuse to recognize.<br /><br />The counter-culture value system reflected in gangsta rap lyrics of songs like Ice Cube’s “Hood Mentality” or Nas’ “Shoot ‘Em Up” work against the teacher, and the only way we know to fight it is by counter-influences early in life. This is not a new thought.<br /><br />The effective role played by America’s Catholic parochial schools in transforming the largely dysfunctional peasantry fleeing Ireland’s 19th century potato famine into middle class Americans is well-documented. New York’s Archbishop John Hughes, who founded a network of some 100 Catholic schools, brilliantly stressed teaching not only the “three R’s” but also a code of personal conduct that non-parochial school students received from moralizing textbooks like McGuffey’s Readers or the works of Benjamin Franklin and Horatio Alger.<br /><br />Individual responsibility, self discipline, integrity, hard work, thrift and deferred gratification were imprinted on young minds, along with politeness and cleanliness. (Daniel Patrick Moynihan liked to point out that in his parochial school days, even chewing gum or whispering in class excited the wrath of God!)<br /><br />19th Century Jewish immigrants and 20th century Asian immigrants came from traditions valuing education, strong families and personal achievement that were counterparts to what Max Weber called the “Protestant Ethic.”<br /><br />When White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs commented on events at Fenger saying, “The government cannot regulate what’s in people’s hearts,” someone might have pointed out that 93 years ago, Sigmund Freud wrote, “The little human being is frequently a finished product in his fourth or fifth year and only gradually reveals in later years what lies buried in him.”<br /><br />More recently, the work of Nobel Laureate Gary Becker on human capital and of Nobel Laureate James Heckman on education have confirmed what Freud—and recent experience—indicated clearly.<br /><br />Carefully documented, thorough studies of “control groups” repeatedly demonstrate that children from chaotic or abusive backgrounds thrive when exposed to high quality pre-school education.<br /><br />We know that the five-year-old who learns to wait patiently for his or her turn, who learns to share toys, who learns to appreciate justified praise, who learns to ask questions and to express ideas and opinions, who learns that “cause” leads to “effect”—such a child will not turn into the typical Fenger student described by the teachers as “constantly fighting, discussing little besides drugs, sex and violence, with a grim outlook on life, little thought of the future and with no motivation to achieve.”<br /><br />Yes, the endless cycle of dysfunctional parents producing dysfunctional children can be halted, by exposing impressionable pre-schoolers to attitudes, values, outlooks and practices that prepare them to function effectively in the modern world.<br /><br />Today’s “Chicago” approach—more police at school, safer buses though “war zones,” job training programs, counseling—will not produce the hoped for results: higher secondary and college graduation rates with less remediation; fewer teen pregnancies; less violent crime and imprisonment; increased incomes with higher taxes paid; more productive and fulfilling lives. However, high quality pre-schooling will produce these results—not immediately, but in the foreseeable future.<br /><br />“Necessary but not sufficient” is how physicists describe the relationship of oxygen to a fire; and high quality preschooling relates similarly to a child’s future development. Of course, positive home influence, and proper elementary and high school exposure play their roles; but earliest formative experiences are crucial.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Many pre-school measures proposed today are well-intentioned but ineffective. They try to do on the cheap what really should be a labor-intensive experience conducted by well-prepared teachers.</span><br /><br />The earliest Head Start programs—and some today—were more concerned with jobs for service providers than results for service recipients. The really effective ones, such as the Perry Preschool Program, whose impressive results have been studied for years, have highest standards but equally higher costs. <br /><br />High quality pre-schooling is expensive, but worth it. It means college-educated pre-school teachers with extensive vocabularies and a proper command of the language, with post graduate training in child psychology and early education. It means that pre-school teachers must receive the same salaries and benefits as elementary school teachers and have similar career prospects. It means programs with parental involvement and parental training, because merely giving birth to a baby no more prepares one to be a mother than buying an automobile prepares one to drive it.<br /><br />A properly prepared parent will preclude a child from entering the first grade with self-confidence undermined, and with natural curiosity and inherent desire to learn dampened. A proper pre-school program will preclude the child who has never heard the language spoken correctly, who has never been read to or even seen books, who has never learned how to relate comfortably to others. High quality pre-school education will encourage a child to develop a sense of “right” and “wrong,” to take pride in the right and feel shame in the wrong. It will help a child to develop expectations that will guide behavior and a way of looking at the world for the rest of that child’s life. In addition to preparing children to read, write, count and think, quality programs stimulate a child’s self-control, curiosity, self-confidence and sense of the future.<br /><br />The economic case for high quality<span style="font-style: italic;"> preschooling</span> is as compelling as the social case. In New York today, a high school dropout will cost the city over the lifetime of that child more than a million dollars in lost taxes, welfare payments, criminal justice expenses, health-related costs, etc. A New York State study shows a return of seven dollars for every dollar spent on high quality preschooling, and many studies, by the Brookings Institution and others, show a 10% to 16% internal rate of return. Nobel Laureate James Heckman demonstrates that preschooling is key to improving America’s international economic competitiveness.<br /><br />Our problem today is not what to do but how to do it—how to finance the programs, how to train the teachers and, most importantly, how to convince the general public that our current expensive and fruitless spinning of educational wheels is not the answer to breaking the cycle of poverty, but that high quality pre-school education is the necessary prerequisite.<br /><br />At the moment, our federal, state and municipal governments are broke. With New York City and New York State facing staggering deficits this year and next, the word is out that no new programs can be entertained and even existing expenditures must be pared.<br /><br />Our role in such a climate is to press our case even more forcefully, even more effectively, so that when funds do become available, high quality<span style="font-style: italic;"> pre-school</span> education is at the top of the list.<br /><br />Through meetings and statements, as individuals or through organizations, by Op-Ed pieces and conferences, by using any kind of public forum available and by personal contact with our legislators and educational administrators, we must convince the general public that high quality<span style="font-style: italic;"> pre-school</span> education gives “the biggest bang for the educational buck,” and then we must press for action.<br /><br />This is a war we must win, and we haven’t even started to fight.<br /><br />(Talks by Daniel Rose may be found on www.danielrose.org)<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4040770062768673557-2519595969836836316?l=yourfreepress.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Rafael Martínez Alequínhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11321757863793605043mariaraf@aol.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4040770062768673557.post-50491012908170124192009-11-10T21:21:00.002-05:002009-11-10T21:27:50.251-05:00<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_YHPQ0vRd-5o/SvohHBNnL7I/AAAAAAAACb8/HqR4Nc2--wE/s1600-h/guzman.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5402667107452661682" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 92px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 93px" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_YHPQ0vRd-5o/SvohHBNnL7I/AAAAAAAACb8/HqR4Nc2--wE/s320/guzman.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div>(Daily Intel)<br />In a development that the tabloid had to see coming, fired editor Sandra Guzman has sued the New York Post. She claims she was let go because she protested over <a href="http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2009/02/post_apologizes_for_cartoon_in.html">a political cartoon that many called racist</a>. But in her complaint, she really let loose on a tabloid culture that she called "a hostile work environment where female employees and employees of color have been subjected to pervasive and systemic discrimination and/or unlawful harassment based on their gender, race, color and/or national origin."