How Many Times?? -- A Tragedy Waiting To Happen

Jun 11, 2010

Lying in bed this afternoon around 5pm (something we retired people like to do - it's called a nap), I was jarred by the terrible sound of cars colliding on the street outside. This has become a somewhat usual occurrence on Underhill Avenue. The sound always fills me with dread - I live directly across from the playground, a neighborhood mecca filled with kids and parents. My first thought was to hope that nobody was hurt who might have been an innocent bystander: a child and parent crossing the street, a neighbor out walking their dog. Then, of course, I worried about the drivers and passengers, hoping they too were spared injury. But the sound was so loud and so terrible, I thought for sure, someone had to be hurt.

We were lucky. This time. This was the second horrible collision at the intersection of Prospect Place and Underhill Avenue in the space of a year. Same thing last time - two cars, one on Underhill, one on Prospect, meet in the middle of the intersection and smash into each other. One had to be running the light, a not uncommon sight in our city today. What utter foolishness and stupidity. But also malicious, because a car driven that way, fast and without care to the people on our streets, becomes a dangerous weapon; a weapon that can maim or kill.

The last time this happend, in May of 2009, I wrote:

"Driving to make the light without regard for safety of people on foot on our streets will, sooner or later, result in catastrophe. It is a fact that the leading edge of death of young children in New York is not disease but being struck by a car. his time nobody was seriously injured. Next time?? NOW IS THE TIME TO GET SPEEDING CARS AND RECKLESS DRIVERS OFF OUR STREETS."

This time we must take action. A petition must be written and distributed to all our neighbors demanding from our elected officials and the Department of Transportation that action be taken to insure that traffic is calmed on Underhill Avenue, particularly near our school and playground. Either by use of traffic humps, 4-way stop signs, re-timing of lights, increased signage or other methods that the DOT has and uses in its inventory, we must get this dangerous condition under control.

We should not wait to take action until after one of our children or neighbors is maimed or killed. The time for action is now!

- Matt

Click Here to see all of these crash photos.

Three Days In April and May --Americans Begin To Fight Back!

May 6, 2010

These are exciting days.

Exciting because the potential for pushing our country forward toward the change that we need and want is within reach. But corporate America - the banks, Wall Street and the oil companies - stand in the doorway, the enemies of any progress. Not content with record profits and tax-payer funded bailouts, these great patriots want it all and at any cost: massive unemployment, the loss of people's homes and security, increasing poverty and hunger, oil spills that despoil entire regions - none of that means anything to them as long as their bottom line continues its upward trajectory.

Exciting days - filled with promise but only if "we the people" can mobilize and organize ourselves to be the agent of change that is our potential. It is the strength of our numbers, united in demanding change, that scares the living daylights out of those who control our destinies (and our government)now.

It has become clear that the election of November 2008, as exciting and as promising as it was, has not fulfilled the expectations of the millions who turned out and, with their votes, demanded a change in the direction and priorities of our government. Only by organizing those Obama voters to continue to push and push hard, can we make good on the promise of change. As the sage said - "The people shall lead and the leaders will follow." Change will not be handed to us but will only come if we demand it and organize millions to make those demands irrefutable.

Three actions recently point to exciting new developments that move us in the direction of building that new force for change.

On April 29th the AFL-CIO brought thousands to Wall Street to demand pay back from the crew that wrecked our economy and threw eight million people out of their jobs. This was inspiring and, in case you haven't been paying attention, new! Perhaps you missed reading about it in the NY Times - Well, that's because because it wasn't covered in the "newspaper of record" at all! Here was the NYC working class on parade - angry and militant - something we haven't seen in decades and something we need much, much more of: a fighting union movement for progressive change! Strange, isn't it? Three hundred tea party nut jobs standing on a street corner gets front page coverage but 15,000 trade unionists demanding that Wall Street criminals go to jail instead of bonuses - that's ignored. Newspaper of record - yeah, right!

Richard Trumka, President of the labor federation, blasted the banks for their criminal activities and demanded that their profits be taxed to provide good jobs for those who have suffered from their reckless actions. "Good jobs now! Good jobs now!" echoed throughout the crowd as thousands took up the call.

A call for fairness and justice: Hold the banks accountable!
>>> Click any photo to see it larger

A new, bolder labor movement - just what the doctor ordered.

Just two days later on May Day, the international workers' day inspired by the 1886 Chicago Haymarket strike demanding an eight-hour day (something we sadly need to fight for again), thousands again gathered in lower Manhattan to demand human rights for immigrants and all of labor. May Day in recent years has seen millions demonstrating across our country in search of justice and fairness for immigrants who have come here seeking a better life. Sponsored by a broad coalition of labor and immigrants' organizations, speakers railed against the recently-passed law in Arizona that would use police-state tactics as a racist club to imtimidate immigrants by allowing the cops to stop anyone they might believe to be here without documents. Talk about racial profiling! Arizona, it should be remembered, was also the last state to recognize Dr. Martin Luther King's birthday so it came as no surprise that such a law would raise its ugly head in that state first.

