-
Follow
Following
Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
via David B. Caruso, The Boston Globe For over a decade, New York City has outlawed smoking in bars and offices, banned trans fats, and forced fast-food restaurants to list calorie counts on their menus. Now, the Big Apple has set its sights on sugary beverages with a first-in-the-nation rule barring restaurants, cafeterias and concessions … Continue reading
via Cord Jefferson, Gawker Two months before alleged killer James Holmes stormed a Colorado movie theater, murdering 12 and injuring dozens more, police and politicians in a different place were trying to squelch the tremors from their own mass killing. It was in Chicago, over Memorial Day weekend, when police responded to more than 40 … Continue reading
via Julie Bolcer, The Advocate New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn filed a brief Wednesday joining their constituent, Edith Windsor, in asking the Supreme Court to hear her challenge against the Defense of Marriage Act. Windsor, 83, is suing the federal government over $363,000 in estate taxes she was … Continue reading
via James Arkin, New York Daily News A study by the city’s tourism agency, NYC & Company, and the City Clerk’s office estimates $259 million in overall economic impact came from same-sex marriages. “Marriage equality has made our City more open, inclusive and free — and has also helped to create jobs and support our … Continue reading
via Mary Long, Media Bistro The City of New York sent a subpoena to Twitter in February demanding it release all of Occupy Wall Street protestor Malcolm Harris’ tweets between September 15 and December 31 2011, as well as his email address and any other user information associated with his account. Well, after a lot … Continue reading
via Trudy Ring, The Advocate The New York Assembly keeps approving the bill, for the latest time on Monday, while the Senate lets it stall. The New York State Assembly today passed a bill banning discrimination based on gender identity and expression, but its prospects in the Senate are uncertain. This is the fifth time … Continue reading
via E.J. Dionne Jr., The New York Times We are about to have the worst presidential campaign money can buy. The Supreme Court’s dreadful Citizens United decision and a somnolent Federal Election Commission will allow hundreds of millions of dollars from a small number of very wealthy people and interests to inundate our airwaves with … Continue reading
via AP, Politico Police say more than 70 people were taken into custody following a rally at the park where the Occupy movement was born. Hundreds of protesters had returned to Zuccotti Park near Wall Street on Saturday to mark the six months that have passed since the movement began. They locked arms and sat … Continue reading
via Al Gini, WBEZ A 24-year long study by the Harvard Medical School suggests that one of the key ingredients to a healthy and happy life is marriage. Or, to break it down into one of marriage’s key domestic elements, living with somebody. The University of Chicago recently did a national survey on sex, and … Continue reading
via The Huffington Post As our former governor prepares to head west to begin his prison sentence, Chicago was given the unfortunate title of “most corrupt” city in America in a new study by the University of Illinois at Chicago and the University of Illinois’ Institute of Government and Public Affairs. University of Illinois at … Continue reading
via AP, ABC7 News Chicago A Chicago college is offering a class on the Occupy movement. Thirty-two undergraduate students are enrolled at Roosevelt University’s “Occupy Everywhere” class. It’s a three-credit political science course that looks at the movement that started last summer near New York City’s Wall Street and spread nationwide. The Chicago Sun-Times reports … Continue reading
via Laura Meckler, Washington Wire The mayors of several big cities, including Chicago, New York, Boston and Los Angeles, are joining together to support same-sex marriage rights, a move that could put additional pressure on President Barack Obama to do the same. The effort is being organized by Freedom to Marry, an advocacy group that … Continue reading
via Colleen Long and Verena Dobnik, AP, TIME Hundreds of police officers in riot gear raided Zuccotti Park early Tuesday, evicting dozens of Occupy Wall Street protesters from what has become the epicenter of the worldwide movement protesting corporate greed and economic inequality. About 70 people were arrested, including some who chained themselves together, while … Continue reading
via Susan Candiotti and Ross Levitt, CNN Demonstrators encamped in a Lower Manhattan park faced New York’s first snow storm of the season Saturday without the benefit of propane tanks and generators that they had been using to cook food and keep warm. “It’s pretty dirty, and we’re all freezing cold,” said Alec Courtney, who … Continue reading
via Mark Engler, Common Dreams A month after it began with a few hundred people marching on Wall Street, the #Occupy movement has grown to include tens of thousands of participants throughout the country and has captured headlines around the world. If it has not yet succeeded beyond its wildest dreams, that’s only because its participants … Continue reading
via Michael Howard Saul, The Wall Street Journal Mayor Michael Bloomberg said on Monday that he’ll allow the Wall Street protesters to stay indefinitely, provided they abide by the law, marking his strongest statement to date on the city’s willingness to let demonstrators occupy a park in Lower Manhattan. “The bottom line is – people … Continue reading
via William Kennedy, MSNBC A young woman spray-paints the final letter on a floral-patterned sheet. Unfurled it reads: “Occupy London, 15 Oct, occupylsx.org.” The small group of assembled activists applaud its look. “I love the kitschiness of it. It’s so ‘Laura Ashley’ English — perfect for a protest,” one says, namechecking the British brand known for its prim-and-proper … Continue reading
via Jennifer Preston, The New York Times What began as a small group of protesters expressing their grievances about economic inequities last month from a park in New York City has evolved into an online conversation that is spreading across the country on social media platforms. Inspired by the populist message of the group known … Continue reading
In a tense showdown above the East River, the police arrested several hundred demonstrators from the Occupy Wall Street protests who took to the roadway as they tried to cross the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday afternoon. The police did not immediately release precise arrest figures, but said it was the choice of those marchers that … Continue reading
NEW YORK — Police confronted protesters in a heated exchange on the Brooklyn Bridge, where thousands of Occupy Wall Street marchers snarled traffic and blocked both sides of the expanse Saturday. Police made arrests but would not release the number because the protest is continuing, NBC New York reported. Protesters speaking out against corporate greed and … Continue reading
In lower Manhattan the Occupy Wall Street protests have been growing with tremendous speed, adding leftist luminaries, elected officials, and hundreds of others to its ranks. Here, the Occupy Chicago protests have persevered with the same message and energy—but not the same numbers. On Wednesday seven protesters braved the rain for morning rally. Around 25 … Continue reading
If 2,000 Tea Party activists descended on Wall Street, you would probably have an equal number of reporters there covering them. Yet 2,000 people did occupy Wall Street last Saturday. They weren’t carrying the banner of the Tea Party, the Gadsden flag with its coiled snake and the threat “Don’t Tread on Me”. Yet their message was clear: … Continue reading
Democrats suffered a major blow in two special House election losses Tuesday, leaving the party at a political low point as it gears up for 2012. Republicans pulled off an upset in New York’s 9th Congressional District, a strongly Democratic seat that should have been an easy hold. And the GOP cruised to an easy … Continue reading
The Brandt Standard 