Blook: Tony Pierce

I received my copy of Tony Pierce's book in the mail yesterday. I have copy number 74/125 , signed by the author and delivered via priority mail in a plain brown wrapper (Just kidding about the plain brown wrapper).

"Blook" is a compilation of the west coast power blogger's weblog entries from the past year. If you haven't yet experienced the busblog, check it out.

The first thing that impressed me was the front cover's unique imagery (busblog style), superimposed with the classy title that appears in a burst of light as if to suggest a bold and uncensored perspective. That, I agree is apropos, since "Blook" certainly delivers what it promises.

First, Tony gives special thanks to his readers, as well as the book's title creator Jeff jarvis. He then takes the reader directly to the first entry:

"Hi blog that I treat like crap. I love you. I'm making a hot meal for my hot girl tonight. I'm pretty excited, shouldn't I be? Some say you jinx it by being excited. I think Jinxing is a bunch of phooey, for if you have the ability to jinx something, you should also be able to unjinx it. I think this girl is killer."

Empowered with unadorned directness, wit and imaginative points of view, Tony pierce's "Blook" is a hit. The 111 page compilation has a down to earth and credible style that entices the reader to dig deeper. You gotta love it!

Classic New York

You already know it's the greatest city in the world. From stilettos to power lunches, let us remind you why... You don't have to look hard to catch a glimpse of classic New York. Just do what the tourists do: Look up. But tourists, being tourists, see only the landmarks. What really makes this city constant over time is not so much the bricks and mortar but what's inscribed in the city's DNA: the people, the institutions, the ways of life that may evolve over time but remain unmistakably New York.

The skyline . . . neurosis . . . “Stand clear of the closing doors” . . . Shakespeare in the Park . . . the penthouse . . . pickles . . . very wealthy small children . . . the docents at the Met . . . seltzer . . . parties where everyone’s wearing black . . . “Page Six” . . . getting bus-slushed . . . the fine distinction among bodegas, delis, and corner stores . . . the knish . . . at 5 p.m., Town Cars lined up two deep in front of corporate buildings . . . Art Deco . . . standing under the Washington Square Park arch with its decrepit statue of George Washington and gazing up Fifth Avenue . . .

“I’m on the list” . . . the beat cop . . . famous people at the newsstand early in the morning so they can be the first to read their reviews . . . apartment envy . . . Ed Koch . . . spending the day sitting in the Cloisters’ medieval garden . . . illegally tapping fire hydrants . . . [more]

Slate: How Reaganomics became Rubinomics

The bizarre Republican swoon for deficit spending.

You and I as individuals can, by borrowing, live beyond our means, but for only a limited period of time. Why, then, should we think that collectively, as a nation, we are not bound by that same limitation?"

—Ronald Reagan's first inaugural address, 1981


"Glenn Hubbard, chairman of the White House's Council of Economic Advisers … derides the 'current fixation' with budget deficits, and labels as 'nonsense' and 'Rubinomics,' the view espoused by former Clinton Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin that higher deficits lead to lower growth."

—The Wall Street Journal, Dec. 17

How in the world did this happen? Once upon a time, federal government deficits were denounced by St. Ronald as a focus of evil barely less threatening than communism itself. Now that concern is mocked by a Republican White House as the nonsensical "fixation" of a previous Democratic administration. In recent weeks the term "Rubinomics" has spread through the press like a rash—promoted by people who apparently believe that the best way to discredit anything is to associate it with Bill Clinton. They are not deterred by the inconvenient fact that the economy did rather well under Clinton and Rubin—better than under either of the Bushes or Reagan himself. Even more astonishing is that the Republican propaganda machine is trying to stamp "Clinton" all over one of the cornerstones of Reaganism. [more]

Send in the clones

The Daily News has this report

The chief scientist of a group that believes humans were spawned by space aliens is claiming an American in her care will deliver the world's first cloned baby within days. Dr. Brigitte Boisselier - a member of The Raelians, a Canada-based sect that advocates building an embassy for extraterrestrials - says the clone is a girl.