Calls for boycott of that heavily tourist-dependent state and demands that the Federal government intervene in Arizona have been heard all across our country because the law flies in the face of traditional American notions of fairness and justice.

What the shameful Arizona law will do: rip families apart!

Brooklyn was well-represented at the May Day march.

Just the other day, on May 2nd, New Yorkers marched again. This time, they were joined by over 2,000 Japanese peace activists, including survivors of the U.S. nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II. Thousands paraded through Times Square in a lively and colorful demonstration that called for worldwide nuclear disarmament. The marchers wanted a world that was not threatened by the stockpiles of these horrible weapons that threaten the very existence of our world and that rob humanity of resources that could be used to solve intractable problems of poverty and hunger around the globe.

The march, which was the culmination of a weekend conference at Riverside church that attracted thousands to discuss the urgent threat of nuclear weapons, coincided with the United Nations disarmament conference. The U.N. was the destination of marchers and at its conclusion there was a fantastic peace and music festival in Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, across from the U.N. headquarters.

A large and spirited Brooklyn For Peace contingent was part of the outpouring for an end to the nuclear threat.

The Japanese peace activist added a colorful and dramatic component to this No Nukes peace march.

The Japanese peace activists added a colorful and creative component to the march with wonderful banners, capes and costumes that all called for peace and an end to the nuclear threat. American and Japanese marchers mingled and chatted, getting to know each other better - what a wonderful and memorable demonstration for worldwide peace!

You can see the rest of my photos from all three actions by going here: CLICK HERE

DOT Creates Car Mayhem On Little Old Park Place

Mar 18, 2010

I'm a bicyclist and the very last person you know who would criticize the DOT for restricting car traffic. Kudos to them for all the new bike lanes in our city and other traffic-calming schemes designed to make our streets quieter, safer and more breathable and to get people out of their cars and into mass transit or onto their bikes or feet!

However! Bruce Ratner recently broke ground for his mega-development and stadium at the Atlantic train yards. Not only is this ill-begotten land-grab-of-a-scheme stinking to high heaven from corruption and public/private malfeasance, it's also creating havoc on our quiet, residential streets due to collusion, I believe, between the billionaire developer and the city to make things go smoothly ... not for you and me but for Ratner and his stadium.

If you live in Prospect Heights, you may have noticed a huge uptick in traffic on little old Park Place, a narrow, residential eastbound-only street. But you may not know the reason. Here's why. If one drives south on Flatbush Avenue - i.e. from the Manhattan Bridge heading toward Prospect Park, there are very few opportunities to turn left (eastbound). Yet, large amounts of people live in our neighborhoods to the east of Flatbush Avenue: in Prospect Heights and Crown Heights and beyond.

Click the map for a larger view.

If you live in those neighborhoods and want to go east from Flatbush Avenue, once you pass Lafayette Avenue, you cannot turn left for almost a full mile, until you reach Park Place! That's because --

• There's no left on Hanson Place - it was closed permanently a while ago.

• There's no left on Atlantic Avenue.

• There's no left on Fifth Avenue or Pacific Street - closed permanently.

• There's no left on Dean Street - ever! (until last week one could at least make a left after 7 pm and all day Sundays).

• There's no left on St. Marks Avenue.

This traffic nightmare was "designed" by the folks at DOT and it has transformed Park Place from a relatively quiet and traffic-free street into a major eastbound thoroughfare. Long lines of traffic between Flatbush Avenue and Vanderbilt Avenue are common - cars very often take several red light cycles to finally pass through the intersection at Vanderbilt. Then much of that traffic proceeds up the next eastbound block of Park Place and, frustrated with their long wait on the previous block, many now tear up the street in order to "make" the green light on Underhill Avenue. This has created, noise, congestion, fumes from waiting lines of cars and dangerous speeding by frustrated drivers.

The new sign at Flatbush and Dean - this used to read "no left turn except after 7 pm and all day Sunday." Now it's No Left Turn --- Ever!
Click for a larger view.

Fifth Avenue eastbound from Flatbush - now permnently closed. Privatized for Ratner's stadium.
Click for a larger view.

I'm compelled to ask - is this the professional planning of traffic engineers who ought to be concerned about reducing traffic and making streets safe for residents and pedestrians? Or is it, more likely, an order from up on high to do what has to be done to keep traffic flowing smoothly for the soon-to-be traffic-attracting stadium a few blocks north? It seems to be the latter. The result of this preposterous design is an assault on the residents of Park Place and environs.

No left on 6th Avenue - southbound on Flatbush. The result is that if you want to go east into Prospect Heights or Crown Heights, there's only one way to go and that's up tiny, narrow, residential Park Place. How could this be?
Click for a larger view.