</div><br /><div><br />The <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/10/shocking-allegations-levi_n_352314.html">Huffington Post has the complaint</a>. In it are a lot of juicy details (if they are true), including:<br />• That the publication's goal, according to D.C. bureau chief Charles Hurt, was to "destroy [President] Barack Obama."• That notorious editor Col Allan once showed her and a few other female employees a naked picture of a man, as a joke. • That Allan "rubbed his penis up against" a female colleague "and made sexually suggestive comments about her body, including her breasts, causing that female employee to feel extremely uncomfortable and fearing to be alone with him."• That as a Latina, Guzman was subjected to derogatory language, being called "Cha Cha No. 1," and having to listen to people sing songs from West Side Story at her. • That a female colleague of Guzman's was "sexually propositioned" by a white male editor who told her, "If you give me a blow job, I will give you a permanent reporter job."• That "the last five employees who were recently terminated by Paul Carlucci, the Publisher of the Post ... Have all been black and/or women of color."</div><br /><div><br />The Post's lawyers are reviewing the complaint (which weighs in at 36 pages), so at this point their only comment is this: “Sandra’s position was eliminated when the monthly in-paper insert, Tempo, of which she was editor, was discontinued, reflecting the dramatic decline in ad sales across our industry.” This one is going to be big, people.</div><br /><div><br /><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/10/shocking-allegations-levi_n_352314.html">NEW YORK POST LAWSUIT: Shocking Allegations Made By Fired Employee</a> [HuffPo]Read more: <a href="http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2009/11/sandra_guzman_sues_the_post.html#ixzz0WVttdbPM">Sandra Guzman Sues the Post -- Daily Intel</a> <a href="http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2009/11/sandra_guzman_sues_the_post.html#ixzz0WVttdbPM">http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2009/11/sandra_guzman_sues_the_post.html#ixzz0WVttdbPM</a></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4040770062768673557-5049101290817012419?l=yourfreepress.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Rafael Martínez Alequínhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11321757863793605043mariaraf@aol.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4040770062768673557.post-2080124237482383462009-11-10T19:52:00.004-05:002009-11-10T19:59:25.482-05:00<pre style="font-size:9pt;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /> </span><img alt="http://www.pbpulse.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/castro-book-sld-300x163.jpg" src="http://www.pbpulse.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/castro-book-sld-300x163.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">HAVANA (Reuters) - An official Cuban publication on Monday dismissed as "a bad </span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">taste commercial operation" a memoir by the younger sister of Fidel and Raul </span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Castro that revealed she worked for the CIA in Cuba in the early 1960s.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">The article in the official Cuban magazine La Jiribilla said the memoir </span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">published last month by Juanita Castro, who has lived in exile in Miami since </span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">fleeing communist-ruled Cuba in 1964, was a product of "the anti-Castro industry </span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">in Miami."</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">"No one should expect transcendental revelations nor a political event. It's </span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">simply a commercial operation of bad taste and low moral stature," La Jiribilla </span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">said in the article by Jorge Gomez that was posted on its web site, but later </span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">removed.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">It was the first official reaction in Cuba's state media to the publication of </span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Juanita Castro's book, that added a previously unknown twist to the saga of the </span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Castro family that has been closely entwined with Cuba's history since Fidel </span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Castro's 1959 revolution grabbed the attention of the world.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">In her memoir, "Fidel and Raul, My Brothers, the Secret History," Juanita </span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Castro, a staunch critic of her brothers' communist rule, told how she was </span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">recruited by the CIA in 1961 to help its agents and other opponents of Castro </span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">escape capture by his police and escape from the island.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">"If this is true ... she would just be one more person out of thousands of </span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Cubans who, for gifts, money or out of other motives, which could include </span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">hatred, desire for revenge or intolerance, have worked for the CIA," the </span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Jiribilla article said.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Fidel Castro, now 83, last year ceded the Cuban presidency to his brother Raul </span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Castro, 78, on health grounds. He has accused the CIA of being behind most of </span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">the more than 600 plots he says were hatched to assassinate or topple him during </span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">nearly half a century of enmity between Washington and Havana.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">The article that appeared on the Jiribilla web site said, "The truth is clear: </span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Fidel Castro is the victim, the one offended, the individual who was conspired </span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">against and who has maintained a silence that honors and elevates him."</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Juanita Castro, who accuses Fidel Castro of "betraying" what she said were the </span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">original democratic nationalist credentials of the 1959 revolution, said she </span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">received no salary from the CIA while working for the agency.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">She also said her work for the CIA was "humanitarian" and that she had refused </span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">to participate in any attempts to harm her brothers or other Cuban leaders.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">After leaving Cuba, she broke publicly with Fidel Castro's government and says </span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">she has not spoken to either him or Raul Castro since.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">(Reporting by Rosa Tania Valdes; Editing by Pascal Fletcher and Peter Cooney)</span></span><tt><tt><br /><br /><br /></tt></tt></pre><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4040770062768673557-208012423748238346?l=yourfreepress.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Rafael Martínez Alequínhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11321757863793605043mariaraf@aol.