Boisselier's announcement is the latest from a string of scientists racing to produce the first copycat human. Last month, Italian fertility doctor Severino Antinori promised a cloned baby boy will be born in January.

But skeptics argue the cloning claims smell about as bad as a dirty diaper.

Maybe our friend Leah in Canada can tell us if she's ever heard of this Dr. Brigitte Boisselier.

Smoking ban in NYC

The City Council overwhelmingly approved Mayor Michael Bloomberg's ban on workplace smoking, including a prohibition on lighting up in almost all bars and restaurants.

The 42-7 vote with two abstentions Wednesday came after spirited opposition from smokers and bar owners, who said tightening the city's existing smoking law will diminish their rights, hurt tourism and cut into the business of bars and nightclubs.

The report notes however that there are several exceptions, including portions of outdoor cafes; bars that build enclosed, specially ventilated smoking rooms where employees would not enter; private clubs such as American Legion halls; nursing homes and other residential facilities that have smoking rooms; and existing cigar bars.

Bush: Trip To Africa Postponed

President Bush is postponing a trip to Africa, scheduled for January. White House sources said Mr Bush needed to focus on domestic and other international issues, with an unnamed official saying that the delay should not be taken as a sign that war with Iraq was imminent. more

I'll miss Trent

Yeah, that's right ... I'll miss him because he's the only one that had the guts to say what the GOP really believes. And now that he's shot himself in the foot by talking a bit too openly about what was supposed to be spoken about, um, in private (or as Bill Clinton puts it "in the back roads") all we can do now is look ahead, but don't forget to take your blinders off so you can see both sides of the road.

And, Speaking of Bill Clinton, I always liked him ... Try to imagine a Bush or a Cheney visiting Harlem, or setting up an office there as Clinton did.

But I digress.

From the beginning, the whole Trent Lott story was like a freight train going down hill without brakes. The highlight lowlight of the moment for me was Lott's appearance on BET.

What was that all about? Was I suppose to all of a sudden get an everything's-gonna-be-allright-from-now-on type of feeling? No, it didn't work. I understood that he was coming from a position of desperation. Still others saw his appeal as groveling and pandering. Some of my colleagues even laughed at some of Lott's statements (and rightfully so) -- including his statement that he regretted voting (in 1983) against establishing a Martin Luther King Jr. holiday and would vote for one now ... Oh! ok.

Oliver Willis brings up a good point when he asks: "Why, do so many conservatives assume that race is the only issue on which black Americans vote?" I was thinking the same thing.

But yes, I'll miss Trent Lott, the improbably haired Senator who had a momentary lapse of reason and dropped a bone or two out of the closet in the process.

Adios Trent !

Lott Resigns as Senate Leader

Bowing to pressure from his fellow senators and the Bush White House, Sen. Trent Lott resigned his position as Senate majority leader

Just as I expected. More later.

(Via Seattle PI)David Horsey

Putting the breaks on blowhard bloggers

If the Internet is a frontier, then the online self-publishing phenomenon called Web logging, or "blogging," is the virtual Wild West where any old varmint with a Web site can shoot his mouth off. A recent decision by the High Court of Australia, however, could civilize the Internet, perhaps to the detriment of the 1st Amendment. [more]

On the double standards issue

Surely, the racialism that Lott toasted at Thurmond's celebration is alive and well in the Democratic as well as the Republican party.

Recently, many have been debating the issue of whether the media uses a double standard when reporting on issues of racial politics. We hear questions such as "why weren't the same standards applied to the Trent Lott story being applied to Democratic Senator Robert Byrd, a former member of the KKK, who used the phrase 'white n----r' on television?"

Folks are asking why is Senator Byrd still in office while it's being suggested that Lott should be ousted.

I have this suggestion:

Byrd isn't a leader of the Democratic party. This is not to say that his statement wasn't just as insensitive and repulsive.

Trent Lott is in a leadership position, As Majority Leader, Lott is one of the most powerful men in Washington.

The issue is no longer whether he is racist but rather one of past record. His recent satement certainly opened up his past to further scrutiny and also leads me to aggressively question whether he is politically fit to be in a position of such high regard.