We must demand, from our elected officials and the Department of Transportation, that a better plan be implemented and the current design abandoned. Calls should be made to Community Board No. 8 (Ms. Michelle George, Manager) at (718) 467-5574 or Tish James (our Council Member) at (718) 260-9191 or the Mayor's office at 311.

Call now and call often until this travesty is un-done.

Brooklyn Asks - "Which Way Afghanistan?"

Feb 9, 2010

A large crowd of Brooklyn residents filled the Park Slope United Methodist Church last night. It was one of the city's coldest winters in recent memory but that didn't stop people from turning out to discuss the escalating war in Afghanistan and its impact on the world, the country and, more immediately, on life in their own city and neighborhoods.

A large crowd of Brooklyn residents filled the sanctuary at the Park Slope United Methodist Church.

Initiated by the Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats (CBID) and supported by Brooklyn For Peace along with a dozen or so of the borough's peace and justice organizations, the forum featured Congress member Jerrold Nadler and reporter Anand Gopal who had been embedded with the Taliban and had dispatched many reports from that beleaguered country.

The flyer for the meeting.

The meeting was opened by CBID chair, Lucy Koteen, who welcomed people and described the work of her organization, which is one of Brooklyn's most active Democratic reform clubs with a long history of progressive activism. She then turned the meeting over to Brooklyn For Peace's Vice Chair, Rusti Eisenberg, who introduced the two speakers. Eisenberg is one of the founders of Brooklyn For Peace and a professor of history at Hofstra University.

CBID Chair, Lucy Koteen, opens the Afghan forum meeting. Seated, left to right, Rusti Eisenberg, journalist, Anand Gopal, Congress member Jerrold Nadler.

BFP Chair, Rusti Eisenberg, introduces the speakers.

Representative Nadler read the statement he had made to Congress in opposing President Obama's announcement of escalation and took to task the notion that our country should use massive military occupation of foreign lands in order to deal with what even the CIA has said is "a hundred or so Al Queyda" remaining in Afghanistan. He deplored the fabulous expense of dependence on military solutions which, he said, is wreaking havoc on our ability to solve the huge problems we confront at home. In the long run, he pointed out, using military occupation of countries produces the opposite of what we hope to accomplish since it inspires hatred of the U.S. and helps to fill the ranks of extremist organizations aimed at doing harm to the United States.

Nadler -- these endless, expensive military adventures make it impossible to solve pressing problems at home.

As if to prove Nadler's point, the next speaker, journalist Anand Gopal, related an experience he reported on when he was embedded with the Taliban as a reporter for the Christian Science Monitor. He had interviewed a young, teenage Afghan boy imprisoned for an attempted suicide bombing. The boy's experience, as related by Gopal, horrified the audience and was symbolic of the problems resulting from the massive U.S. military presence in Afghanistan ---

Walking home one day, the young man witnessed a crowd in front of his house or what used to be his house. It had been reduced to rubble from a U.S. bomb attack. Sifting through the rubble for a trace of his family of sixteen (all sixteen innocents had perished in the attack) he came across the severed head of his mother.

This propelled the young man into a traumatized, almost catatonic state, and for days he wandered the town aimlessly, clutching his mother's head in his arms. No one could persuade him to let loose of the head and permit it to be buried. Finally, a village elder convinced him to relent and to take up arms with the insurgents in order to avenge his horrific loss.

The young man was thus thrust into the arms of the Taliban -- he was recruited to the bombing attempt only to land up in a Afghan government dungeon.

This tale, which Gopal said is not uncommon, dramatically brought home the counter-productive results of the U.S. war. While the administration says its war is fighting terrorism and terrorists to make American safer, the horrific civilian casualties (the drone attacks that are glorified by the Pentagon are said to have a civilian-to-terrorist kill ration of 55 to 1!) are actually driving Innocent victims into the hands of the Taliban and other extremists and thereby making us more endangered.

Gopal - Massive U.S. military action in Afghanistan only serves to build hatred of America and fill the ranks of the terrorists.

A dramatic high point of the evening was the presence of large numbers of guests from Brooklyn's South Asian community. Bobby Khan, activist and director of the Coney Island Avenue Project spoke, and while attacking the extremist elements in the Taliban, he also opposed the war for the misery and devastation it is bringing to the people of Afghanistan. U.S. bombs dropped from pilotless planes will not solve the problems of the Afghan people he said and said it is the Pakistani authorities and intelligence agents who are largely to blame for the spread of the Taliban's insurgency. He introduced one guest who had lost his young son to the Taliban's murderous attacks.

Bobby Khan (left) of the Coney Island Avenue Project brought guests from Brooklyn's South Asian community.

Guests from Brooklyn's South Asian community.

