.
Hope everyone is enjoying the sudden, summer weather. (And, being careful for ozone alerts.)
Wanna see the boats?
Filed under: local, long island, personal, Photos | Tagged: 2012, Beach, summer | 1 Comment »
June 2012: LI School Budget Re-Vote results
Posted on June 20, 2012 by kwilder
Long Island School Budget Vote story at Long Island Press: here.
All of the nine school budgets on Long Island which were put up for a re-vote on June 19th passed.
These include (in alphabetical order): Read more »
Filed under: Education, local, long island, News | Tagged: Elmont School budget, Elmont School District, Long Island school budgets, Long Island schools, Nassau County school budgets, Suffolk County politics, Suffolk County school budgets, Suffolk County schools | Leave a Comment »
NYCLU: NYPD Stop-and-Frisk Panel is PR, Not Reform
Posted on June 20, 2012 by iwilder
Opponents of the New York Police Department’s controversial ‘stop-and-frisk’
In a story in The Wall Street Journal, the New York City Police Department (NYPD) has announced the creation of an advisory panel with 12 hand-picked representatives from the community as its response to the groundswell of opposition that has emerged against the Department’s unlawful and discriminatory stop-and-frisk program, a move dismissed by the leadership of the New York Civil Liberties Union.
“The out of control stop-and-frisk program demands a major overhaul, not a PR campaign. And the NYPD needs an Inspector General to ensure independent oversight and accountability, not a cherry-picked community panel,” said NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman. “The police commissioner has sworn complaints in four major class-action lawsuits in front of him and a scathing decision by a federal judge just a few weeks ago. The facts are out there. What’s missing are the reforms.”
In response to discriminatory policing practices like the abuse of stop-and-frisk, the NYCLU and our allies in Communities United for Police Reform are working to pass the Community Safety Act, a series of City Council bills that would… Read more »
Filed under: Action Alert!, activism, new york, New York State Politics, News, social & economic justice | Tagged: Frisk, Inspector General, New York City Police Department, New York Civil Liberties Union, NYPD, Wall Street Journal | 1 Comment »
Book review: What’s in your Occupy Handbook?
Posted on June 19, 2012 by iwilder
Full Book Review of The Occupy Handbook at Peace Couple
A few months ago, Peace Couple was queried about receiving a free review copy of The Occupy Handbook (2012, Back Bay Books). We received it a few weeks ago.
Over at our Peace Couple website, Ian wrote up his thoughts on the book, including what is in it, and what was left out. He also posted a complete list of the contributors (which include: Chris Hedges, Paul Krugman, Amy Goodman, and dozens of others).
An excerpt from Ian Wilder’s review:
The Occupy Handbook…is heavily tilted toward economic issues (and covers them well), but the book barely acknowledges the democracy, social justice, antiwar, and environmental issues that have been raised by the Occupy movement. That is why it would be important to include the fruit of consensus process such as Occupy Wall Street’s One Demand and the Declaration of the Occupation of New York City which contain a much broader vision of a better world than simply economic reform.
Read the rest of the review at: Peace Couple
Filed under: activism, Anti-War, Books, Corporations, grassroots democracy, News, Occupy Wall Street, progressive politics, social & economic justice, US Politics | Tagged: Adbusters, arab spring, Book review, book reviews, Gene Sharp, ian wilder, Naomi Klein, new york city, occupy, Occupy Handbook, Occupy Wall Street, review of Occupy Handbook | Leave a Comment »
The Folk-Groovin’ Café Summerfest I 7/8/12
Posted on June 16, 2012 by iwilder
A Backyard Folk-Fest of Epic Proportions!
SUNDAY, July 8th 3:00–8:00PM
Hosted by
JIM FRAZZITTA, a.k.a. “The Midnight Busker”
Featuring
BOB WESTCOTT
Filed under: Calendar, events, ian wilder, local, long island, Long Island Music, long island music scene, music, News, open mic | Tagged: Greenlawn New York, jim frazzitta, Marci Geller, open mike, Summerfest | 1 Comment »
Fair trade, organic bakery in Patchogue
Posted on June 15, 2012 by iwilder
Queen City Cupcakes in Patchogue, NY sells fair trade and organic baked good. Read more »
Filed under: Ecology, Food, green, local, long island, News, Organics | Leave a Comment »
Is this really funny? (Drones and UFO’s)
Posted on June 15, 2012 by kwilder
Some folks in the government and news media think that we are foolish: “Heee Haw, the American people thought this thing we were transporting under cover of darkness was a UFO…But, it was only a drone!” The headlines read: “Military drone mistaken for UFO along Washington highways“.