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4040770062768673557.post-30962580047418813232009-11-10T10:43:00.001-05:002009-11-10T10:45:07.146-05:00<div class="asset-header"> <div class="entry_info clearfix"> <span style="font-size:78%;"><span class="entry_date left"><abbr class="published" title="2009-11-09T14:28:10-05:00">November 9, 2009 2:28 PM</abbr></span></span> <span class="right"><a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2009/11/monserrate-committee-created-w.html#comments"><strong></strong></a></span> </div> <p class="entry_author">By Elizabeth Benjamin</p> </div> <div class="asset-content entry-content"> <div class="asset-body"> <p>The committee that will sit judgment on Sen. Hiram Monserrate and decide whether he will be further disciplined, or perhaps even ousted, following his <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2009/10/monserrate-convicted-of-misdem.html">conviction on a misdemeanor assault charge</a> was formally created this afternoon via a bipartisan Senate voice vote. </p> <p>No "nays" were heard in the chamber when the resolution was brought up for consideration by LG Richard Ravitch, who is formally presiding over the Senate for the first time since the <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2009/09/paterson-gets-an-lg---and-an-e.html">Court of Appeals ruled in September</a> that his appointment by Gov. David Paterson was constitutional. </p> <p>There is no official roll call. Monserrate was not present for the vote. (A source close to Monserrate said he was "stuck in traffic" and didn't purposely skip the vote. The senator made it to the Capitol in time for Paterson's speech). </p> <p>Also missing were: Kevin Parker, Ruben Diaz Sr. (he's still in Puerto Rico), Tom Duane (who buried his mother over the weekend), Bill Larkin, Montgomery, and Stephen Saland, </p> <p>As per the Senate rules, those lawmakers have until 5 p.m. today to check in and be moved from the "absent" column to the "present" column. </p> <p>Excused from today's session were: Marty Golden, Ruth Hassell-Thompson (who is a <a href="http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2009/10/20/sampson-announces-monserrate-panel/">member of the committee</a>), Shirley Huntley, Owen Johnson, Carl Marcellino, Tom Morahan and Velmanette Montgomery. </p> <p>Prior to the vote, Sen. Andy Lanza, a Republican member of the Monserrate committee, urged his colleagues to consider making the body truly bipartisan by adding another member of the minority so both parties would be evenly represented. </p> <p>Lanza said the committee is charged with proceeding in a manner that is "unfettered" and free of political pressure to truly represent its "client" - the "integrity of this Senate body."</p> <p>There are currently four Republicans and five Democrats on the committee, which is <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2009/10/source-schneiderman-to-chair-m.html">being chaired by Sen. Eric Schneiderman</a>. </p> <p>Senate Minority Leader <a href="http://www.nysenate.gov/press-release/senator-skelos-appoints-members-monserrate-committee">Dean Skelos named</a> Lanza, John Flanagan, James Alesi and Cathy Young to serve on the committee and also tapped Sen. Elizabeth Little to be the fifth member if the Democrats would agree to add her. </p> <p>They did not. </p> <p>The Democratic members of the Monserrate committee met informally earlier today. All nine members are scheduled to have their first meeting at 5 p.m. this afternoon. </p> <p> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/7762728@N03/4090619886/" title="Video 5 0 00 36-27 by dnblog1, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2500/4090619886_263c987957.jpg" alt="Video 5 0 00 36-27" height="281" width="500" /></a><br /></p> </div> </div> <div id="sharebtns_top" class="clear"> <div class="sharebtns_top_indiv"> <a style="text-decoration: none;" name="fb_share" type="button" href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nydailynews.com%2Fblogs%2Fdailypolitics%2F2009%2F11%2Fmonserrate-committee-created-w.html" share_url="http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2009/11/monserrate-committee-created-w.html"><span class="FBConnectButton FBConnectButton_Small" style="cursor: pointer;"><span class="FBConnectButton_Text"></span></span></a></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4040770062768673557-3096258004741881323?l=yourfreepress.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Rafael Martínez Alequínhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11321757863793605043mariaraf@aol.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4040770062768673557.post-77334245940849092742009-11-10T10:17:00.001-05:002009-11-10T10:18:59.025-05:00<div id="story_header"> <p class="datetime"><span style="font-size:78%;">Thursday November 5, 2009 1:43 a.m.</span></p> </div> <div id="main_photo"> <img style="width: 569px; height: 400px;" src="http://static.airamerica.com/imagecache/uploads/bloomberg%20standing_display.jpg" alt="Lead Photo" /> <p class="credit">Photo Credit: Flickr: Creative Commons by 廷鈞</p> </div> <div class="author">By <a href="http://airamerica.com/author/KenKupchik/">Ken Kupchik</a></div> <script type="text/javascript"> sr_adspace_id = 9118007; sr_adspace_width = 88; sr_adspace_height = 31; sr_ad_new_window = true; sr_adspace_type = "graphic"; </script> <div class="ad"> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://ad.afy11.net/srad.js?azId=9118007"> </script><script src="http://ad.afy11.net/ad?asId=9118007&amp;sd=2x88x31&amp;ct=15&amp;enc=1&amp;sf=0&amp;sfd=0&amp;ynw=0&amp;anw=1&amp;rand=4452384&amp;rk1=30953228&amp;rk2=1257866133.523&amp;pt=0"></script><!-- No Paid Ad --> </div> <div class="related_content"> <h2>Related Content</h2> <ul><li class="article"><a href="http://airamerica.com/politics/11-06-2009/ten-things-you-didnt-know-michelle-bachmann/">Top 10 Things You Didn't Know About Michele Bachmann</a></li><li class="article"><a href="http://airamerica.com/politics/11-09-2009/secret-lieberman-e-mail-leaked/">Secret Joe Lieberman E-Mail Leaked</a></li></ul> </div> <div id="article_55335" class="article_text"><p>New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg spent over $140 million on his re-election campaign this year. This is equivalent to over $200 dollars for every vote he received. Here are ten better ways he could have spent the $140 million.</p><p>10) Curing that Iowa <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/04/iowa-cat-gets-swine-flu-f_n_346397.html" target="_blank">cat that got</a> the swine flu.</p><p>9) Hiring people to read the health care bill to the Republicans, within the 72 hours stipulated.</p><p>8) Psychotherapy for Michele Bachmann.</p><p>7) Lobotomies for Glenn Beck and his followers.</p><p>6) Pie for everyone--except Glenn Beck and his followers.</p><p>5) Finance a study to explain why being pro-life also means letting people die from lack of health care.</p><p>4) Buy the Yankees next year's World Series victory too.</p><p>3) Pay for an image makeover for the GOP so they stop creeping me out.</p><p>2) Buy Snuggies for everyone in New York City. </p><p>1) Outbid Aetna for Joe Lieberman's support on health care.</p></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4040770062768673557-7733424594084909274?l=yourfreepress.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Rafael Martínez Alequínhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11321757863793605043mariaraf@aol.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4040770062768673557.post-89492351371910915822009-11-10T10:13:00.000-05:002009-11-10T10:15:13.525-05:00<div id="story_header"> <p class="datetime"><span style="font-size:78%;">Monday November 9, 2009 12:45 a.m.</span></p> </div> <div id="main_photo"> <img src="http://static.airamerica.com/imagecache/uploads/Lieberman__display.jpg" alt="Lead Photo" /> </div> <div class="author">By <a href="http://airamerica.com/author/KenKupchik/">Ken Kupchik</a></div> <script type="text/javascript"> sr_adspace_id = 9118007; sr_adspace_width = 88; sr_adspace_height = 31; sr_ad_new_window = true; sr_adspace_type = "graphic"; </script> <div class="ad"> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://ad.afy11.net/srad.js?azId=9118007"> </script><script src="http://ad.afy11.net/ad?asId=9118007&amp;sd=2x88x31&amp;ct=15&amp;enc=1&amp;sf=0&amp;sfd=0&amp;ynw=0&amp;anw=1&amp;rand=54793671&amp;rk1=2687462&amp;rk2=1257865809.758&amp;pt=0"></script><!-- No Paid Ad --> </div> <div class="related_content"> <h2>Related Content</h2> <ul><li class="article"><a href="http://airamerica.com/news/10-30-2009/top-10-things-overheard-white-house-fox-news/">Top Ten Things Overheard At White House Meeting With Fox News</a></li><li class="article"><a href="http://airamerica.com/politics/11-05-2009/10-other-things-bloomberg-could-have-bought/">10 Other Things Bloomberg Could Have Bought</a></li></ul> </div> <p>Date: Sun, 8 Nov 2009 21:13:11 -0700<br />From: joelieberator@yahoo.com<br />Subject: Killing the P.O.<br />To: rich.as.f*ck@aetna.com</p><p>Hey Richard,</p><p>How's it going old friend? I'm assuming you're either out on the yacht for the weekend, or trying to drop some of the "high-risk" groups from coverage. LOL :-D</p><p>I just got done with my Fox News Sunday appearance. Those guys love me for some reason. They just let me go on and criticize the president whenever I feel like it. Brought to you by the dude who forgave me after John's campaign...I mean I said Obama doesn't put his country first and kept my chairmanship...talk about gullible.</p><p>Speaking of gullible, I wanted to touch base with you about our little arrangement. I'm fine with opposing the public option, and threatening to filibuster until they drop it, and you depositing an exorbitant amount of money into my wife's bank account. You still good with that?