Posted by Ellis
on August 14, 2010 at 12:40 pm
Long Island’s bigot-in-chief, Rep. Peter King, R-Seaford, once again stuck his foot in his mouth by saying that by supporting the Cordoba Center, a Muslim cultural center and mosque two blocks from Ground Zero President Obama “caved into political correctness.”
“It is insensitive and uncaring for the Muslim community to build a mosque in the shadow of ground zero,” King said in a statement. “While the Muslim community has the right to build the mosque, they are abusing that right by needlessly offending so many people who have suffered so much.…Unfortunately the president caved into political correctness.”
President Obama is merely upholding the oath he took to “preserve, protect and defend” the constitution, which includes freedom of religion. In other words, he is merely doing his job. That much was acknowledged this morning on “Fox & Friends.” His action isn’t going to help him politically, given that surveys show as many as 68 percent of Americans oppose the mosque.
Mr. King took a similar oath, yet instead of leadership, he resorts to demogoguery, being the “go-to guy” for media types looking for a politician to disagree with the President. Disappointing, but expected.
There is no question that many people who lost loved ones in the destruction of the World Trade Center on 9/11 are upset that there are plans for a Muslim center so close to Ground Zero. Those feelings should be acknowledge, but it would be a far greater travesty to defile the Constitution in their name.
Posted in Articles.
Posted by Marvin
on August 12, 2010 at 11:38 am
If the new trustees report gets examined wisely and responsibly, it should put an end to all the current talk about raising the retirement age or cutting benefits. Social Security doesn’t contribute a dime to the federal deficit, and in these days of market stagnation and cutbacks in pensions, it has never been more important to millions of Americans. — Michael Hiltzik
Read the full OpEd here: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-hiltzik-20100808,0,1359956.column
Posted in Articles.
Tagged with Economy, Social Security.
Posted by YWC!LI
on August 11, 2010 at 3:00 pm
The following is an email message received from Craig Johnson regarding tonight’s Nassau County Aerial Spraying for West Nile.
Dear Friends,
I’ve been alerted by the Nassau County Department of Health that last night’s planned ground spraying to prevent the spread of the West Nile Virus will be continuing TONIGHT, from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. in sections of Port Washington, Sands Point, Plandome, Plandome Manor, Plandome Heights, Manhasset, Munsey Park and Flower Hill. Additionally, aerial spraying will be occurring TONIGHT and TOMORROW NIGHT from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. throughout the entire county between Northern Boulevard and the Southern State Parkway. Based on weather conditions, this spraying may continue into next week. A map showing all areas to be sprayed can be found here.
My office has been advised that county workers and planes will be spraying low concentrations of the chemical resmethrin in order to control mosquitoes that may be carrying the West Nile virus. Resmethrin is a pesticide that can be found in other commonly used pesticide products.
These steps are being taken amid an unusually high number of mosquito pools that have recently tested positive for West Nile in Nassau County.
While the sprayings are taking place, county officials are recommending that:
Individuals, especially pregnant women and children, should remain indoors during the spraying and for approximately 30 minutes afterwards.
Windows and doors should be kept shut, window fans turned off, and air conditioners be set to re-circulate if they are able.
Children’s toys be kept indoors.
Any direct exposure to skin, eyes or clothes be immediately rinsed off with water. Consult your healthcare provider with any additional concerns.
Garden fruits and vegetables that may be consumed within the next few days be picked and washed thoroughly.
Pets, as well as their food, water dishes and toys be kept indoors.
Fish ponds be covered.
Since the effects dissipate within a few hours, it is not necessary to wash off outdoor furniture or playground equipment.
If you have any further questions, Nassau County has set up an information hotline that will be active until midnight tonight. Call 1-888-844-8657, or go to www.nassaucountyny.gov/agencies/health.
Sincerely,
Craig Johnson
Posted in Articles, Long Island.
Tagged with Environment, Long Island.
Posted by Marvin
on August 10, 2010 at 7:30 pm
Peter King, the Long Island (CD 3) congressman, said that in terms of social issues, the raging controversy over the Arizona border laws is providing more than enough ammunition for Republicans in key districts.
“The Arizona immigration law is there, there’s no reason to be raising an issue of gay rights” as a wedge, he said.