Well, I’m not laughing. Some people thought we were transporting an unidentified, flying, object, which could be a mystery from space, or signs of other life. Instead, our government was transporting an unmanned spacecraft, designed to kill people overseas, but currently in danger of killing (and spying on) the American people in their own backyards.
______________________________________________
Some thoughts and video on drones from Syracuse Peace Council can be found here: http://www.peacecouncil.net/drones/index.htm
An article about the recent “lucky” crash of a drone in Maryland. (Should we be sending secret, dangerous, and unmanned weapons floating around our air space and that of other countries?)
Filed under: Anti-War, News, Peace, progressive politics, public health, safety, US Politics, war | Tagged: Did someone snap a photo of a UFO?, Drone not UFO, drones, It's not a UFO, military drones, UFO, UFO photo, Unidentified flying object, unmanned aircraft | 1 Comment »
Family of Selden man killed by police files lawsuit and receives press attention in Newsday
Posted on June 14, 2012 by kwilder
Kevin Callahan
Background story at onthewilderside: here.
Join the Stand Up for Kevin FaceBook page: here.
(excerpt) from Newsday
Kin to file suit vs. cops in fatal shooting
June 13, 2012
The family of a Selden man killed by police last year will file a federal lawsuit against the Suffolk County Police Department Thursday, alleging officers used excessive force after illegally entering his home.
Kevin Callahan, 26, was fatally shot in his home on Sept. 20 after police responded to a call of a man with a gun. [Kevin did not, in fact, have a gun.]
The family’s attorney, Bruce Barket, of Garden City, will announce Thursday the filing of a wrongful-death suit in U.S. District Court in Central Islip.
The family said they had called police because they were worried about Callahan, who had been acting erratically on the phone with his mother. Read more »
Filed under: local, long island, Long Island news, Long Island Politics, New York State Politics, News, progressive politics, suffolk, suffolk county | Tagged: Arthur Thomas, Criminal Justice, Kevin Callahan, Long Island justice issues, Long Island peace and justice, Long Island police, Police Abuse, Riverhead Jail, SCPD, Selden news, Suffolk County news, Suffolk County Police, Suffolk County Police Department, Suffolk County politics, wrongful death | Leave a Comment »
Silent protest to end “stop and frisk”
Posted on June 12, 2012 by kwilder
Father’s Day is a wonderful day to stand up for ourselves and our neighbors. Hope you will consider going to this historic event. And, think about bringing your father along!
Silent March To End Stop and Frisk
Sunday, June 17th at 3pm in New York City
(with buses from Long Island)
The website for this march is at:
www.silentmarchnyc.org
This march has been supported by many of the groups we follow: NYCLU, NAACP, UFPJ, etc.
For buses from Long Island, contact the Eastern Long Island NAACP at: elibnaacp AT aol DOT com
Details and info from a UFPJ e-mail:
Next Sunday, June 17th, tens of thousands of New Yorkers will march down Fifth Ave. demanding an end to stop and frisk. Read more »
Filed under: Action Alert!, activism, local, Long Island Politics, New York State Politics, News, progressive politics, social & economic justice, US Politics | Tagged: civil rights, Demonstrations, FriskSunday, Human Rights, Long Island activism, Long Island NAACP, Long Island Politics, New York Civil Liberties Union, NYC Police, NYC politics, NYCLU, NYPD, Police Abuse, protests, stop and frisk, unfair stop and frisk | Leave a Comment »
Ending the culture of Corporate Personhood
Posted on June 8, 2012 by iwilder
What do we need to do to end corporate personhood?
I realized last night that to pass a constitutional amendment to end corporate personhood, we must do more than just aim for passing a constitutional amendment. We must remove the culture of corporate personhood that has taken over our society.
I attended the the key note speech of the “How Class Works” conference last night. The speaker was Jeffrey Clements, the author of Corporations Are Not People: Why They Have More Rights Than You Do and What You Can Do about It. The focus of his speech was overturning the Citizens United decision by passing a 28th amendment to the US Constitution. The amendment would end corporate personhood by defining persons as human beings only, not artificial entities. It would also state that money is not speech. Mr. Clements has been one of the major organizers of this national movement.
After hearing Mr. Clements speak, it is not clear that he understands how much the concept of corporate personhood pervades our culture. I believe that to end the myth that corporations are people, we must work to change our entire culture’s view. It is not enough to just work for the legalistic solution of a constitutional amendment. If it is constantly reinforced by cultural forces that corporate personhood is the norm, then it will make the passing of a constitutional amendment an impossibility.