After the speakers, Lucy Koteen turned the meeting over to questions from the audience. Nadler, in answer to one question, made a passionate defense of civil liberties which, he said, are very endangered by the war atmosphere. Throughout American history, he said, whenver there has been war, civil liberties has been brushed aside and he said the same thing is happening today. A leading Democrat, he nevertheless decried the current administration's continuation of some of the more onerous authoritarian practices inherited from the Bush regime and said the Bill of Rights could well become a "dead letter" unless Americans stand up to defend it right now.

Doug Biviano, a candidate for City Council in Brooklyn's 33rd district in the last election, asks Congress member Nadler a question.

As the meeting adjourned, both Koteen and Eisenberg said that discussion is good but not enough. Right now, they said, it's only action and pressure from the grass roots that can save the day and end the war. Esienberg asked people to involve themselves in the peace movement, to join protests against the war and to continue pressure on Congress which will soon be asked for even more money to continue that war. Only that can help bring a quick end to the war in Afghanistan she said.

To get active visit the Brooklyn For Peace Website. or write to info@brooklynpeace.org

Brooklyn Hears From The Gaza Freedom Marchers

Jan 14, 2010

Brooklyn For Peace sponsored a report back from the recent Gaza Freedom March which brought some 1400 people from around the world to Cairo at the beginning of this year. Their intention was to enter Gaza through Egypt, thereby expressing their solidarity and to draw the world's attention to the continuing Israeli siege of Gaza. That blockade, implemented by Israel in 2007, has resulted in the most dire conditions for the Palestinian population who are suffering joblessness, malnutrition, poverty and extreme deprivation. Israel, which launched a widely-condemned war a year ago, has continued its hostility by intensifying the blockade and sealing off the besieged country, restricting supplies, food and medicine and preventing access, in and out. Palestinians have, in effect, become prisoners in their own land.

Some 60 Brooklyn residents came to the Brooklyn Friends Meeting House in downtown Brooklyn to hear from some of the marchers who recently returned. Besides Brooklyn For Peace, the meeting was also sponsored by Jewish Voice for Peace and the Peace and Social Action Committee of the Brooklyn Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). Of the 1400 internationals, twelve people from Brooklyn marched in Cairo and two of those were Brooklyn For Peace members. The meeting was organized by BFP's Israel/Palestine Committee which has led the way in the borough of forthrightly raising the question of justice and freedom for Palestine along with security and peace for all people both Israeli and Palestinians. That can be achieved, they say, by negotiating an end to the circle of violence perpetuated, first and foremost, by Israeli policies of occupation and expansion.

A large crowd packed into the Brooklyn Friends Meeting House in downtown Brooklyn to hear the Freedom Marchers report-back.

Naomi Allen, of Brooklyn For Peace's Israel Palestine Committee, welcomes people to the event.

First to speak was Ted Auerbach, a member of Brooklyn For Peace. He presented a slide show and narrated photos showing the event in Cairo including protest demonstrations, a hunger strike by several dozen of the marchers and the unprovoked violence unleashed by the Egyptian authorities against the marchers. He said that one impressive aspect of the march was the tremendous support shown by average Egyptian citizens as they passed the marchers in the streets of Cairo. He was also impressed by the militancy of the various national delegations but particularly the spirit shown by the French and the South African delegations.

Ted Auerbach, who marched in Cairo, gave a report and slide show.

Ted narrated a slide show with pictures from Cairo. The connivance of the Egyptian government and police prevented the marches from entering Gaza.

Another speaker, David Letwin, summarized the Cairo Declaration, a statement of principles written by the marchers that chart some goals in the months and years ahead, including boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) of Israeli products and companies. This is increasingly raised by international activists as necessary to expose the nature of Israeli occupation and oppression of the Palestinians. Analogous to the international struggle against the South African apartheid regime, BDS was a potent tool that raised awareness throughout the world of the necessity to finally end the evil apartheid regime in South Africa.

David Letwin reported on the Cairo Declaration, a document that summarized the demands of the Gaza Freedom Marchers.

Finally, well-known activist and founder of the International Solidarity Movement, Adam Shapiro, appealed to the assembly to carry on exposing the tragedy of Israel's siege of Gaza to let the world know the truth of what is happening there, the result of the blockade that has led to dire conditions among the civilian population of the besieged country.

Adam Shapiro urged the assembly to carry on the struggle in order to keep alive the issue of Israel's starvation siege of Gaza.

A lively question and answer period followed the speakers. Some cautioned on the need to avoid sectarian jargon and demands and to pursue a broad approach to Mid East problems. Without that approach, it was pointed out, U.S. progressives will be unable to move large sections of the American people, let alone the Jewish community, to demand new, more even-handed policies from our government that can put the peace process back on track to finally end the occupation and win a just peace.

Goodbye Health Care. Goodbye Jobs. Goodbye Decent Schools. Hello War.