John Cole, Politico, August 7
This quote from Peter King in a Politico piece on the Republicans ignoring the Prop 8 ruling is shockingly blunt:
King, the Long Island congressman, said that in terms of social issues, the raging controversy over the Arizona border laws is providing more than enough ammunition for Republicans in key districts.”
The Arizona immigration law is there, there’s no reason to be raising an issue of gay rights” as a wedge, he said.
No need to do the election year gay bashing, because the GOP is getting their hate on for brown people. Charming.
You don’t catch them openly admitting to stuff like this very often.
See the full article @ Politico.
Posted in Articles.
Tagged with Congress, immigration, Peter King.
Posted by Esther
on August 9, 2010 at 8:41 am
Conservatives/Tea Party want to end our current entitlement programs, scaling them back and/or privatize them. Members of the National Commission of Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, established by the President, are supposed to review government programs and develop recommendations to balance the federal budget by 2015 and review long-term prospects for entitlement financing (Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid).
The political conservatives are working to influence the work of the Commission. They falsely assert that Social Security is going broke; they are promoting ideas such as raising the retirement age, changing benefits formulas, changing cost-of-living adjustment formulas, creating personal savings accounts within Social Security.
They also will not support new taxes to help balance the budget. Instead they are advocating cuts in social programs.
Imagine the world they want, in which Social Security contributions would be subject to the vagaries of the stock market (and provide enormous profits for Wall Street) and social programs would be cut back drastically, depriving the old, the sick and the poor of already diminished help.
Forces to counter the efforts of the conservatives are already working to block bad ideas, promoting letting the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy, raising payroll taxes modestly for upper-income workers, and raising the limits on earnings that are taxable to fund Social Security.
Make your opinions known to those who must protect our entitlement programs by legislating with compassion and honesty.
Thank you,
Esther
esther@yeswecanli.org
Posted in Advocacy, Health Care.
Posted by YWC!LI
on August 8, 2010 at 12:32 pm
MoveOn is Holding a Rally Tuesday at Cong McCarthy’s Office.
We can’t sit back and let big corporations buy our elections. We need to push for systematic reform. That’s why next week, MoveOn members are organizing over 150 rallies calling on members of Congress and candidates to stand up for the Other 98% of us who can’t afford to buy elections. It’s the start of the congressional recess so it’s an important moment to ask them to join our reform campaign.
We need a massive show of people-power in the streets to send politicians and the media a powerful message that we won’t stand for big corporations like Target and BP buying our democracy. There’s a rally planned on Tuesday in Garden City.
Sign-up and get the details at MoveOn.org.
Corporate campaign fundraising picks up speed
Business and conservative groups see a chance to influence the midterm election because of rising anger at Democratic policies and recent court rulings on political spending.
Continue reading at the LA Times.
Posted in Articles.
Posted by YWC!LI
on August 6, 2010 at 7:05 pm
Posted in Articles.
Posted by Ben
on August 3, 2010 at 2:18 pm
The media has a history of making minor blips into big news – remember the Shark Attack scare of August 2001? or the Terri Schiavo case? I am sure you can come up with a great deal more to add to this list. The point being, we must think for ourselves about what is being reported and if we believe it is an accurate portal of of the reality, if it is meant to create drama, or if it is just classic propaganda being reported for some other reason. Perspective and possible solutions are rarely reported in any depth on the TV or in our Newspapers.
In Matt Taibbi’s blog post last week, he discusses his views on the mindset of Tea Party “activists” and how it is very similar to hanging out at a State Prison in Illinois while getting drunk, cheering on the execution of a child-murderer. Read his post to understand…
He concludes with the following paragraph:
Maybe I’m wrong and we do need a national “dialogue on race,” but my guess is that if Barack Obama figures out a way to turn the economy around and create some real paying jobs, a lot of this racial angst will disappear pretty quick. If you tune out the hottest parts of the Tea Party rhetoric and just focus on who these people are, what you’ll basically see are a bunch of middle-aged white people who spent their teens listening to Eddie Murphy albums and deep down are a lot more worried about their credit card debt than they are about ACORN taking over the government. Add a little more disposable income to that crowd and this whole debate will recede to tolerable levels. Or maybe not — but we can all hope, I guess.