The reports that I've read points to a man that has twice uttered public statements regretting the end of Jim Crow. He voted against a federal Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. "Racial discrimination does not always violate public policy," he wrote in a 1981 amicus brief defending Bob Jones University's ban on interracial dating; Not to mention his associations with white-supremacist groups. Everything Lott has done and said in his career suggests he doesn't view the civil rights movement as being a part of the American ideal.

Sure others have been guilty of making similar statements, but the difference is, this is a man that will be closely associated with the President. In such a position, you are expected to be a standard bearer of the ideals that makes America great for all Americans. Lott failed in that regard.

President Bush said recently:

"We will not, and we must not, rest until every person of every race believes in the promise of America because they see it in their own eyes, with their own eyes, and they live it and feel it in their own lives."

Can we believe in this promise of America? Can we see it with our own eyes
or trust that this guiding social principle will apply with Lott as leader? I think not.

The preceived double standard in this instance seems to be based more on the merits of the situation.

A Whole Lotta' Racism

Mark Fiore does it again in this new flash animation on racism in Government.

Rated R for Racism. Contains inappropriate language and explicit hypocritical acts

Research: Brain Center for Music Appreciation

Sounds from the radio slip into a melody and suddenly your mind skips back to an evening of moonlight and romance and happy times. It happens to everybody, but until now science was unsure just why.

A new study by researchers at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, suggests that recalling that melody is the job of a part of the brain known as the rostromedial prefrontal cortex. It is the part that remembers music and is even able to recognize a sour note in the midst of a familiar tune.

The fact that the brain is naturally wired to appreciate and remember music suggests that pleasant sounds were an important of part of the human mind from the earliest of times.

Free Speech: Maybe not

Legal Constraints on Web Journals Surprise Many 'Bloggers'

(Washington Post)

This is one reason why I don't write anything that is work or business related on this page. If my memory seves me correctly, I do remember signing one of those non-disclosure agreements ... So, mum's the word.

I'm switching to Pepsi

Britney's out and Beyonce's in.

Finally!

Judge Vacates Convictions in 1989 Central Park Jogger Case.

"Truth crushed to earth, shall rise again" - Winston Churchill

South Korea: New pres.

SOUTH KOREA has elected a liberal former human-rights lawyer as its next president. Roh Moo-hyun, who represents the ruling Millennium Democratic Party, ran on a platform that called for more open dealings with North Korea and less acceptance of the American view of things.

The Economist has the details.

Where's Lott?

It's been more than 48 hours since he apologized, does that mean he's planning to step down? Not really reports the Washington Times.

Knicks: Respect

Whatever the source of their motivation, the Knicks played with as much pride and determination as they have shown in the past two seasons in pulling out a thrilling 101-99 victory over the Nets Teusday night in front of a sellout MSG crowd.

With this win, the Knicks snapped a six-game losing streak to New Jersey. Allan Houston scored 25 of his 29 in the second half to lead New York. Kurt Thomas tallied 17 points and Latrell Sprewell shot 2-for-3 from beyond the arc, finishing with 12 points.

As Latrell Sprewell said in response to the Nets' pregame trash talk, they might be on top now, but they never can match the Knicks' fan support.

This was a huge victory and I expect a lot more games like this up ahead. Let's go Knicks!

When Intergration Was A Crime

As the nation debates Trent Lott's comments, it is important to understand what segregation really meant. First and foremost, this was not just a bad attitude but a vast set of laws designed to marginalize one group on the basis of skin color.

Thus, racism was being enforced not by skinheads but by the police, by the courts and even by society itself; individuals who broke these statutes were condemned by the local community, just as we would do to lawbreakers today. [More]

New plans for ground zero released

The photo gallery is here

Powell on Lott

"We'll just have to see how this all plays out... I deplored the sentiments behind the statement. There was nothing about the 1948 election or the Dixiecrat agenda that should have been acceptable in any way, to any American, at that time or any American now."

Hispanics: Under-represented in the news

The booming U.S. Hispanic population has yet to be reflected in the news reports of the major broadcast networks and CNN, a new study shows.

