Apparently the Rule of Law only applies to some people, according to conservative Americans. There is a lot of controversy around the upcoming trials for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other alleged 9/11 plotters. Conservatives claim that bringing the accused to New York City for a civilian trial will result in another terrorist attack on the United States.
The South Asian sport of kite-fighting -- featured in the book and movie "The Kite Runner" -- nearly cost a skateboarding Queens boy his life when a razor-sharp wire sliced his throat, according to a lawsuit.
Jared Kopeloff was skateboarding outside his Flushing co-op apartment building in October 2009 when he was clotheslined by a downed kite string.
The glass-encrusted wire ripped into the then-12-year-old's throat and left him scarred from ear to ear from a wound his lawyer said took 400 to 500 stitches to close. The boy also lost two lymph nodes in the accident.
Now his family is suing the city for allowing the kite fights to take place in nearby Flushing Meadows Park and the co-op complex for failing to remove the wire that was left hanging between two buildings after getting severed in a duel and drifting over to the complex.
Newsweek has boiled down the the first decade of this millennium into a seven minute video, highlighting the good, the bad and the unforgettable. From Bush V. Gore, to 9/11, to the iPod, to Borat, to the Iraq war, to Twitter and much, much more. Watch and marvel at this busy decade.
It really makes you remember about all that has changed about that last 10 years around the worldNewsweek has boiled down the the first decade of this millennium into a seven minute... more
“Consumed” is a strange and intriguing 3-min. short film directed by Bradley Young, which features a socialite and model looking her most gorgeous and bored. She vamps for the camera in a variety of stunning fashion ensembles and interesting tableaux, while the subway busker Luke Trumble croons “St. Louis Blues” in the background. But there’s a deeply sad and gritty undercurrent to the action that reminds us of what life in New York City is really like. Yes, there's an over-abundance of glamorous things in the big city, but often attaining them isn’t worth the trouble to get them. Sometimes those fabulous parties for the rich and famous are just full of very lonely people.
This piece includes a number of great b&w photographs, as well as the unusual, engaging short film, “Consumed.”
Please visit my website to view the photographs and watch this strangely intriguing short film:
Members and Supporters of The Kill The Drill Campaign held a rally prior to delivering statement in opposition to the hydraulic fracturing in NY which would not only affect the drinking water of community members in Manhattan but, all Citizens in New York City.
Manhattan Borough President Scott M. Stringer, joined by a coalition of elected officials and hundreds of environmental advocates and concerned citizens, held a rally to Kill the Drill ahead of a State Department of Environmental Conservation hearing on November 10, 2009. This hearing at Stuyvesant High School was the only one of its kind to be held in New York City on the topic of natural gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale, a rock formation stretching across the Southern Tier of New York State.
We are in the midst of a public comment period ending December 31 on the draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (SGEIS), which will govern the use of hydraulic fracturing in the Catskill/Delaware watershed, which supplies 90 percent of the City's drinking water.Members and Supporters of The Kill The Drill Campaign held a rally prior to delivering... more
“The Grey Dress in New York” is an intriguing, captivating short experimental art film by Pierre St-Jacques, which has been screened at art and film festivals around the world. The film is loosely based on Alain Robbe-Grillet’s novel “Project for a Revolution in New York.” Robbe-Grillet’s novel (as well as many of his films) exploits pornographic motifs and the imagery of potential sexual violence. “The Grey Dress in New York” focuses on short moments of longing for love and the need to desire. A woman in her apartment is getting ready to go out, she's ironing her grey dress. A man comes up the stairs, presumably to meet her, but this uncertain. The style echoes that found in Robbe-Grillet’s book, one of elipses and repeating patterns, and because of those structures one is never quite certain what the intentions of the characters are.
The central theme of “The Grey Dress in New York” is one of longings for desire. Desire for the other and also for the self; each character is very self possessed and in many ways very full of flourish. The film is ultimately a test of desire for the viewer, who sees the story evolve and builds certain expectations that are as much a part of the story as is the main narrative thread.
This piece presents a number of color photographs, the intriguing and engaging surreal film “The Grey Dress in New York” and the extended trailer for Alain Robbe-Grillet’s darkly dreamlike 1961 film, “Last Year at Marienbad.”
