It was just yesterday that we decided to take a day off from politics and talk about music, both familiar and not so much; the conversation ran a bit long, and when we got halfway through we decided to get together tomorrow.
It was pretty fun, what with sewers and male models and Gorillaz and all, and when we had put down the pen it was just after taking in Sarah Vaughan's reworked dance version of the Peggy Lee classic, "Fever".
They say tomorrow never comes...but now it has...and we have eight more songs to talk about before we can finish our multigenerational "Summer Music Appreciation Playlist".
Today we'll incorporate jazz and dance, the invention of modern musical recording, arguably the greatest saxophone player ever, and a shout out to "our man in Paris".
If all that wasn't enough, we also discover what happens when you graft a certain Pepper onto Jamaica's musical tree.
You don't want to stop now, so jump on board and let's get this train rollin'.
It is a huge news day today, what with death and confirmation on everyone's mind...and I'm not going to do anything about it-well, not today, anyway.
Instead, I'm taking the day off to bring you something more compelling: a music appreciation class, with recordings old and new, and just right for your summer soundtrack.
And if that's not enough...by an amazing coincidence, we also get to talk about the (I never even know it existed) McRice burger, and, just for a summer bonus, we even have a smoking hot male model to grab your attention.
It's all about fun today, so let's get right to having some.
New York City Council Members Brad Lander and Melissa Mark-Viverito have an op-ed in the Gotham Gazette calling for two new high-income tax brackets in order to mitigate large budget cuts:
We propose adding two additional tax brackets for high-income earners -- one for joint-filers earning income over $250,000 (to be taxed at 1.2 percent) and another for those earning income over $500,000 (to be taxed at 1.8 percent). For a household earning $500,000, this would mean just $1,000 more per year. By putting these reforms in place, the city can generate over $1 billion in new revenues, while reducing the tax burden on families earning under $40,000 (who are already exempt from federal taxes).
Personally, I think there should be another bracket for people who earn a million a year, but that's not the main point. While an added billion per year will not completely close the budget gap and will still require budget cutting but it would make things that much better. Even though Bloomberg is opposed to this, the Democrats in the Council have a super-majority and should use that leverage to push for some version of a more progressive income tax.
Comedian and actress Sandra Bernhard and Lt. Dan Choi were among the hundreds that turned out for a rally in suppport of LGBT homeless youth yesterday in New York City's Union Square Park. Organized by the Ali Forney Center the event was staged to draw attention to cuts made to already underfunded programs that service this population. The problem is reaching epidemic scale, with an estimates being as high as 40% of homeless youths under 24 self-identifying as LGBTQ.
So once again my writing schedule is going to be turned upside down by unforeseen events-but it's going to be worth it, as I have one of the funnier stories to tell you that I've brought to these pages for some time.
It's a tale of catering and rejection and redemption, all in one, along with a bit of the Harlem Renaissance thrown in for good measure, and the big circle that was created was officially closed last Saturday night.
So come along, Gentle Reader, and I'll tell you the story of how I was officially notified that I'm a member of the gay community-by email.
Fresh off a debate in LA with George W. Bush (played by Laughing Liberally vet James Adomian), Congressman Alan Grayson offered a message to the good people of Living Liberally.
Thank you, Congressman -- and keep on fighting!
Though he won't make it person, we know Congressman Grayson is with us in spirit at this year's Living Liberally Annual Celebration -- this Saturday, MAY DAY, in New York City.
Come partake in this proud tradition of living -- and drinking -- liberally.
A member of online progressive community is taking his initial step into New York state electoral politics tomorrow. (Bless his heart!) Jeremiah Frei-Pearson known at the Daily Kos as JeremiahFP will formally announce his candidacy for New York State Assembly (District 36) at a free concert in Athens Square Park at 6pm tomorrow in Astoria, Queens, New York.
Some reasons you should come out for both the party and the candidate tomorrow after the fold.
Living Liberally's annual celebration is in 1 week, and we need your help.
Our 4th Annual celebration will take place on May 1st, and if you can get to New York City we would love for you to join us. This year, GRITtv's Laura Flanders is our Master of Ceremonies as we honor SEIU and Dr. Marion Nestle, as well as liberals from across our network.
Find out how you can help progressives across the country after the jump!
New York's mass transit systems have been major victims of the Great Recession. Many local systems have been forced to adopt austerity measures. Most worrying are the service cuts being contemplated by various transit agencies, as they isolate communities. Even worse, some of these service cuts may not be necessary. Technical problems, not financial difficulties, may end up killing off some lines.
The Ithaca Journal has a Gannett article today that focuses on hydrofracking and the competing demands of upstate landowners who want to exercise their mineral rights, versus the interests of the New York City watershed. This is obviously a much more direct confrontation between upstate and downstate citizen interests than was the long-simmering NYRI dispute, which turned a wide swath of southeastern New York into a big and mostly unified "NIMBY" zone that the downstate media barely noticed.