</p><p>I've been going out there like you said and using phrases like "bankrupt the country," and "recession" and "government takeover" and you're right, it does sound scary! It it's totes easy because the Republicans are saying the same things day in and day out, backing me up, making me look tough like when I voted for the Iraq War. No one's ever going to bully me again! I've sure come a long way since High School.</p><p>I am getting a bit annoyed that these peasants from my state keep calling my office about this legislation. Don't they get it by now? I only ran on a Universal Health Care platform in '06 so that I could beat stupid Ned Lamont. And they thought I meant it? LMFAO here. Seriously.</p><p>Hopefully, this will teach the Democrats a lesson about messing with me, and Kelly Olsen for not letting me take her to junior prom, and that stupid jock Gary Phillis for calling me Droopy. See if you'll ever get health coverage now Gary HAHAHAH</p><p>Anyways I have to go practice saying "as a matter of conscience" without bursting out laughing.</p><p>Thanks again,</p><p>Joe</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4040770062768673557-8949235137191091582?l=yourfreepress.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Rafael Martínez Alequínhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11321757863793605043mariaraf@aol.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4040770062768673557.post-48097865803051501252009-11-09T05:21:00.005-05:002009-11-09T09:31:51.565-05:00<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_YHPQ0vRd-5o/SvfuNoa5WHI/AAAAAAAACb0/fQxV_119oTo/s1600-h/pedro.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5402048196010137714" style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; float: left; width: 320px; height: 195px;" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_YHPQ0vRd-5o/SvfuNoa5WHI/AAAAAAAACb0/fQxV_119oTo/s320/pedro.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://blog.timesunion.com/capitol/"></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://blog.timesunion.com/capitol/">Capitol Confidential</a><br />A behind-the-scenes look at New York politics.<br />By: Irene Jay Liu, Casey Seiler, Jim Odato, Rick Karlin<br /><a title="Permanent Link to Hiring of Espada’s son earns Ethics Commission probe" href="http://blog.timesunion.com/capitol/archives/19507/hiring-of-espadas-son-earns-ethics-commission-probe/" rel="bookmark">Hiring of Espada’s son earns Ethics Commission probe</a><br />November 2, 2009 at 6:40 am by James M. Odato<br />The embattled Legislative Ethics Commission has commenced an investigation into the Senate’s hiring of Pedro G. Espada shortly after his father became majority leader in July, according to a legislative official apprised of the recent decision.<br /><br />Still only partly formed, the commission has taken criticism for behaving too much like its predecessor, the Legislative Ethics Committee, by operating in secrecy and giving few if any outward signs of investigating potential misdeeds by the 212 lawmakers under its watch.<br />However, the commission — which is different from the committee due to the inclusion of some non-member appointees of the Legislature — decided to pursue an inquiry into the hiring of Sen. Pedro Espada Jr.’s son. The decision came at its most recent meeting, on Oct. 22, at which some commissioners attended by phone and others showed up in person accompanied by Senate or Assembly lawyers.<br /><br />“I can’t comment on anything like that,” said Assemblyman William Magnarelli, D-Syracuse, the commission’s co-chair. “I cannot confirm or deny any investigation that may or may not be in front of the commission.”<br />He did say that having “laypeople” on the commission “brings a whole new dynamic … to the way things are looked at.”A probe would focus on what, if any, influence Sen. Espada exerted on the Senate’s decision to hire his son. The Bronx Democrat is already under investigation by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo for applying for state grants for his health care organization (which also has employed his son) without revealing tax delinquencies. The senator did not respond to a voice mail message.<br /><br />Selvena Brooks, spokeswoman for Democratic Conference Seader John Sampson, said she has heard nothing about a probe: “As far as Mr. Pedro G. Espada is concerned, the Senate considered the matter closed when he resigned.”<br />“G,” as friends call him, <a href="http://blog.timesunion.com/capitol/archives/17447/cuomo-espada-resignation-legally-correct/">stepped down</a> from the post of deputy director for intergovernmental relations a few days after his $120,000 job was reported.<br /><br />Public officers law prohibits lawmakers from taking actions involving the employment of a relative. The hiring occurred shortly after Sen. Espada returned to the Democratic fold after taking a lead role in the June coup by Republicans.<br />License plate politics<br /><br /><br /><a onmouseover="return addthis_open(this, '', 'http%3A%2F%2Fblog.timesunion.com%2Fcapitol%2Farchives%2F19507%2Fhiring-of-espadas-son-earns-ethics-commission-probe%2F', 'Hiring+of+Espada%26%238217%3Bs+son+earns+Ethics+Commission+probe')" onclick="return addthis_sendto()" onmouseout="addthis_close()" href="http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=20" lid="http://s7.addthis.com/static/btn/lg-share-en.gif" s_oidt="0" s_oid="http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=20"></a></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4040770062768673557-4809786580305150125?l=yourfreepress.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Rafael Martínez Alequínhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11321757863793605043mariaraf@aol.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4040770062768673557.post-7023532405979670852009-11-08T20:10:00.006-05:002009-11-11T15:41:12.933-05:00<div class="main_top"> <div class="left box_title"> <dt><span> <p class="main_title">Facts &amp; Stories</p></span> </dt> </div> </div> <img style="width: 452px; height: 320px;" alt="http://www.ihatethemedia.com/wp-content/uploads/berlusconi_underage_sex.jpg" src="http://www.ihatethemedia.com/wp-content/uploads/berlusconi_underage_sex.jpg" /><br /><span class="author">Jerry Krase</span> <span class="date">(November 4, 2009)</span> <div class="area_1_img" style="width: 545px;"><img style="width: 290px; height: 390px;" src="http://www.i-italy.org/files/imagecache/545x/files/still_photos/11712_Img_2378_1257267925.jpg" alt="" title="" /><div style="text-align: justify;" class="area_1_didascalia"><div class="area_1_testo">This is a collage I assembled to represent the deluge of "Mike Bloomberg for Mayor" literature that has been delivered to our door. It is a tiny bit of the $100,000,000 spent in his campaign, best represented here by the city-wide blanket of newspaper endorsements from the Nowy Dziennik to The New York Times. If Berlusconi had such a love affair with the press, he'd have no need to change the Italian Constitution to keep himself out of jail. </div></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;" class="box_abstract"> <p>As one looks closely at the behavior and battles of Bloomberg and Berlusconi it<br /></p><p>seems that, besides being big buck billionaires, they have a great deal more in<br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;">common than lots of money.For many decades I have observed New York City politicians up close as well as, from a much greater distance, those of the Italian kind. During that time, <em>La Grande Mela</em> and <em>La Bella Italia</em> have shared much in the way of political corruption, fiscal crises, and intergroup conflict. The politics of both places, at least at the top of the food chain, has also shifted distinctively rightward over the decades while polarization and resentment by locality, ethnicity, and class have become more evident.<br /></p> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;" class="related"><div class="related-blocks clear-block"><div style="height: 190px;" id="related_article"><div id="related_article_content"><div class="related_article_class"><div class="inner_related"> <div class="imageleft"> <a href="http://www.i-italy.org/4269/explaining-american-politics-whats-left-media-bias"><img src="http://www.i-italy.org/files/imagecache/190x125/files/still_photos/4269_Chris%20matthews%20graffito%20as%20hitler%20big_1220985273.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a></div> <h4 class="inner_related"><a href="http://www.i-italy.org/4269/explaining-american-politics-whats-left-media-bias">Explaining American Politics: What's Left of Media Bias</a></h4> </div></div><div class="related_article_class"><div class="inner_related"> <div class="imageleft"> <a href="http://www.i-italy.org/5227/obamania-or-obamaphobia-italians-post-bush-america">Obamania or Obamaphobia: Italians in a Post-Bush America </a></div> </div></div><div class="related_article_class"><div class="inner_related"> <div class="imageleft"> <a href="http://www.i-italy.org/1290/giulianis-italian-american-voting-bloc"><img src="http://www.i-italy.org/files/imagecache/190x125/files/still_photos/1290_Giuliani_1200547735.