Nov 30, 2009

Tomorrow night, President Obama will address our country. It is said he will announce a large escalation of the war on Afghanistan. I've written the following letter to the President, a man I worked hard to elect and who I believe had and has the potential to turn our country around and head it in a progressive direction.

But he can't do that while pushing a wider war in Afghanistan. This is the most perilous moment of his young Presidency. Much is at stake. It's up to all of us to loudly and forthrightly protest this decision and point out the fallacy of escalating this war - not to save Barack Obama. But to save our country and save our world. By pursuing war, Obama will be following in the tragic footsteps of Lyndon Johnson who found that his Great Society programs were drowned in the blood of Vietnam. President Obama, by pursuing this war, will be dooming any chance of enacting his progressive agenda. He'll also be guaranteeing a return to the White House of the most extreme right wing forces in our country. And that spells disaster for our people, for our democracy and for all the world's people.

The time to act is now - write the President now: Click here to send your own message to President Obama - a message demanding peace not war in Afghanistan.

Here's the letter I sent -- Matt

===
Dear President Obama,

I write with a heavy heart. News reports say you’ve caved in to the Pentagon war hawks and agreed with their demand to send more young people to kill and be killed on a fool's errand - attempting to occupy and subdue Afghanistan.

This policy is bound to fail. Despite your portrayal that this is the beginning of the end of that 8-year war - nothing can hide the fact that this is an escalation. History shows escalation is a slippery slope. This year, 35,000 troops. Next year, the generals will say "if you only give us some more - there's light at the end of the tunnel". And on until the end when thousands upon thousands will have perished and trillions of dollars wasted but with no other accomplishment in hand.

While our economy falls apart; while our citizens lose homes and jobs; while our American dream of a dignified life evaporates - at that very moment when you decide to send more troops to Afghanistan, you will be shutting the door on any solution to those problems. It will take 40 to 50 billion dollars a year of our national treasure already diverted from solving urgent problems during eight years of Bush's wars. Can it be that Barack Obama, elected by millions who believed that he would extricate us from the reckless path of war pursued by Bush and Cheney is now choosing to continue those same destructive policies?

Please, don't betray the millions who voted for you. Bring all our troops home NOW, safe and alive. Use the money being squandered on war, death and destruction to reclaim the American dream that has been stolen from our people. Use the money to help the people of Afghanistan rebuild their war-torn country - it is only that policy which can defeat the terrorists. By waging a war there, you will be doing the opposite! Our country will not be safer as you claim but more endangered. The war will increase hatred of our country throughout the world and drive more innocent victims of drone attacks and of destructive American military action directly into the hands of al Qeyda and other extremists.

We the people need health care - not warfare! We need decent jobs not bombs! We need affordable housing and decent schools, not endless wars. Please do the right thing - Reject the advice of the Pentagon generals who always see war as the answer. Side with the people who voted for you - they yearn for peace and are opposed to sending more of our young people to Afghanistan.

Thank you.

MATTHEW WEINSTEIN
Brooklyn NY

Two Things You Can Do To Help STOP These Wars

1Oct 13, 2009

It seems like yesterday that folks were gathering in cities throughout the U.S. - marking the anniversary of five years of war in Iraq. (see my post from that event. But that was already a year-and-a-half ago. Here we are still engaged there - still losing soldiers, still occupying a country that never did anything to harm our country or our people. Here we are, six-and-a-half years later and five million Iraqi refugees later - not to mention tens and hundreds of thousands dead and a country divided and utterly destroyed. Like the song says - "War ... What is it good for? Absolutely nothing! Say it again!

Listen to Joan Osborne sing War!

Last week we marked another gruesome anniversary - eight years of war in Afghanistan. In response to the horrific attack on the World Trade Center, Bush decided to punish the Afghan people by invading and occupying that country. Tens of thousands of U.S. troops were sent to capture and punish several hundred terrorists, hiding out in the hinterlands. Never mind that, in eight years, the villains have never been found or caught ... Bush had bigger fish to fry in Iraq, a country that had nothing to do with 911 but that did have the world's 2nd largest oil reserves!

Mission Accomplished!

January, 2009 - enter a new President who inherited the Boy Wonder's stupendous mess created in eight years of hideous aggression, malfeasance and ineptitude. Obama would end the war in Iraq, he promised, and bring the troops home - hopefully this will be done and soon - yet to this day a full complement of U.S. troops remain in Iraq. On Afghanistan, Barack Obama painted himself into a corner from which he's now finding it hard to extricate himself. Declaring Afghanistan the "right war" (is there such a thing?) and trying to prove that Democrats could indeed be "strong" on national security, he vowed to conduct that war in a "smarter" way than Bush had done in Iraq. Well, truth be told, smart would be not succumbing to the war hawks and war profiteers in the Pentagon, the war corporations and the Right. Giving in to that crowd would not be smart but really, really dumb! Just ask Linden Johnson whose Great Society drowned, submerged by the Vietnam war.