Read the whole Blog post by Matt Taibbi at RollingStone.com
Economics is all that really matters in the end. An economy is either working for the masses, working for the very wealthy, or working for some other segment – the influential, the strong, hereditary, etc. – a nation’s stability and happiness are at ideal levels when the most people are part of a functioning economy. Until we begin reigning in the extremely wealthy, we will only continue to see the crazies come out to cheer an execution because they don’t have 15 dollars to spare to see Inception or Despicable Me in 3D.
Posted in Advocacy, Long Island.
Tagged with Economy, Election Reform, Media, Middle Class.
Posted by Ellis
on August 2, 2010 at 10:28 pm
The controversy over the location of Cordoba House a Muslim Cultural Center in Lower Manhattan has blown into a wedge issue for the hate community with the likes of Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin voicing opposition because of the site’s proximity to Ground Zero. Even the Anti-Defamation League, an organization that is leading proponent of religious tolerance has issued a statement calling for the center to be located elsewhere.
A new article in the Daily Kos reminds us that many Muslims were among the victims of 9/11 and there are approximately a half million Muslims living in New York City.
They saw what other New Yorkers saw. They smelled what other New Yorkers smelled. They experienced the same devastating horror and sorrow. They were New Yorkers like any other New Yorkers. They were no more responsible for the attacks than were any other New Yorkers.
The article goes on to condemn the effort to place collective blame for 9/11 on Muslims. Read it here.
Posted in Advocacy.
Tagged with 911.
Posted by YWC!LI
on August 2, 2010 at 10:06 pm
Read the article on the proposal:
More Points of View on LIPA’s New South Shore Wind “Farm” Proposal
Beverly Visconti
I knew it as soon as I heard the new plan was to locate the turbines 13-17 miles south of Long Island. A hard bottom on the ocean floor is needed on which to build the structures. 13-17 miles south of Long Island is exactly where Cholera Banks is located, exactly where ASIG had planned to build the now-defunct Safe Harbor LNG Island.
Cholera Banks is the only rugged, rock hard-bottom surface area in this region of the ocean, which is mostly made up of sand and silt. And that’s why marine life has developed there so profusely.
And now, of course, the LI Commercial Fishing Association is starting its fight, as it should. We can’t agree to sacrifice the vast marine life that thrives in that area or the fishermen whose livelihoods depend on Cholera Banks, just like the Louisiana fishermen depend on the Gulf.
Wind turbines are a wonderful idea, in keeping with our need to invest in green energy sources. As much as I hate to say this, perhaps 3 miles south of Jones Beach would be the better choice. Preserving the view does not stand up as a good enough reason to oppose the plan as preserving sea life.
Phil Heckler
Yes We Can! Long Island did not support the LNG Island for several reasons, one of which was the impact on Long Island’s fishing grounds. However I do not think that individual windmills with small footprints can be compared to the Impact of the 60 acre LNG island. In fact windmills in other countries have been found to attract abundant sea life.
In addition the LNG Island offered no benefits to Long Island or the environment. That is not the case for windmills. They are a necessary step to stop climate change and help provide energy independence and green jobs. Thus I do not think we should take a knee jerk opposition this windmill project.
Neil Yeoman
For a variety of reasons, which we all know all too well, LIPA must be supported in its effort to substitute wind for fossil fuels as a source of energy for Long Island. Yes We Can! Long Island and every other responsible organization and individual, must support whatever makes the best long term technological and economic sense.
The public needs to be educated about the realities of the world; they must understand that there will never be perfect solutions to any of the world’s problems; and they must permit, indeed, encourage those responsible for Long Island’s energy future to do their imperfect best for the people they serve.
The current project is a response to the needs of the community and the successful opposition to the closer in project mounted by people who claim to have been environmentalists but were anything but.
Stopping that first wind project was an environmental tragedy, a virtual crime perpetrated against the people of Long Island and the people of the world. LIPA must do what is best, and we all must support them. That may be an expanded version of the closer in project or some combination of the two projects. We must no longer allow people and groups who are insensitive to reality and accountable to nobody to continue to interfere with what needs to be done in the best interests of the community.
More opinions from Yes We Can! Long Island activists will be posted as they are submitted.
Posted in Articles, Energy & Environment, Long Island.
Tagged with Energy, Environment, LNG Island, Long Island, Oil, wind power.
Yes We Can! Long Island