Please visit my website to view the photographs, as well as the very compelling short films:
Russia and the Middle East have, by far, the largest proved reserves of natural gas on the planet. But the Marcellus Shale Play, a mile-deep, rock-bound reservoir stretching through New York, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, is the closest approximation this country has. Experts have described it as “the most drilled but least explored” natural-gas basin in America. They say it could yield 400 trillion gallons of natural gas—20 times the current national annual output.
Gas company geologists have known about Marcellus for years. (The name of the shale formation comes from the town of Marcellus, New York, where some of the rock is visible.) But it wasn’t until the oil-price spikes in 2008 that the economics of drilling it began to make sense. Since then, U.S. supplies of both oil and natural gas have increased and prices have dropped sharply, but the momentum to tap into new energy sources continues. Although drilling for gas deep below the surface of the earth is expensive, the Marcellus Play could produce riches for industry and landowners, as well as billions of dollars in tax revenues for states. Pete Grannis, New York State’s environmental commissioner, calls the furor set off by Marcellus a “modern day gold rush.”
However, to get at the Marcellus gas, drilling companies have to employ a controversial boring technique that involves mixing water with a cocktail of sand and toxic chemicals and then injecting that at high pressure into shale more than a mile underground in order to fracture the rock and release the gas.
This process, known as hydraulic fracturing or “hydrofracking,” has been utilized before in several states. But environmentalists claim that it causes everything from earthquakes to above-ground explosions, that it can irredeemably pollute groundwater, and that it drains streams of the water that in many places is a resource as precious as the gas it’s helping to recover.
While the industry disputes that hydrofracking is the cause of such mayhem, nobody disputes that setting up wells is an intensive industrial procedure, and that the drilling process itself uses and pollutes huge amounts of water. A single well requires between 1 million and 5 million gallons of water. About 40 percent of what’s injected into the wells is pumped back out, and it comes out dirty and salty and needs to be treated before it is discharged back into public waterways. Pennsylvania already has reported incidences of unacceptably salty water from hydrofrack wells being discharged into rivers.
That is why the Marcellus Shale wars have been fully engaged, as the irresistible search for energy resources and riches collides with arguments over environmental disaster. The battle pits neighbor against neighbor, full-time residents against weekend homeowners, elected officials against elected officials and states against localities (some Upstate New York localities have enacted moratoria on drilling, something the natural-gas industry claims they don’t actually have the authority to do). Although the fracas over Marcellus Shale is regional, it serves as a cautionary tale for any place that encounters an unexpected energy boom.
Danny Jacobs is New York City's next hope for a world champion fighter. As a professional Middleweight, the contender is 18-0 with 15 knockouts, most of which happened within minutes of the opening round.
Danny made his pro debut as the undercard fight to the highly publicized Floyd Mayweather vs. Ricky Hatton battle, and destroyed his opponent, Jose Jesus Hurtado, by TKO in just 29 seconds. His next ten fights combined for a total of 13 rounds and left a string of victims who were literally beaten senseless face down on the ring's floor.
Jacobs has been compared to Mike Tyson due to his savage beatings and quick assaulting knockouts, but unlike Tyson, when Jacobs is outside of the ring, he's a self described "mama's boy and family man", who's looking to be New York City's iconic sports figure.
For more about Danny Jacobs and his New York culture and city recommendations:
Parents in Albany, New York are upset with the prominent animal rights group PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment for Animals) for distributing “Unhappy Meals” to children exiting McDonald’s across the country.
The “Unhappy Meal” is a part of PETA’s McCruelty campaign, which is meant to warn children about the cruelty that PETA says is behind every Happy Meal. From animal cruelty to manipulating advertising that targets children, the charges that PETA is accusing McDonald’s of are expressed through this mock meal. According to Slashfood.com, PETA discontinued campaigns like the McCruelty one for the past nine years because it was working with McDonald’s behind the scene.
Each “Unhappy Meal” consists of an image of a knife wielding Ronald McDonald, pictures of mutilated chickens, a “blood” stained Happy Meal box and a complementary T-Shirt that reads “Chicken McCruelty.” A parent told a local news station that she felt what PETA was doing was unfair to children and young people shouldn’t be exposed to the messages that PETA is trying to get across.Parents in Albany, New York are upset with the prominent animal rights group PETA... more
Companies Like Top 10 Produce LLC and Harvestmark are putting technology in place to read the small stickers on produce items by using mobile phones. Once Accessed, these stickers can let consumers use social media to communicate directly with the farmer or to leave reviews about the produce. Also, the sustainability of the growing practices can be considered by consumers who are interested in supporting sustainable agriculture. And, because the produce is traceable, consumers can confirm if the produce is locally grown.