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a></div> <h4 class="inner_related"><a href="http://www.i-italy.org/1290/giulianis-italian-american-voting-bloc">Giuliani's Italian American Voting Bloc?</a></h4> </div></div></div></div><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Today, Tuesday, November 3, 2009 I got up early and went for a run in the park with my friend Michael the Lawyer. After getting up a little sweat, we took our regular posts at Dizzy’s (A Finer Diner) where we downed a few cups of coffee and, with my other morning friends - Wayne the Accountant, and Bob the Musician we solved most of the world’s problems. It was Election Day, so later in the afternoon I will go with my wife Suzanne to our local polling place at John Jay High School and cast our ballots for our choice of candidates that are running for election. Sadly, experts predict that we will be among the fewest voters (proportionally) ever to go to the Gotham polls. The American and NYC trend in elections has been for fewer and fewer eligible voters to cast their ballots. Since a viable electoral democracy is dependent on voter participation, this is troubling. The recent trend in Italy is also downward but Italians are still far more likely to go to the polls than are Americans. One source estimates that almost 90 % of Italians turn out to vote. For this New York City election, I doubt whether even a third of eligible voters who take the trouble. People don’t exercise their right to vote for many reasons. The number one excuse I hear is the all too often well-founded belief that it “really doesn’t really matter” who is elected.<br /><br />The top prize in the New York City contest is the job of Mayor. Even though Bloomberg doesn't take his salary for the job, I will most certainly vote for the current Comptroller of the City of New York, William C. Thompson Jr. He is a "candidate of color" and is running on the Democratic and the quirky Working Families Party lines. He almost certainly will be the loser as he currently is a dozen points behind in the polls. The person most likely to win is the current incumbent - Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg - who has the backing of both the Republican and the quirky Independence Parties. Racially speaking, White voters back Bloomberg 66-24 percent and therefore I would estimate that Italian American voters, especially those in<em> La Bella Isola di Staten</em> (Staten Island), will give him more than three-quarters of their cast ballots. Monetarily speaking, Billionaire Bloomberg has spent almost $100 million of his own money in the race, outspending Thompson’s other peoples' money by 14 to 1.<br /><br />Bloomberg seeks a third consecutive term even though, in 1993, New Yorkers voted to “limit all elected officials in New York City to two consecutive terms in office” by a 59-41 % margin. In 2008, Bloomberg, bull-dozed through the City Council (29-22) a new law allowing him, and them, to run for another term. As to small “d’ democracy, at the time, a Quinnipiac poll found that 89 percent of New Yorkers felt that term limits should be decided by voters in a referendum, not the self-interested Council. The poll also found that 51 percent opposed extending the term limits for Bloomberg. In comparison, to Bloomberg's success against the will of the people, after the horrors of 9/11/2001, outgoing Republican Mayor Rudolph Giuliani’s lost his appeal to remain in office a few months longer that because of the turmoil. His appeal went to Albany, which meant nowhere, as Democrats wanted him out of office.<br /><br />Giuliani’s failure and Bloomberg’s success at overcoming term limits is most ironic since the NYC Council that voted in Bloomberg's interest is almost 100% Democratic. ‘America’s Mayor’ Giuliani has also endorsed Mike. According to <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/19/nyregion/19rudy.html" target="_blank">David W. Chen, in <em>The New York Times</em></a>: “Raising the specter of a return to higher crime and greater anxiety, former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani warned on Sunday that New York could become a more dangerous city if Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg is not re-elected in November.”<br /><br />Bloomberg’s behavior beckons me toward another busy Billionaire with whom he has much in common -- Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Besides being balding billionaires with surnames beginning with “B,” Bloomberg and Berlusconi both are, “boils and all,” also likely to win re-election. Bloomberg balloting is today but Berlusconi has some time to wait<br /><br />Both Bloomberg and Berlusconi are media bigs, but Silvio is bigger because he is the boss not only of his own but the government's broadcasting as well. In contrast to Berlusconi, Bloomberg, who recently bought BusinessWeek, seems to have the New York City press, in his pocket. Bloomberg has been endorsed by all the major and minor dailies, weeklies, and monthlies. Even Rupert Murdoch’s <em>New York Post</em> has endorsed Bloomberg while Murdoch is one of the biggest thorns in Silvio’s side in Italy; not ideologically but competitively.<br />Berlusconi is so bothered by the “bad news” about him that he is creating a "media task force" to stamp it out. By chance, one of Berlusconi’s television stations broadcast some <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8314110.stm" target="_blank">unflattering video</a> of a judge who ruled against him in a bribery case.<br />Berlusconi has also floated a balloon about reforming the Italian Constitution to allow a law granting him immunity from prosecution. <a href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article6337807.ece" target="_blank">Bloomberg has little need</a>, as opposed to Berlusconi, to try to reduce the power of the independent judiciary.<br /><br />Bloomberg has also on occasion bullied journalists, but in general he has had an eight-year honeymoon with the press. Two of those who felt his wrath are friends of mine; <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/16/nyregion/16pass.html" target="_blank">Rafael Alequin Martinez</a> the editor of the small city-wide <em>The Free Press</em>/<em>Prensa Libre</em> paper I used to write for, and <a href="http://www.politickerny.com/3769/bloomberg-term-limits-state-economy+" target="_blank">Azi Paybara</a> of <em>The New York Observer</em>.<br /><br />Whereas the anti-Berlusconi stories are found in almost everything he doesn’t control, for Bloomberg they lurk only on the edges of the media world such as "The Bloomberg Watch: Above the Rules? Above the People?" and in the stories of investigative reporters like <a href="http://www.villagevoice.com/2009-04-08/columns/bloomberg-s-loyal-cult/" target="_blank">Tom Robbins (in the Village Voice</a>).<br /><br />On balance, Berlusconi and Bloomberg have a great deal in common based on their personal wealth and influence, but they differ significantly on their approaches to governing. Ironically, despite being media moguls, the biggest difference between them seems to be stylistic. Watching the two “performing” on the television screen it is clear that Bloomberg is boring and Berlusconi bombastic, but when you’re a big bucks billionaire, style seems not to matter much.<br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>Postscript Headline: "</strong>Big Bucks Billionaire Bloomberg Barely Beats Bill at Ballot Box"<br />I felt I just had to write that. In any case, just as I predicted Bloomberg won (51%-46%), the turnout was low (about 25% of elligible voters) , and Staten Island voters overwhelmingly didn't vote for Thompson (29% for him versus 66% for Bloomberg).<br />Even my daughter Kathryn has gotten into the political commentator act, being quoted on page 22 of <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/04/nyregion/04mayor.html" target="_blank"><em>The New York Times</em> story "Bloomberg Wins 3rd Term as Mayor in Unexpectedly Close Race.</a>"</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4040770062768673557-702353240597967085?l=yourfreepress.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Rafael Martínez Alequínhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11321757863793605043mariaraf@aol.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4040770062768673557.post-60360473255064856672009-10-30T10:54:00.004-04:002009-10-30T11:08:59.731-04:00<div id="art_story"><div id="art_header"> <p class="byline"><span style="font-size:78%;">DAILY NEWS WRITERS </span></p>BY <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/authors/Jill%20Colvin">Jill Colvin</a>, <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/authors/Katie%20Nelson">Katie Nelson</a> and <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/authors/Corky%20Siemaszko">Corky Siemaszko</a> <br /> <p class="datestamp"><span style="font-size:78%;">Friday, October 30th 2009, 4:00 AM</span></p> </div> <div class="art_img_lrg"> <img src="http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2009/10/30/alg_carter_ramapo.jpg" alt="Dominic Carter with his wife Marilyn at Ramapo Justice Center. " title="Dominic Carter with his wife Marilyn at Ramapo Justice Center. " /> <div class="art_img_lrg_txt"> <div class="art_img_lrg_credit">Schwartz for News</div> <span>Dominic Carter with his wife Marilyn at Ramapo Justice Center. </span> </div> </div> <div class="art_sidebar"> <div class="code_module"> <div class="module_hdr"><h3>Take our Poll</h3></div> <div class="poll"> <h4>NY1 anchorman scandal</h4> <p>NY1 political anchor Dominic Carter is accused of abusing his wife, but has denied all charges and called them “a big misunderstanding.” Do you believe him?