Afghanistan is a morass in the making. Alexander the Great, the British and the Russians can tell you something about that. They failed miserably, with endless suffering to all involved, to occupy and dominate this aptly-named Graveyard of the Empires. The point? - that there is no military victory to be had in Afghanistan. Just more and more misery and death and destruction for the Afghani people. More young American lives to be cut short. More of our national treasure squandered while urgent problems at home go unattended. Isn't it amazing that the conservatives in both parties can wring their hands and rail about the unaffordable and extravagant expense of health care for our citizens? But, mind you, not an utterance from these same penny-pinching blowhards on, what Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel prize recipient and Professor of Economics at Columbia, calls the three trillion dollar wars!

Our President has also been given a Nobel prize -- for peace!
We ought to dismiss outright the mad rantings emanating from the bowels of the insane Right regarding that award and congratulate the President, but also congratulate ourselves for electing him in November of last year and putting an end to eight years of extremist damage and destruction brought to us by Cheney and Bush. But let us also realize, as did the Nobel committee so wisely understand, that peace has not yet been achieved and it will be up to the American people, once again, to demand the fulfillment of the promise that was made. And, yes, even though he said that Afghanistan was the "right" war, I believe that the President is having serious second thoughts about proceeding in the direction that the Pentagon generals have demanded. This is not a dumb President after all (unlike his predecessor) - he is well read and knows, full well, what escalation in Afghanistan portends for his Presidency, not to mention for the progressive goals that he enunciated during his campaign. He will need all the support that we can muster to push him and support him when he stands up to the warmongers. The cacophonous bellowing that will emanate from these war boosters, should Obama back away from pursuing an elusive military victory (whatever "victory" means), will be vicious, strident and unending. But we must remember one thing - They lost! We won! There's no reason to be depressed or defeatist. Let's stand up, as the majority that we are, and demand peace and the benefits of peace. That was what that election was all about - let's remember that and act on it.


Here are two events (I guess you were wondering when I would get back to that) taking place this week that can help build the demand for peace right here in little old Brooklyn. Both are being sponsored by my favorite organization, Brooklyn For Peace.

If you're in Brooklyn, please come out and join in.

But if you can't make it, consider making a generous donation to Brooklyn For Peace as it celebrates its 25 year anniversary. You can contribute easily online right here.
Twenty-five years of working for peace -- now that's an accomplishment you can believe in! Your donations will help support another 25 years - and we're gonna need a strong peace movment in the years ahead!

Thursday, October 15, 4:30 to 6:00 pm,
Brooklyn Borough Hall
(Joralemon St., between Court St. and Boerum Pl.)

Protest Vigil:
Mark the 8th Anniversary of War in Afghanistan
and demand an end to the war NOW!



Sunday, October 18, 8:00 pm to 2:00 am
Concert - Brooklyn Get Radical!
at Public Assembly - 70 N 6 Street, Williamsburg

• Music - Hip Hop and other genres
• Spoken Word
• This will be for all ages - youth and older! This event will rock you and roll you and will raise much needed funds for Brooklyn For Peace, celebrating its 25th anniversary.
• You can order tickets online: Order Here,

A Wonderful Place To Pedal

Oct 13, 2009

"When the spirits are low,
when the day appears dark,
when work becomes monotonous,
when hope hardly seems worth having,
just mount a bicycle
and go out for a spin down the road,
without thought on anything
but the ride you are taking."

- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1896

Sir Arthur knew of what he talked. And yesterday, a crisp, cool autumn day, was a perfect time to cast the monotonous aside and go for a bike ride in the Harlem Valley, upstate New York. So Stacey and I, our neighbor Diane and her friend Chi piled into our car along with four bikes and headed north.

About a hundred miles from the city (and three hours later - it seems many other people in many other cars had the same idea) we arrived in Wassaic, New York, a tiny hamlet that sits to the side of Route 22, just west of the Connecticut border. Here was the southern terminus of a bike path that has been constructed, in sections one by one, on what used to be bed of the New York and Harlem Railroad; so-called because that rail line, in its inception, once connected lower Manhattan (the city) to what was once the remote upscale suburb of Harlem. Then in the 1840s, construction began to extend that line,first to Westchester, then further north to the upstate towns of Wassaic, Amenia, Millerton and so on; towns that lined a narrow valley, later called the Harlem Valley, filled with productive dairy farms. The railroad would bring the milk from the farms to the growing metropolis to the south.

A few years later, one Noah Gridley, a local businessman, convinced his friend, Gail Borden, to bring his condensed milk factory to Wassaic. He described the area's good access to transportation and the plentiful dairy farms, perfect for his business. In those days, before refrigeration, Borden's new condensed milk in a can meant that the product could be stored for long periods of time without worry about spoilage. Borden got rich selling his milk to the Union army during the civil war. Of course Borden is a brand well known to this day.