Top 10 Produce only licenses independent producers and limits the amount that any single grower can label under the Top 10 label to 1 million dollars or less per year, to even the playing field between small and large farming operations.
Top 10 uses the Databar codes already used by in-store scanners and Harvestmark has 2d codes unique to Harvestmark.
“Times Square” is an ongoing project by John Aron, a photographer who lives near Times Square/Hell’s Kitchen. Aron uses both traditional and modern techniques to achieve his goal of narrowing the focus of his black and white photographs in order to show what is most important in the scene. Monochrome seems well-suited to the city; New York City is best described in black and white, which captures it in a way that’s simply more dramatic, perhaps romantic.
The infatuation of photographers with Times Square must be almost as old as the square itself, and no wonder. It’s been the perfect place for the dramas and encounters that make great pictures, whether in the happy honky-tonk of the area’s glamorous days, decades ago when the neon lights really were the brightest on Broadway, or more recently, when squalor and crime overtook the area and the facades of the great theaters of the 1890’s along 42nd Street disappeared behind porn parlor marquees.
This piece presents a number of John Aron’s striking photographs of people in Times Square, a slide show of his remarkable photographs and two short videos.
To view these wonderful photographs, slide show and videos, please visit my website:
The Knicks City Dancers starred in the new music video for "Get There" by Robert Randolph, the new New York Knicks theme song!The Knicks City Dancers starred in the new music video for "Get There" by Robert... more
While in New York City, the OrganicNation.tv crew got a chance to stop at the NOW Showcase to talk with SUST Founder Tristan Gribbin about her eco-friendly clothing line. SUST clothing is made with 100% certified organic cotton grown in the US, and the garments are manufactured ethically in California. In this video, Tristan reveals how she came up with the name "SUST" and gives a sneak-peak of some new items for Fall 2009 and Spring 2010.While in New York City, the OrganicNation.tv crew got a chance to stop at the NOW... more
2000 Census estimate - 8,008,278 people living in NYC.
2000 Census estimate of people under 18 - 24.4% of total population
24.4% X 8,008,278 = 1,954,020 under 18 (rounded up)
8,008,278 - 1,954,020 = 6,054,258 people who are eligible to vote in NYC
6,054,258 - 1,063,776 = 4,990,482 people who did not vote... IF THIS WERE THE YEAR 2000
But it 2009. So lets try this all again with a educated guess.
2008 Census estimate - 8,363,710 people living in NYC
Considering growth lets say 25% of the total population is under 18
25% X 8,363,710 = 2,090,928 people are under 18 (rounded up)
8,363,710 - 2,090,928 = 6,272,782 total people who did not vote.
So my original math (7.2 million if you didn't see it) is off by about 1 million. Remember that these are estimates from the US Census Bureau. Close to 6.3 million people is a very very large number.
An estimated 6,272,782 people did not vote in Tuesdays election. This means around 18% of the city showed up at the polls. 82% of a city of 8.3 million people did not vote.
For a title and position as powerful as mayor, of New York City no less, shouldn't more people have voted? Does this number shock anyone? How do we get people to the polls? How do we educated people on the importance of voting?UPDATE
An estimated 8.3 million people live in New York City. And 18% of them voted... more
The Election Day 2009 was not good for Obama. His party lost Virginia and New Jersey. His electorate, made by young people and Afro-Americans, didn't go to vote.
Is it an alarm bell? http://www.inaltreparole.net/en/world/elezioni2009usa041109.htmlThe Election Day 2009 was not good for Obama. His party lost Virginia and New Jersey.... more
Of all the love letters in Michael Chabon's newest book Manhood For Amateurs, the tenderest might well be reserved for Doctor Who. The Time Lord's journey, like so many other geeky narratives, becomes a touchstone for Chabon's relationships and self-discovery.
Chabon talks about how his eldest son startled a British attendant at the Smithsonian with his Dalek T-shirt, and then his other children had to regale the man with tales of their Cybermen and Time Lord shirts, until he understands they're a geek family. And then Chabon talks about how the new Doctor Who series has brought his family together, and sings the show's praises:Of all the love letters in Michael Chabon's newest book Manhood For Amateurs, the... more
After rewriting New York City term laws Mike Bloomberg, who is said to have spent close to $85 million self-financing is own campaign, was re-elected Mayor.http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1225241/The-100m-mayor-Michael-Bloomb... more