While listening to Clements deliver his keynote speech, I ruminated about a few suggestions about how to end cultural acceptance of corporate personhood: Read more »
Filed under: Action Alert!, activism, Books, campaign finance reform, Corporations, News, politics, US Politics | Tagged: Citizens United, Constitutional amendment, corporate personhood, Supreme Court of the United States, US Constitution | 1 Comment »
Stop NYPD Stop and Frisk? NYCLU has a App for That
Posted on June 7, 2012 by iwilder
NYCLU Releases “Stop and Frisk Watch” Phone App to Fight Back Against NYPD Stops
The New York Civil Liberties Union today unveiled “Stop and Frisk Watch” – a free and innovative smart phone application that will empower New Yorkers to monitor police activity and hold the NYPD accountable for unlawful stop-and-frisk encounters and other police misconduct.
“I am encouraged by the technology that the NYCLU has created to protect the young people who are being targeted by the NYPD,” said hip hop mogul Russell Simmons. “I hope that all of the recent events will create enough awareness that the general public will force the city to end the abuse of stop-and-frisk in its entirety.”
Last year, the NYPD stopped and interrogated people 685,724 times, a more than 600 percent increase in street stops since Mayor Bloomberg’s first year in office when there were only 97,296 stops. Nine out of 10 of people stopped were innocent, meaning they were neither arrested nor ticketed. About 87 percent were black or Latino.
An NYCLU analysis showed that black and Latino males between the ages of 14 and 24 accounted for 41.6 percent of stops in 2011, though they make up only 4.7 percent of the city’s population. The number of stops of young black men exceeded the city’s entire population of young black men. Read more »
Filed under: Action Alert!, activism, new york, New York State Politics, News, nonviolence, Occupy Wall Street, US Politics | Tagged: Bloomberg, Civil Liberties, New York City Police Department, New York Civil Liberties Union, NYCLU, NYPD, police, stop and frisk, Unlawful | Leave a Comment »
Prez cand Stein (G): Wisconsin betrayed by Silencing of Democracy Movement
Posted on June 6, 2012 by iwilder
Dr. Jill Stein
Jill Stein , the victor in the Green Party presidential primaries, this morning issued the following statement about yesterday’s recall elections in Wisconsin:
“For over a year now, the working people of Wisconsin have been under siege by the fossil fuel, mining, and toxic chemical corporations. Yesterday’s recall election was deeply flawed. Thousands of qualified voters were turned away from their polling places. Thousands more were told not to vote, or that election day was yet to come. The corporate media declared the election results while voters still stood in line to vote, and at a time when only the most conservative ward results were reported. Many votes were cast on electronic voting machines that are easy to manipulate because they lack a paper trail. And nearly all of the money spent in the election came from out-of-state big corporate interests. If an election like that is free and fair, then I have a nuke plant in Vermont to sell you.”
“My national campaign headquarters is on the Capitol Square in Madison. I have visited Wisconsin repeatedly this past year, marched with Wisconsinites, sang with the Solidarity Singers, and circulated recall petitions. Next week, I will speak at the Midwest Renewable Energy Fair near Amherst, Wisconsin. I am committed to Wisconsin’s struggle for democracy and self-determination.” Read more »
Filed under: 3rd party, Action Alert!, activism, campaign finance reform, Election 2012, grassroots democracy, Green Party, independent politics, News, politics, US Politics | Tagged: Green Party, Jill Stein, Madison, president, Recall election, Scott Walker, wisconsin | 1 Comment »
Ray Bradbury dies at age 91
Posted on June 6, 2012 by kwilder
Ray Bradbury, author and science fiction legend, has died at age 91. Story at Reuters: here. Onthewilderside’s Ian Wilder comments that Ray Bradbury was a visionary, like HG Wells.
I, too, have great feelings of admiration for Ray Bradbury, because I was so inspired by his short stories in The Illustrated Man.
In addition, The Walt Whitman Birthplace Association, where I enjoy spending time, previously gave Ray Bradbury an award. In 2010, the WWBA named Ray Bradbury a “Champion of Literacy”. Ray Bradbury admired Walt Whitman, having titled one of his collections I Sing the Body Electric.
Upon hearing the sad news of Ray Bradbury’s death, I was gratified to find the touching video below. It shows that Ray Bradbury did understand how valued his life and work are, and he knew there was a chance that his writing would help him to live forever.
Video: Ray Bradbury meets Mr. Electrico
Filed under: Art, News | Tagged: Books, literary news, Ray Bradbury, Ray Bradbury video, Science Fiction, Science Fiction News, Walt Whitman, WWBA | Leave a Comment »