An historic marker in Wassaic Park has illustrations from the original Borden products.
>> Note - click on any picture to see it larger. <<

Stacey, Diane and Chi - munching on sandwiches in front of the old Borden factory.

Before our bike ride we picnicked in a little park in Wassaic. Stacey packs up before we set off to ride.

We had started out for the trail very late in the day. That, plus the usual traffic, caused us to arrive around 3 o'clock. So our ride, which could have gone on for hours, was shortened to just an hour. We wanted to press on, but the temperature was dropping, the shadows lengthening and a dinner date back in Brooklyn beckoned. It was a long way to drive for such a short ride. But we all agreed that it had been worth it - the beauty of the area, the fall colors, the crisp, fresh air - made us feel that the trip was worthwhile.

Diane examines at a trail sign.

To see ALL the photos from our bike ride,

CLICK HERE FOR THE ALBUM or

CLICK HERE FOR A SLIDE SHOW.

Patterson Annointed Gillibrand ... But Now We Have A Real Choice - Jonathan Tasini!

Jonathan Tasini for U.S. Senate in 2010.
Click photo for a larger view.

Sep 28, 2009

We had an interesting gathering at our house last Tuesday night. Some 22 folks gathered for a fundraiser and meet and greet. The object of our interest was Jonathan Tasini, an advocate for labor's rights, single-payer health care (aka Medicare for all), gender equality and peace in the Middle East. Tasini, you might remember, challenged a hawkish Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary when she ran for U.S. Senate from New York. He was the only one to call her on her unbending support for Bush's war on Iraq. It wasn't until she ran for President that she began to read the handwriting on the wall and shifted her position - still never apologizing (as many other Senators finally did) for her initial vote giving Bush permission to launch that hideous aggression against an innocent people. She was quoted then that voting for the war was one of the hardest decisions of her political career. But I wrote back to Clinton because I believed she had it backwards --

"Quite frankly, it was probably the easiest because you cast principle and honesty aside in favor of opportunism and cheap politics. It’s difficult to stand on principle in the face of pressure from the opposition. It’s easy to cave in to that pressure from the media and the warmongers."

Interestingly, in the debate taking place now inside the Obama administration over expanding our latest endless war (in Afghanistan) Clinton, true to her self, is reportedly on the side favoring escalation. Some people never learn. But back to Jonathan Tasini.

Brooklyn folks turn out for a fundraiser at our house last Tuesday.
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When voters increasingly started to understand the true nature of the Bush regime they began to punish the Republican party by defeating long-standing incumbents in Congress. This was the 2006 election and that vote presaged the coming victory of Barack Obama and a Democratic majority in Congress two years later. Kirsten Gillibrand was one of those candidates, elected in 2006 in upstate New York's 20th congressional district. She was propelled into office, defeating right-wing Republican incumbent John Sweeney, a veteran of four terms in the House. on what had become a broad wave of disgust with the Bush policies, even among many Republican and increasing popular opposition to the war in Iraq as well as anger stemming from a deteriorating economy.

But despite her victory over right-winger Sweeney, Gillibrand is no liberal --

• The daughter of a politically connected father, a lobbyist with strong ties to powerful Republicans, she was a member of the blue dog coalition of conservative Democratas during her tenure in the House. (Yes, those are the same bloc of right-wind Dems who, along with Republicans, are preventing the American people from obtaining real health care reform).
• A strong supporter of gun-rights, she has the backing of the gun lobby and received a 100% rating from the National Rifle Association.
• In the late 90's, working as an attorney for the firm of at Davis Polk and Wardwell, she represented Phillip Morris and was involved in major litigation battles brought against the tobacco industry in civil lawsuits and by FBI probes of criminal activity. She has accepted contributions from that pernicious industry, money that many Democrats refuse.
• On immigration issues, Gillibrand has had a distinctly conservative position, opposing the granting of amnesty to undocumented immigrants and supporting English as the official language of the United States.

For all these reasons and more, many New Yorkers expressed anger, shock and dismay when Governor Patterson, himself an unelected official, appointed Gillibrand to fill Hillary Clinton's vacated Senate seat. They believed she was decidedly not representative of mainstream values throughout the state. Patterson has become increasingly unpopular with New York's voters not only for his appointment of Gillibrand but also for other conservative leanings: when faced with huge state deficits, he posited that a fair tax program - that is, letting the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes - would not be on his agenda. He would opt, instead, for a Republican style program of cutbacks and layoffs.

The election for U.S. Senator is in 2010 and the pressure is on, led by New York's other Senator, Charles Schumer (aka "the senator from Wall Street" for his close ties to the banking and financial industry), to continue with the coronation of Gillibrand by the state's ruling elite. One by one, Democrats who thought about challenging the appointment with a primary run in 2010 have dropped by the wayside. Jonathan Tasini, not part of that party apparatus, is the exception. A dyed-in-the-wool progressive, Tasini comes out of the labor movement and takes strong positions in favor of the Employee Free Choice Act which would finally level the playing field for workers trying to organize against the wishes of multi-national corporations with unlimited deep pockets to fight unionization.