Out of about 16,000 stories on the evening newscasts of ABC, CBS, NBC and CNN last year, only 99 0.62 percent were about Hispanics, according to the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.

Hispanics now represent 12.5 percent of the U.S. population, and their numbers have increased nearly 60 percent since 1990 to 35.3 million. What news stories the networks did carry on Hispanics often tended to be stereotypical and unflattering, the study said.

Telling it like it is

New York (CNN) Former President Clinton said Wednesday it is "pretty hypocritical" of Republicans to criticize incoming Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott for stating publicly what he said the GOP does "on the back roads every day."

"How do they think they got a majority in the South anyway?" Clinton told CNN outside a business luncheon he was attending. "I think what they are really upset about is that he made public their strategy."

He added: "They try to suppress black voting, they ran on the Confederate flag in Georgia and South Carolina, and from top to bottom the Republicans supported it."

Bring it on baby!

Advantage: How ya like me now!

Radical Manhatannism

Gawker is a Manhattan weblog magazine edited by Elizabeth Spiers, designed by Jason Kottke and published by Nick Denton. It is a live review of city news, and by news we mean, among other things, urban dating rituals, no-ropes social climbing, Condé Nastiness, downwardly-mobile i-bankers, real estate porn -- the serious stuff.

"One more reason to love New York". -RG

BET: What Next [2]

Over at Fresh's weblog, a question on the issue of Black Entertaiment Television's programming direction was raised. Certainly, this is an important issue to those of us that watch BET and are concerned with these latest turn of events.

Divine Joy also brings this petition to our attention that is well worth signing in order to help get the message across.

"NO!". Let's "Just Say NO!", to BET, Viacom, Bob Johnson and the world! Let’s show the world that we are worth more than a few ‘bootie shaking’, ‘bling bling’, 'gangsta' videos. IF not for ourselves, let’s do this for our children. Let’s show them that we are not going to just sit back and allow others to dictate to us what is IMPORTANT to US.

I'm hoping that BET will in short order reveal its strategy for growing the network in a positive direction. But for now, I'm not yet encouraged.

David Horsey

The NYPD wants to watch you

Nation's Largest Law Enforcement Agency Vies for Total Spying Power

The police department insists it needs broader authority to hunt terrorists, who may masquerade as regular law-abiding folks until the moment they strike. But if police win this bid, the followers of "extremist Muslim fundamentalism" they have mentioned won't be the only ones in their sights. Everyone becomes fair game.

As the nation's largest law enforcement agency—nearly twice the size of the Federal Bureau of Investigation—the New York City Police Department could be the biggest Big Brother of all. Yet it faces quite a stumbling block. A long-standing federal order, imposed after a landmark lawsuit revealed rampant surveillance abuses of political activists, prevents the NYPD from spying on whomever it wants.

Now the NYPD is fighting to gut the order and get its old powers back, reports the Village Voice.

Police currently cannot investigate people who are exercising their constitutional rights, no matter how unpopular the cause, unless there is some indication of a crime. Street protesters are the most obvious beneficiaries. But also covered are those who pray, attend community meetings, write editorials, or express their views in almost any other way.

Lott: Forget about it

Lott's statements on BET yesterday fell of my deaf ears. I was blinded by the Senator's record which I believe speaks louder than any words of apology he could ever convey.

According to liberal watchdog group People for the American Way, Lotts' record proves that over the years he has basically stuck his foot up black people's asses. Lott has consistently voted to the racist right of the purportedly "reconstructed" Thurmond on a number of major civil rights bills:

In 2001, Lott cast the only vote against the confirmation of Judge Roger Gregory, the first African American judge ever seated on the 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals. Thurmond voted for Gregory.

In 1983, Lott voted against creating a federal holiday for civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. Thurmond voted for the holiday.

In 1982, Lott voted against the Voting Rights Act extension. Thurmond supported it.

In 1978, Lott voted against the 1978 District of Columbia Voting Rights Constitutional Amendment. Thurmond voted with the two-thirds majorities in both houses that passed the amendment, which eventually failed to win approval in enough states to be ratified.