Also today in the NY Times is a series of editorials on "Can New York (State) Be Saved?" Upstaters' hackles may rise at this particular response, but in truth we've seen this attitude before, and I'd rather spend this diary considering the real "truth about Upstate" as it relates to "The City."
Hundreds of thousands of Haitian families are sleeping on the streets of Port-au-Prince . Each night, women rock their babies to sleep, hush their children, and try to rest. Many nights, worries keep these women awake: the children are hungry; the rains are coming; the baby is sick.
State Sen. George Onorato, a veteran Queens Democrat, won't seek reelection to the seat he has held since 1983, clearing the way for a run this fall by Assemblyman Michael Gianaris.
At 82, Onorato is the Senate Democrats' oldest member. His recent "no" vote on gay marriage made him vulnerable to a primary challenge, worrying party leaders who urged him to step aside, insiders said.
Jeremiah Frei-Pearson, who had been touted by reformers as a breath of fresh air untainted by the Albany incumbency, has bowed out of the race.
But soon-to-be-former Senator Onorato can stand as a testament to the career-ending risks inherent in opposing civil rights for all Americans.
This ain't Oklahoma - or Tennessee, for that matter.
As a result of a recent event involving an aircraft and underpants Representative Peter King (R-Not From Iowa), the senior Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee, has again come forth to bring his expertise on questions of international terrorism to the national debate.
King, a Congressman who represents a district that straddles New York's Long Island (NY-3), previously served as the Comptroller of Nassau County and a member of Hempstead, New York's Town Council, which wouldn't seem to be the kind of résumé that would give you much credibility in this arena-but Mr. King is a special case.
You see, Mr. King knows a great deal about terrorism...from the inside...because for many years the personal cause that drove his life was to be an active and public supporter of a terrorist group.
And that's why, today, we'll be connecting the dots between Congressman King and the Irish Republican Army.
Charlie Rangel is my congressman. Every other year my friends and I donate a few bucks to his re-election campaign, then all go out and give him 90% of the vote. But things here in Harlem are beginning to shift beneath our feet, so I've decided to ask The Albany Project community for a little guidance.
At what point should a Harlem liberal stop supporting Charlie Rangel? That is the question that I pose to my friends. What to do when you are saddled with a crooked Dem congressman? (Yes folks, he has been tried in the court of public opinion and found guilty.)
I first took notice last December when it surfaced that Charlie paid $80,000 to his son Steven for building two websites. A bit dodgy, but nothing I couldn't overlook. Then, claiming the lame excuse of "cultural and language barriers" Charlie acknowledged that he had failed to declare $75,000 in rental income from his beachfront villa. At this point, a few eyebrows in Harlem are beginning to rise, but as much as I tried to overlook the allegations, the charges keep rolling in!
Greeting from Team Thompson, as there are only 18 days left until the NYC mayoral election.
Republican Mayor Mike Bloomberg has enjoyed calling himself an "independent," and "above politics." The facts, however, are a different story. He is running on the Republican ticket, after being elected on the Republican ticket, because he made large cash contributions to the GOP.
His connections to the republican party are much more than that, as shown in the video released by the Thompson Campaign
Also, a new advertisement is out, focusing on Mike Bloomberg's Bill Thompson as comptroller in 2007.
Bill was proud to receive support from El Diario, the Nation's largest and oldest Spanish-speaking newspaper (Spanish version here), and the New York City Amsterdam News.
The first, from El Diario, the largest and oldest Spanish-speaking newspaper in the United States, cited Bill's "sterling record in both the private and public sectors."
After a decade misspent lionizing the rich and their excesses, too many New Yorkers are paying the price for the decisions made in Washington, on Wall Street and in City Hall. What New York City needs is an executive with a balanced perspective towards development and growth, where families most in need are a high priority. This leader is Bill Thompson.
Thompson has a sterling record in both the private and public sectors. For nearly eight years, he has served this city as its comptroller, successfully managing billions of dollars in pension funds, highlighting deficiencies and disparities in critical city services, and emphasizing communities that have historically been absent from the table when it came to asset management and city contracts.
The choice is clear. New York needs Bill Thompson to be mayor, and Bill Thompson needs our votes to beat the man who thinks he has been elected mayor for life.
Bill Thompson is a good man, an honest man, a true New Yorker who believes in the people of this city and the city itself. New York is a living, breathing thing with many moving parts. We have the rich and the poor, the working class, the underemployed and the unemployed. We have those who live in palatial apartments and those who live in cardboard boxes. We have a New York of the haves and have-nots and the have-somes.
With just over two weeks until the election on November 3, we need your support now more than ever.
Bill met with supporters before the debate to shake hands and thank them for coming out. After the debate, he went to The Chimney bar to revel in a post-debate celebration.
Election day is just three weeks away, and we can use you're support. To donate to the campaign (which are matched by city funds at an 8.57-to-1 ratio), click here .
To volunteer and support the campaign, click here .
I was wondering if any of my fellow New Yorkers were able to get out to the Term Limits rally on the steps of City Hall.
In 2008, despite days of testimony from a vast array of New Yorkers, the City Council passed a law extending term limits for elected officials.