</p> <form action="/nydn/poll.do" name="20091029_ny1_anchorman_scandal" target="poll_results" onsubmit="window.open('', this.target,'dialog,modal,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,width=800,height=340,left=362,top=284');"> <input name="pollCmsUniqueId" value="20091029_ny1_anchorman_scandal" type="hidden"> <input name="pollTitle" value="NY1 anchorman scandal" type="hidden"> <input name="pollQuestion" value="NY1 political anchor Dominic Carter is accused of abusing his wife, but has denied all charges and called them “a big misunderstanding.” Do you believe him?" type="hidden"> <input name="voteExpirationDate" value="" type="hidden"> <input name="option_labels" value="Yes;No;I’m not sure, I need more information." type="hidden"> <table style="width: 21px; height: 54px;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tbody> <tr class="poll_even"> <td class="radio_poll"><br /></td> <td><br /></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="radio_poll"><br /></td> <td><br /></td> </tr> <tr class="poll_even"> <td class="radio_poll"><input name="20091029_ny1_anchorman_scandal" value="3" id="option3" type="radio"></td> <td><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></form> </div> </div> </div> <!-- ARTICLE CONTENT START --> <p>Desperate to bury a career-damaging wife-beating charge, TV newsman <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Dominic+Carter" title="Dominic Carter">Dominic Carter</a> begged a judge to cut him a break because he was a "high-profile journalist" with lots of big-wheel pals.</p> <p>"I've appeared on the cover of <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/The+New+York+Times+Company" title="The New York Times Company">The New York Times</a> and <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Gemstar-TV+Guide+International+Inc." title="Gemstar-TV Guide International Inc.">TV Guide</a>," Carter said in a Dec. 11 court appearance in <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Rockland+County" title="Rockland County">Rockland County</a> that was released Thursday. "I covered the state attorney general and the chief judge of the court." </p> <p>The <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/New+York" title="New York">New York</a> 1 political anchor also claimed he was friends with former chief judge <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Judith+Kaye" title="Judith Kaye">Judith Kaye</a> and <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Robert+Morgenthau" title="Robert Morgenthau">Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau</a>. He punctuated his pleading by insisting over and over, "This is not fair." </p> <p>If "my political enemies" find out about the charges, Carter warned, "it will end up in the Daily News." </p> <p><a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Arnold+Etelson" title="Arnold Etelson">Justice Arnold Etelson</a> put the newsman in his place. "Don't start dropping names," he said. "You know better than that." </p> <p>The justice also told Carter that "if there's no repetition" of wife-beating, "it's going to go away in a year." </p> <p>Unfortunately for Carter, the damning accusation roared back Thursday. </p> <p>Carter was knocked off the air and placed on "indefinite leave of absence" by NY1 just days before the hard-fought mayoral election he had been covering. </p> <p>"Dominic will not be appearing on New York 1," said the cable channel's general manager, <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Steve+Paulus" title="Steve Paulus">Steve Paulus</a>. </p> <p>Carter said he understands the decision. </p> <p>"You can't have a journalist on the air with a cloud of controversy over their head. They had no choice," he said. </p> <p>Carter had the hammer dropped on him the same day his wife, Marilyn, returned to court and said she lied when she claimed her husband attacked her last October. </p> <p>With his job on the line, Carter tried pleading again - this time for a favorable ruling. </p> <p>"In the court of public opinion, if I leave here without an opinion, my career is over," he said. </p> <p>Again, Etelson told Carter no and ordered the lawyers to submit papers by Nov. 19. </p> <p>Carter, 45, left the court with his wife. </p> <p>"I am sticking by him with this," said <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Marilyn+Carter" title="Marilyn Carter">Marilyn Carter</a>, 52. </p> <p>The ugly accusation surfaced at a tricky time for Carter, whose "Inside City Hall" program is a must-watch for pols and political junkies. </p> <p>Carter's contract is up in a month, sources told The News. </p> <p>Former NY1 co-anchor <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Davidson+Goldin" title="Davidson Goldin">Davidson Goldin</a> came to his friend's defense. </p> <p>"I sat inches from Dominic for years, and I never had any reason to think of him as anything but a truly decent guy," he said. </p> <p>Carter is charged with third-degree assault for attacking his wife on Oct. 22, 2008, and could get up to a year in jail if convicted. He told reporters the incident was "a big misunderstanding" and insisted, "I would never strike my wife." </p> </div> <div class="art_pagination"> <a class="prev_next_button" href="http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/2009/10/30/2009-10-30_ny1_scandal_give_me_a_break.html?page=1"><em></em></a><p>Marilyn Carter complained her "husband's character is being assassinated." </p> <p>But in court papers, she - at first - tarred her husband as a wife beater, claiming that "while sitting on the couch the suspect attacked her by punching her about the face area several times and grabbed her by the throat." </p> <p>A month later, Marilyn Carter recanted. </p> <p>That led to the Dec. 11 hearing where Carter asked Etelson to bury any record of his wife's charge. </p> <p>Marilyn Carter now claims she was attacked by a day laborer she picked up on Route 59 near their home - but doesn't know his name. </p> <p>"You don't ask a laborer his name," she said. "You ask a laborer to work." </p> <p>Asked why she lied and told a dispatcher Carter had beaten her up, she replied, "I was angry with him." </p> <p>Prosecutors played a 911 tape on which Marilyn Carter could be heard identifying her assailant as "Dominic Carter." </p> <p>Marilyn Carter told the court she loved her husband, but also admitted that he called her a "dumb, stupid, project bitch." </p> <p>Adding to Carter's woes, his angry brother-in-law accused the newsman of fathering two children out of wedlock with a former high school sweetheart. </p> <p>Marilyn Carter "wanted a divorce for adultery," said <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Larry+Stevens" title="Larry Stevens">Larry Stevens</a>, 62, a retired cop who lives in Queens. </p> <p>Carter denied it. </p> <p>"There is no high school sweetheart; there are no other children," he said. </p> <p>Carter's wife said she and her brother have been fighting over money and <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Manhattan" title="Manhattan">Manhattan</a> real estate - not her marriage. </p> <p><a href="mailto:csiemaszko@nydailynews.com">csiemaszko@nydailynews.com</a></p> <p class="tagline">With Sarah Armaghan, Nicholas Hirshon, Elizabeth Benjamin and Tanyanika Samuels </p> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4040770062768673557-6036047325506485667?l=yourfreepress.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Rafael Martínez Alequínhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11321757863793605043mariaraf@aol.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4040770062768673557.post-6117664706474851352009-10-29T15:02:00.004-04:002009-10-29T16:06:18.982-04:00By LIZ SADLER and DAN MANGAN<br /><br /><p class="date updated"> <span style="font-size:78%;"><em>Last Updated:</em> 2:23 PM, October 29, 2009</span></p><p class="date updated"><span style="font-size:78%;">(FP note: It seemsthat the two of them are alike}.