And, there's more.

Many African Americans sense that the Republican Party is riddled with bigots. Few myths exert as powerful an influence over blacks of all education levels. That's one reason why we resist pulling the lever for Republicans on election day, Now Lott comes along and digs a deeper hole for himself and his party.

I'm not being melodramatic, but I wonder how high my concerns would be on Lott's list of priorities. And, this sentiment resonates even more now that the balance of power in our government is tipped in the Republicans' favor; a party whose Senate majority leader will be one of our nation's half-dozen most influential people in the lawmaking process.

Lott has become a burden to America and he must go.

BET: What Next?

Ed Gordon of BET certainly did a good job of addressing Lott's recent controversial remarks. But just a few days earlier, BET made news of another kind. The Washington-based cable network announced it was eliminating most of its news division, including a nightly public-affairs program hosted by Gordon.

Artist or Prankster

Both The Daily News and The New York Postare reporting that the 38 black boxes bearing the word "FEAR" left under benches and stuck on walls in the subway station in NYC last week were all part of an art project. Several people had speculated this, but it wasn’t confirmed until yesterday when 25-year-old art student Clinton Boisvert turned himself in.

Publicity stunts like this don't go over well with edgy New Yorkers, especially post 9/11. There's a fine line that seperates Prank and art, at least in this case.

Lott On BET

Here is a transcript of the much anticipated BET interview with Trent Lott, in case you missed it.

Bloggers: Leading the pack on Lott story

"The papers did not make note of his [Lott's] comments until days after he made them," Time reported . "But the stillness was broken by the hum of Internet 'bloggers' who were posting their outrage and compiling rap sheets of Lott's earlier comments." Paul Krugman of The New York Times gave credit to blogger Joshua Marshall , whom he said, "more than anyone else, is responsible for making Trent Lott's offensive remarks the issue they deserve to be." Joe Conason's Journal said initially Andrew Sullivan of The Daily Dish was angrier than The New York Times, the Washington Post and National Public Radio.

John Podhoretz, of the New York Post, said bloggers' role in the development of this news story is exciting evidence of a new medium maturing.

Sean Penn: Smart Move

When Sean Penn visited Iraq last week, he seemed determined not to say or do anything that might incriminate him or perhaps cast him as the new Hanoi Jane.

The NY Times has the full story

Instead, Mr. Penn chose the diplomat's path, sparing both Mr. Bush and Mr. Hussein the full power of the "conclusions" he said he had reached in the momentum toward war. "Can I think of more extreme things to say?" the actor said, referring to Mr. Hussein's rule, during an interview in a suite in the government-owned Al Rashid Hotel that offered a twinkling nighttime panorama of Baghdad's palaces, party buildings and mosques Mr. Hussein has built in the bulldozed heart of old Baghdad. "You bet I can."

He added, "You come here on a Friday, you leave on a Sunday, and you start throwing out flamboyant and inflammatory messages — that doesn't seem to be of advantage to anyone." Where Iraq is concerned, he said: "I can read something one day, and the next day I read something else, and I think, `Oh God, I didn't even think about that,' and that's humbling. So I'm afraid of saying something that might hurt somebody, and then find out I was wrong in the first place."

An about face it seems, considering that Penn "paid for a $56,000 advertisement in the Washington Post in October accusing President Bush of stifling the debate on Iraq.

Google vs Evil

The world's biggest, best-loved search engine owes its success to supreme technology and a simple rule: Don't be evil. Now the geek icon is finding that moral compromise is just the cost of doing big business.

FedEX Workers File Racial Discrimination Lawsuit

FedEx Corp. faces accusations of rampant racial discrimination in a lawsuit filed last Thursday by 26 current and former California employees who say they are on a crusade for the company's entire minority work force.

Lead attorney Waukeen Q. McCoy, holds up a copy of a class action suit against delivery company Federal Express as a number of plaintiffs in the suit look on, during a news conference in San Francisco, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2002. The 189-page complaint filed Thursday, seeks damages for race discrimination, wrongful termination of violation of public policy, retaliation, racial harassment, gender based discrimination, intentional infliction of emotional distress, fraud, violation of the California Equal Pay Act and injunctive relief.