This law virtually nullified a public referendum, passed directly by New York citizens in 1993, and again in 1996, to limit elected officials to two terms in office. There was one hope for the will of the people, however: the Mayor of New York, Republican Mike Bloomberg.
Bloomberg had been supportive of keeping the will of the people intact. In 2002, he vetoed a law easing term limit requirements. In his veto, Bloomberg wrote: "I believe it is simply inappropriate for those ... who were aware of the rules under which they were elected to seek to change those rules in a manner that may work to their own advantage."
In August 2008, Bloomberg denounced the growing effort of the City Council to extend term limits: "There is this technical imperfection in the existing law that was approved by the public," he said, "where in theory the City Council could go and override the wishes of the public. I think that should be taken away."
"The people themselves have twice explicitly voted for term limits. We cannot ignore their will. They want the openness new faces bring. And they will get it. We will not go back," Bloomberg said in 2002. Surely there was no way that he would allow such a travesty of the democratic process, right?
Wrong. He signed the bill, and explained it as a decision "to give the people of New York a fuller choice in the November, 2009 election, "although New Yorkers had already chosen on term limits twice.
When asked about extending the term limits in May, he tried to pass the blame on to the City Council. "The rationale for extending term limits is, the City Council passed it and the public's going to have a chance on Nov. 3 to say what they want," he said. "And I don't think we have to keep coming back to that."
Well, New Yorkers said something today.
On October 22, Bill will be giving a speech at the Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College. I hope you can make it, and voice your support for the will of the people.
Making Charlie Rangel step down would help clarify the message that things are changing in Washington dc. I am from New York, and although Rangel is not from my district, I still considered him my congressman. The actions of Charlie Rangel are deplorable and there should be a penalty, he is on the ways and means committee for goodness sake, he is a serious liability and a distraction. They need to get him out. Shame on them for electing to keep him in the chairman's seat. Charlie unfortunately spent his congressional years living the high life. This is a colossal blunder on Charlie's part to have all these skeletons in his closet. He didn't report assets, that's like taxes 101. The first thing you do when you do your taxes is list all of your assets unless you are hiding something. What is Charlie hiding? Democrats need to set an example, Rangel is becoming an albatross. It's not worth keeping Rangel, questions are sure to be asked about where Rangel got the finances for certain properties, and holding down four rent stabilized apartments, trips, quid-pro-quos, he is wallowing in it. He needs to resign from congress or at least step down from chair. Serving the people is a privilege and not a right. Rangel needs to see that his current situation is not good for the people or democracy. Patterson's current defense of the congressman does not surprise me since Patterson is also enjoying his rent stabilized apartment in Harlem.
I tend to think he needs to resign so he can go work in the private sector to make the money he is going to need for his legal bills, rather than raising it from tax payers under the guise of campaign contributions. So far he has spent about one million dollars on legal bills, and who know how much the final number will be after all the investigations and legal battles are done. By staying in the seat Rangel is preventing someone else from vying for the seat. I am for voting anyone out who has been taking advantage of the system. There are many people who are not happy with the results of his empowerment zones in Harlem; some feel they have been priced out of the area. Rangel has been in congress since 1971, thirty-eight years, that's a very long time.
Good Afternoon and welcome back to my thoughts and ideas from the New York City Mayor's race. I am an intern for the Bill Thompson for Mayor campaign, and it looks promising.
A new poll released today shows that the lead between Thompson and Mike Bloomberg is shrinking. The Republican Mayor now holds only a nine-point lead at 51% to 43%.
Thompson leads among Democrats (estimated at 69% of likely voters) 49% to 46%. Since Democrats will be a key in the mayoral election, allow me to remind you what's at stake here:
Yesterday, we also received the key endorsement of New York's Senate delegation of Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand.
We need your support in this election. To join the campaign, click here . To contribute to the campaign (which will be matched by New York City election funds by an 8.57 to one ratio, meaning that ten dollars gets us almost one hundred), click here
Greetings again from here at the Bill Thompson Campaign, and happy October!
In 1993, New Yorkers voted in favor of a two-term limit for all elected officials. Three years later, New Yorkers then affirmed their referendum, limiting term limits to 8 years in office.
Today marks the one- year anniversary of the end of that law.
On October 3, 2008, despite three consecutive days of New Yorkers' testimony, the new york City Council voted to extend term limits. Mayor Mike Bloomberg, despite opposing them as recently as August of last year, signed the legislation into law.
In 2002, when the City Council proposed easing term limits an additional two years, Bloomberg vetoed that bill, saying "I believe it is simply inappropriate for those members elected in 1997, who were aware of the rules under which they were elected, to seek to change those rules in a manner that may work to their own advantage."
Watch a video of the anniversary below.
To help New Yorkers elect a mayor who is for the will of the people, click here
To donate to the campaign (after all, we're running against someone who's using his Forbes-list bank account here), click here
A member of online progressive community is taking his initial step into New York state electoral politics tomorrow. (Bless his heart!) 