<br /></span></p> <br /><table style="width: 170px; height: 93px;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tbody><tr></tr><tr><td><a href="http://www.observer.com/files/full/Dominic-Carter_web.jpg" id="thumbnail"><img src="http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:R_ZZxcavYiu7tM:http://www.observer.com/files/full/Dominic-Carter_web.jpg" style="border: 1px solid ; margin: 10px 10px 0pt; float: left;" alt="See full size image" width="120" height="80" /></a></td><td><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kulnm8Gjhh8/SUy_BTbABUI/AAAAAAAAKcw/JAgSfmurH-I/s400/monsterrat.jpg" id="thumbnail"><img src="http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:TvZVIl9xMER14M:http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kulnm8Gjhh8/SUy_BTbABUI/AAAAAAAAKcw/JAgSfmurH-I/s400/monsterrat.jpg" style="border: 1px solid ; margin: 10px 10px 0pt; float: left;" alt="See full size image" width="82" height="80" /></a></td></tr></tbody> </table> <form id="HiddenInfo" name="HiddenInfo"> <input id="Xpath" name="Xpath" value="/Fragment/nypost" type="hidden"> <input id="url" name="url" value="/p/news/local/kin_makes_shocking_disclosure_way_QEmlMRrkm2CCijAq8j8E6O" type="hidden"> <input id="storyLoid" name="storyLoid" value="4.0.1374418864" type="hidden"> <input id="title" name="title" value="Kin makes shocking disclosure as Carter's abuse trial gets under way" type="hidden"> <input id="byline" name="byline" value="By LIZ SADLER and DAN MANGAN" type="hidden"> <textarea id="storyContent" name="storyContent" style="display: none;">NY1 political anchor Dominic Carter’s brother-in-law today said Carter has physically and verbally abused his wife for years – and while married fathered two children out of wedlock with his high school sweetheart.<p> </p><br /> "It been going on for over 20 years, physical abuse, verbal abuse. It’s been kind of messed up for years," said Larry Stevens, 62, a retired police officer whose sister, Marilyn, is married to Carter.<p> </p><br /> "It’s been an ongoing thing, Marilyn covered it up for many years, and as her kids got older they started complaining about it," Stevens said at his Queens residence "I’ve seen her with a black eye . . . everyone knew what was going on."<p> </p><br /> Stevens spoke to reporters hours after The Post revealed that Carter, 46, was arrested last year for assaulting Marilyn, a case that is going to trial in a local Rockland County court today. Several other police reports described cops going to the Carters’ Pomona, NY, residence in response to domestic disputes between the couple, who today denied he was physically abusive.<p> </p><br /> Dominic Carter denied the accusations.<p> </p><br /> "I will be exhonorated. Domestic violence is a serious issue that me and my wife do not take likely. I was not home at time. I was never taken into custody. I was never questioned."<p> </p><br /> However, the Rockland County Sheriff's Department and Town of Ramapo Police said that an order of protection was issued against Dominic at the request of Marilyn Carter in March 2007, and that that order expried three months later. The sheriff's department said that the order was served on Dominick in Rockland Family Court.<p> </p><br /> Marilyn, when asked about her brother's comments, said, "It’s disgusting what he’s doing. He picked up the paper this morning and saw an opportunity to attack me."<p> </p><br /> "Larry is striking back because I was taking him back to court over property in Harlem that was left to me and my siblings by our parents."<p> </p><br /> "I have not spoken to him in years. He's making false accusations to get back at me."<p> </p><br /> MORE: CARTER DENIES ASSAULT ON WIFE <p> </p><br /> Stevens said both of them are not telling the truth about Dominic’s conduct.<p> </p><br /> "H was a nice guy at first, but he just got, I don’t know, with fame and money, maybe it got worse," Steven said.<p> </p><br /> "They lived with my mother for many years in Harlem, so my mother was a witness to the abuse," Steven said. "And she tried to talk Marilyn into leaving, but she wouldn’t leave."<p> </p><br /> "I tried to get Marilyn to get a divorce and she wouldn’t leave him," he said. "We offered financial help and everything else to leave."<p> </p><br /> Stevens said that he and another sister of Marilyn’s have not talked to Marilyn for several years.<p> </p><br /> "Me and her older sister was getting on her about getting a divorce many years ago. And because of the marriage, she didn’t want to get a divorce, and she wanted to break ties with us."<p> </p><br /> Stevens said that he aware that Dominic, while married to Marilyn, fathered two children by his high-school sweetheart – a son and a daughter.<p> </p><br /> "There’s another family," Stevens said.<p> </p><br /> Stevens said that the son of that relationship was named Dominic Jr. – the same name of the son Marilyn Carter had by Dominic.<p> </p><br /> Marilyn also has a daughter by Dominic.<p> </p><br /> Stevens, when asked what Marilyn thought about her husband having a second family, said, "I don’t think she was OK with it but she stayed in that relationship"<p> </p><br /> A woman who knew the Carters when they lived in Harlem said that when she first met Marilyn years ago, "She was beautiful, a really happy girl -- she lived here with her family."<p> </p><br /> "Then she got married, she lost a lot of weight, got real puny," said the former neighbor, Ruth Brown, 80. "She didn't look good. She liked someone who was being abused."<p> </p><br /> "She got real unhappy. I discussed it with my daughter and a neighbor. We all thought she was such a lovely girl and when she got married she lost so much weight and lost her vitality. We knew something just wasn't right," Brown said.<p> </p><br /></textarea> </form> NY1 political anchor Dominic Carter’s brother-in-law today said Carter has physically and verbally abused his wife for years – and while married fathered two children out of wedlock with his high school sweetheart. <div class="story_body"><p>"It been going on for over 20 years, physical abuse, verbal abuse. It’s been kind of messed up for years," said Larry Stevens, 62, a retired police officer whose sister, Marilyn, is married to Carter. </p><p>"It’s been an ongoing thing, Marilyn covered it up for many years, and as her kids got older they started complaining about it," Stevens said at his Queens residence "I’ve seen her with a black eye . . . everyone knew what was going on."</p> <p>Stevens spoke to reporters hours after The Post revealed that Carter, 46, was arrested last year for assaulting Marilyn, a case that is going to trial in a local Rockland County court today. Several other police reports described cops going to the Carters’ Pomona, NY, residence in response to domestic disputes between the couple, who today denied he was physically abusive.</p> <p>Dominic Carter denied the accusations.</p> <p>"I will be exhonorated. Domestic violence is a serious issue that me and my wife do not take likely. I was not home at time. I was never taken into custody. I was never questioned." </p> <p>However, the Rockland County Sheriff's Department and Town of Ramapo Police said that an order of protection was issued against Dominic at the request of Marilyn Carter in March 2007, and that that order expried three months later. The sheriff's department said that the order was served on Dominick in Rockland Family Court.</p> <p>Marilyn, when asked about her brother's comments, said, "It’s disgusting what he’s doing. He picked up the paper this morning and saw an opportunity to attack me."</p> <p>"Larry is striking back because I was taking him back to court over property in Harlem that was left to me and my siblings by our parents."</p> <p>"I have not spoken to him in years. He's making false accusations to get back at me."</p> <p><a target="_blank" href="http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/carter_denies_assault_on_wife_trial_K7DrhY32KIaGHAYF0OAdeI">MORE: CARTER DENIES ASSAULT ON WIFE </a> </p> <p>Stevens said both of them are not telling the truth about Dominic’s conduct.</p> <p>"H was a nice guy at first, but he just got, I don’t know, with fame and money, maybe it got worse," Steven said.</p> <p>"They lived with my mother for many years in Harlem, so my mother was a witness to the abuse," Steven said. "And she tried to talk Marilyn into leaving, but she wouldn’t leave."</p> <p>"I tried to get Marilyn to get a divorce and she wouldn’t leave him," he said. "We offered financial help and everything else to leave."</p> <p>Stevens said that he and another sister of Marilyn’s have not talked to Marilyn for several years.</p> <p>"Me and her older sister was getting on her about getting a divorce many years ago. And because of the marriage, she didn’t want to get a divorce, and she wanted to break ties with us."</p> <p>Stevens said that he aware that Dominic, while married to Marilyn, fathered two children by his high-school sweetheart – a son and a daughter.</p> <p>"There’s another family," Stevens said.</p> <p>Stevens said that the son of that relationship was named Dominic Jr. – the same name of the son Marilyn Carter had by Dominic.</p> <p>Marilyn also has a daughter by Dominic.</p> <p>Stevens, when asked what Marilyn thought about her husband having a second family, said, "I don’t think she was OK with it but she stayed in that relationship"</p> <p>A woman who knew the Carters when they lived in Harlem said that when she first met Marilyn years ago, "She was beautiful, a really happy girl -- she lived here with her family."