And to think that last time I looked at the calendar, it said December, 2002.

As the Trent Lott saga continues...

Rand Simberg has an interesting revelation about Trent Lott

Excerpt:

"As you all know, Bill Clinton was the first black president. Well, I'm the first black Senate Majority Leader. It's truly a proud day for the Republican Party and the African-American community."

"I know that many of you will be surprised to learn that I was 'passing' all of these years. It was a deep, dark family secret."

"My great-great grandmother was a house nigra on a plantation outside of Biloxi. My great-grandfather was a mullatto, my grandmother was a quadroon, and my mother was an octaroon, which makes me a hexidecaroon. As all of you from hereabouts know, just a touch of one hair of the tarbrush means that I can never be truly white."

Merry Christmas NYC

Transit Strike Averted

“It gives me pleasure to announce to the entire citizenry of New York that we have a proposed agreement,” Local 100 union president Roger Toussaint told a crowd at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in midtown where round-the-clock talks have been held since Friday.

Info To Go

I recently decided to replace my palm V and spent some time searching for a PDA that would offer me some great features without breaking the bank.

Having been a proud owner of the Palm V for 2 years, not only was I searching for an elegant looking PDA, but also one that provided adequate memory, expandability and a color screen .The Sony CLIE PEG SJ30 was perfectly suited to my needs so I picked one up last weekend.

The SJ30 uses the standard Palm OS 4.1 but adds a few flourishes to the basic theme: a high-resolution, color screen; 16MB of RAM; a Memory Stick slot; (which is especially useful if you want to carry around family photos) and extra software for viewing or editing images. The unit uses a 33MHz DragonBall VZ processor which will adequately handle most tasks with ease and the built-in lithium-ion battery delivers an acceptable amount of operating time

There are hundreds of third party software available for the Palm OS that I find very useful. In addition, the avant go service provides a prefect vehicle that allows me to stay apprised of current events even when I'm away from my PC.

This model will appeal to those who don't need all the extra bells and whistles and are simply looking for a well-designed, moderately priced, color PDA. I highly recommend it.

North Korea: Trouble looms

A combination of factors makes North Korea uniquely dangerous. It has an unpredictable and untrustworthy dictator, an economy in free fall and a two-track nuclear weapons effort that appears more advanced than Iraq's. ... Washington seems to think that it can afford the luxury of deferring the North Korean problem until it has finished disarming Iraq. It cannot. [more]

The situation is a lot more complicated than it seems, indeed. Read on and judge for yourself.

(Via NY Times) Reg. required.

American Media: Under the Gun

The Portsmouth Herald has this story

The American people know that U.S. forces handily defeated the Iraqi military in 1991 and that American bombs have already begun to drop on Iraq a decade later. What has happened since then and why the need to return?

These are questions for which few Americans have the answers, yet informed citizenship depends on them, according to University of New Hampshire professor and media analyst Joshua Meyrowitz.

Meyrowitz argued that by reporting mostly what government sources say, the American media have become instruments of war propaganda, thereby crippling their audience’s ability to find the truth or to hold their leaders accountable. Journalists in bed with the government have spawned an impaired version of free speech, but Americans take freedom for granted, so they don’t pressure the media to protect it, he said.

Death Penalty: Disparities

Gov.-elect Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. has vowed to rescind Maryland's death penalty moratorium as soon as he's sworn into office. If so, seven inmates currently on death row - six of whom are black - could soon be eligible for execution.

Yet a statewide poll conducted earlier this year found that at least 60 percent of African-Americans support the current moratorium on the use of the death penalty.

Consider: Maryland has one of the highest percentages of black death row inmates in the country - more than 70 percent. Although most murder victims are black, the 12 men on Maryland's death row were convicted of killing white people. Nine of them were convicted in Baltimore County.

Several prominent people have raised concerns about the fairness of the death penalty, including two sitting U.S. Supreme Court justices who have publicly expressed reservations.

Justice Sandra Day O'Connor told a law conference last year, "If statistics are any indication, the system may well be allowing some innocent defendants to be executed."