He calls for democracy to be realized, not merely in platitudes, but in the very real world around us, particularly in the economy where it's "time for the people to make the rules." Tasini says "We’ve let corporations set the rules for too long-—and they’ve been helped by politicians, in both major political parties, who put special interests ahead of the interests of Main Street" and working people.

In the Middle East, an issue that has politicians tripping over each other in their eagerness to express fealty to Israel without regard for right or wrong, Tasini stands almost alone, and unequivocally "supports the creation of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and all of the Gaza Strip, consequently ending Israeli occupation of these areas because such a solution is the only way to ensure Israeli security. The current situation in Gaza is intolerable and unconscionable" he states. With a nod to justice for all who inhabit the region, Muslims, Jews and Christians, he says, "The final peace settlement has to accommodate Israel’s security requirements but it also has to ensure a viable, thriving, independent Palestinian State which has territorial contiguity and is not broken into cantons."

And so on. On every issue of concern to progressives, I believe you will find Tasini to be a candidate worthy of support with strong principled and progressive positions. He'll make a great United States Senator and he will inject issues into next year's campaign that must be raised but that won't be raised in his absence.

Can he win? Tasini says he can! And, after hearing him speak, I believe it. But at the very least he'll give Gillibrand a damned good fight to the finish and speak out on the issues we want discussed. The only obstacle will be, as always, money. Which is why we had folks over last week and raised over a thousand dollars for Jonathan's campaign. We'll need thousands of dollars more to guarantee the people of New York state are given an opportunity to vote next year for a candidate who truly represents their best interests and not those of the corporations that have wreaked such terrible damage to our economy, our state, our country and our world.

You can check out Jonathan Tasini's website where you can learn more about the man and his positions and where you can make a generous contribution. These are terrible times but they are also times of great promise and potential for progressive change. The Tasini campaign for U.S. senate is about making that promise come true.

Go to www.jonathantasini.com for more information or to contribute. Thanks.

Brooklyn Says NO to Ratner and his Atlantic Yards. Again.

Jul 29, 2009

To chants of "Hey, Hey! Ho, Ho! Atlantic Yards has got to go!" hundreds of Brookllynites jammed the street in front of Kilgord Auditorium of the NYC Technical College. The school was the scene of hearings called by the state's Empire State Development Corporation which has overseen this land-grabbing boondoggle - a scandal of enormous proportions. The project, which would have built enormous sky-scraping, sun-blocking luxury high-rise buildings over the Long Island Railroad tracks, was funded with a no-bid lowball air rights giveaway from the MTA and huge tax breaks from the city and state. Never mind the impact on the surrounding low-rise and historic brownstone communities. Never mind the destructive effect that would drive rents up and working class and less affluent populations out of their homes and neighborhoods. Only mind the huge profits that could be gotten by building Bruce Ratner's vision of what he thought Brooklyn should look like.

But now that the economic bubble has burst, the Ratner project has fallen on hard times. First to be ditched was the so-called affordable housing components and a large number of the proposed residential buildings. After that, Ratner gave a pink slip to his star showcase architect, Frank Gehry -- he's way too expensive now. We're left with a plan that has as its star attraction, the Nets Stadium at the corner of Atlantic and Flatbush Avenues. But with Gehry's departure the rendering looks more like a gym for a community college in a small town rather than the flashy design once proposed. On top of this, Ratner demands that taxpayers should give him even more breaks and the MTA should give him an even more lenient and favorable contract on the air rights. Only an arrogant billionaire would have the chutzpah to make such demands. The question is will the politicians, the Mayor and the Governor, who have been so willing to accommodate this scandalous land grab, continue to play ball with Ratner or finally listen to the people and end this sham deal once and for all? Time will tell. Our voices can help them decide.

What's going on - monster high-rises in Downtown Brooklyn - dwarfing everything in sight, blocking sky and sun, congesting the streets to an even greater extent. This is our spineless and corrupt political leaders' vision of "progress" and of Brooklyn's future.

This is what it's all about. Save our communities ... from avaricious developers.

A large and spirited crowd of Brooklynites marched outside the ESDC hearings to demand an end to the Ratner Atlantic Yards scandal.

Daniel Goldstein of Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn, flanked by fighting NYC Council Member Letitia "Tish" James.

To loud approval from the crowd, Council Member Letitia "Tish" James gave a rousing speech and demanded that the Mayor put an end to the shameful Atlantic Yards project.

To see all my photos from today's protest just CLICK here for a PHOTO GALLERY.
Or CLICK here for a SLIDE SHOW