</p> <p>"Then she got married, she lost a lot of weight, got real puny," said the former neighbor, Ruth Brown, 80. "She didn't look good. She liked someone who was being abused."</p> <p>"She got real unhappy. I discussed it with my daughter and a neighbor. We all thought she was such a lovely girl and when she got married she lost so much weight and lost her vitality. We knew something just wasn't right," Brown said.</p><p><br /></p><div class="story_body"> <div class="intext_area" id="intext_area_top"> <p class="story_logo"><span id="role_document" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;color:#000000;">EXCLUSIVE</span></p></div> <p><span id="role_document" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;color:#000000;">Hot-headed NY1 political anchor Dominic Carter is due in court today after being accused by his wife of punching, choking and kicking her in their suburban home, The Post has learned. </span></p> <p><span id="role_document" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;color:#000000;">Cops were called to the Carters' Rockland County house four times in the last two years for domestic disputes, police records show. </span></p> <p><span id="role_document" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;color:#000000;">The most violent incident -- in which Carter, 46, was arrested for assault -- occurred Oct. 22, 2008. </span></p> <p><span id="role_document" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;color:#000000;">That night, Marilyn told cops, Dominic twice punched her in the face, "causing a swollen bottom lip," and grabbed her around her throat, "causing scratches and minor bleeding from behind her left ear," police records show. </span></p> <div class="intext_area" id="intext_area_middle"> <div class="intext_object intext_photo"><span id="role_document" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;color:#000000;"><img title="HUSBAND &amp; STRIFE: NY1's Dominic Carter, with wife Marilyn, allegedly beat her at their Rockland home (inset)." alt="HUSBAND &amp; STRIFE: NY1's Dominic Carter, with wife Marilyn, allegedly beat her at their Rockland home (inset)." src="http://www.nypost.com/rw/nypost/2009/10/29/news/photos_stories/cropped/dominic_carter--300x300.jpg" width="300" height="300" /> </span><div class="photo_credit"><span id="role_document" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;color:#000000;">Naswnyc.org</span></div> <div class="caption"><span id="role_document" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;color:#000000;">HUSBAND &amp; STRIFE: NY1's Dominic Carter, with wife Marilyn, allegedly beat her at their Rockland home (inset).</span></div></div> <span id="role_document" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;color:#000000;"> </span><div class="block ad wrap quigo_intext"> </div></div> <p><span id="role_document" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;color:#000000;">Dominic also repeatedly punched her in the right upper arm and "kicked her in her lower right shin, causing a small cut with minor bleeding," the records said. </span></p> <p><span id="role_document" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;color:#000000;">Marilyn Carter, 52, in recent days moved out of the couple's Pomona home, sources said. They also said Dominic Carter is scheduled to appear today in Rockland County Family Court. </span></p> <p><span id="role_document" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;color:#000000;">The domestic incidents came just after the anchor published a book, "No Momma's Boy," which revealed physical and sexual abuse he suffered as a young boy in The Bronx at the hands of his schizophrenic mother, who tried to strangle him as an infant. </span></p> <p><span id="role_document" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;color:#000000;">Neither Carter nor his wife responded to calls seeking comment. </span></p> <p><span id="role_document" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;color:#000000;">NY1 General Manager Steve Paulus said, "This is a domestic matter involving one of our employees and it's our policy not to comment." </span></p> <p><span id="role_document" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;color:#000000;">Hours after The Post's inquiries, Carter was noticeably absent from his seat hosting "Inside City Hall" last night. </span></p> <p><span id="role_document" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;color:#000000;">Carter, who moderated the Oct. 13 mayoral debate between <a class="topiclink" target="_blank" href="http://www.nypost.com/t/Michael_Bloomberg">Mayor Bloomberg</a> and Comptroller Bill Thompson, joined NY1 when Time Warner launched the channel in 1992. </span></p> <p><span id="role_document" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;color:#000000;">Since then, he has interviewed virtually every big-name New York politician and made "Inside City Hall" must-see TV for local political junkies. </span></p> <p><span id="role_document" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;color:#000000;">In 1997, he was told to take a few days off after getting into a shoving match with an editor. </span></p> <p><span id="role_document" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;color:#000000;">Carter married Marilyn in 1985 after graduating from SUNY Cortland, where they had secretly dated while he was a student and she was an administrator at the school, he wrote in his book. They have two children. </span></p> <p><span id="role_document" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;color:#000000;">In 2007, their home life became increasingly rocky, and began drawing the attention of Ramapo town police, who patrol Pomona. </span></p> <p><span id="role_document" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;color:#000000;">On March 14, 2007, the Carters' daughter, Courtney, then 19, called 911 after her parents had an argument, a police report says. </span></p> <p><span id="role_document" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;color:#000000;">"Dominic fled the scene prior to [police officers'] arrival," according to the report. </span></p> <p><span id="role_document" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;color:#000000;">Marilyn told cops that she and Dominic had "a verbal dispute" earlier in the day, and that it began again after she returned to the home after leaving for a while. </span></p> <p><span id="role_document" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;color:#000000;">"Marilyn states Dominic became agitated and began yelling and cursing at her," said the report. </span></p> <p><span id="role_document" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;color:#000000;">No one was injured in that case, and no arrests were made. </span></p> <p><span id="role_document" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;color:#000000;">Nearly a year later, on March 8, 2008, Ramapo cops again were called to the Carter residence. </span></p> <p><span id="role_document" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;color:#000000;">"Marilyn reports that her husband . . . has been out of the house for a couple of days, and tonight, he took the kids to the movies and they came back and they had a verbal argument and she wants him to leave," police wrote. </span></p> <p><span id="role_document" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;color:#000000;">"She was concerned due to the fact that he has gotten physical in the past," the report said. Police said Dominic agreed to leave the house to avoid further dispute. </span></p> <p><span id="role_document" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;color:#000000;">But the next day, cops again were called to the Carter home -- this time by Dominic. </span></p> <p><span id="role_document" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;color:#000000;">The newsman, in a written statement for police, said Marilyn "refused to open the door to the house to me." </span></p> <p><span id="role_document" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;color:#000000;">He wrote that "my wife lied to the officers [and] said I hit her" during the call of the prior day. </span></p> <p><span id="role_document" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;color:#000000;">Marilyn then "left the scene and advised she will be staying at a friend's house until future time. Mr. Carter advised he will seek a divorce," the police report said. </span></p> <p><span id="role_document" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;color:#000000;"><em>Additional reporting by Perry Chiaramonte and Candace Amos</em> </span></p> <p><span id="role_document" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;color:#000000;"><em><a href="mailto:dan.mangan@nypost.com">dan.mangan@nypost.com</a> </em></span></p></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4040770062768673557-611766470647485135?l=yourfreepress.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Rafael Martínez Alequínhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11321757863793605043mariaraf@aol.com0