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said in a speech that she had "yet to see a death case among the dozens coming to the Supreme Court on the eve of execution petitions in which the defendant was well represented at trial."

In fact, the Supreme Court has recently agreed to consider the case of a Maryland death row inmate, Kevin Wiggins, who claims he was sentenced to death because of incompetent representation.

African-Americans and other people of color deal with a broad range of economic, educational and political inequities that are embedded deeply in our culture. Racial profiling, police brutality, poor legal representation and false imprisonment persist in a system that often fails to deliver equal justice under the law. [more]

Album Reviews:
Nas - God's Son
GZA - Legend Of The Liquid Sword

If you are talking straight lyricists - artists who can paint pictures in your mind with the use of clever wordplay, metaphors and words with double-meanings, it doesn't get any better than Nas and GZA. Both steeped in consciousness, MC battles, commercial success and New York City folklore, you would be hard-pressed to find any two MCs better than the Queens and Brooklyn-natives.

(Via Black Electorate.com)

Gore: No More

"I've decided that I will not be a candidate for president in 2004,'' Gore told CBS' "60 Minutes'" Sunday evening.

" I personally have the energy and drive and ambition to make another campaign, but I don't think that it 's the right thing for me to do.'"

"I think the current policies have to be changed," Gore said. "I think that my best way of contributing to that result may not be as a candidate this time around."

Gone but not to be silenced any time soon, I'm sure.

Meanwhile, websites like these are dissapearing rather quickly.

Transit Union: Sufficient Progress

Moments before the midnight deadline, Transport Union Workers secretary-treasurer Ed Watt said "we have made sufficient progress to stop the clock" and continue negotiations.

Transit Strike On Monday?

At 5 p.m., Transport Workers Union Local 100 President Roger Toussaint reacted to the statements of the mayor and the governor (see below) with his own press conference. "There is time to resolve this contract still," he said.

"I believe that there is plenty of opportunity to resolve this contract before midnight tonight. I say this because the issues we have presented are relatively simple issues, and at the point at which the MTA has decided that it wants to be helpful in addressing those issues, they will be resolved very quickly." (Complete transcript of his statement.)

At a 4 p.m. Sunday press conference with Governor George Pataki and Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the mayor said "nobody knows at this point if there will be" a strike, but that the public should go to sleep tonight "assuming there is a strike. And when they wake up in the morning they might be pleasantly surprise."

The governor said he would ignore calls on him to get directly involved. "I have not been and will never be involved in labor negotiations...There's no person on a white horse with a bag of money who is going to resolve" the issues involved in the negotiations.

Earlier in the day, Transport Workers Union Local 100 secretary-treasurer Ed Watt said there had been some progress in negotiations. "We have made a little progress, however we are still far apart on economic issues... and issues related to safety as well as mistreatment of our members."

City's Strike Watch Hotline -- 212 or 718 - CALL-DOT (225-5368)

New York Times Complete Coverage

New York Post Complete Coverage

How to get around in the event of a strike:

what the city says

what the Metropolitan Transportation Authority says

Contract news and negotiations from the Transport Workers Union.

Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.

The Issues

Negotiators for the city's subway and bus workers and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority are in round-the-clock talks to attempt to avert a strike by the nation's largest mass transit system. Questions and answers about the major issues:

Q: Who is negotiating?

A: The Transport Workers Union, which represents 34,000 city subway and bus workers, and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the state agency that runs the transit system.

Q: What does the union want?

A: The union is seeking 6 percent raises for each of three years, better health benefits and changes in the way the MTA disciplines its employees. It also wants the MTA to ensure better safety procedures for employees; two subway workers were killed in two days last month.

Q: What has the MTA offered?

A: The MTA, which is facing projected deficits and has proposed fare increases, has offered no raises for the first year of the contract and possible raises the second and third year if the union agrees to productivity increases. It has offered to spend $60 million more on health coverage over the next year and relax its disciplinary procedures. During the third year of the contract, the MTA wants workers to contribute 2.3 percent more of their income to a pension fund. [more]