Thousands march in support of New York bus drivers (Video)

On Sunday, thousands rallied at Cadman Plaza in Brooklyn and then marched across the Brooklyn Bridge to support New York's striking school bus drivers. 

Digital Journal reported on January 16 that more than 8,000 bus drivers and aides went on strike in New York City that day. As a result, some 152,000 parents struggled to find their children transportation to school. 

Due to the fact that the union is blaming New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg for refusing to negotiate, the strike is still ongoing, nearly four weeks later. As part of an ongoing strike for job protections, school bus drivers, matrons, mechanics and supporters got together in New York on Sunday afternoon to march across Brooklyn Bridge. This was followed by more than 1,000 members of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) rallying near City Hall.

Reportedly, city officials say it is illegal to offer job protections in contracts. The strikers are calling Mayor Michael Bloomberg “heartless” as the city prepares to open competitive bidding for new contracts. Bloomberg wishes to strip the drivers of job protections that have existed in the city for nearly half a century.

A Staten Island driver, John Scotto said, “We’re not asking for one benefit, or 10 cents. It’s simply for the right to come back to work in September.”

One of the protesters was Noah Gotbaum, a Manhattan widower raising three children with special needs, one of whom was being bused to public school. The other two take public transportation. Gotbaum said that the city is “trying to cut costs and the workers are saying, `If you want to squeeze the profits of the bus companies, that’s fine. But stop trying to lower the bids on the backs of the workers.’"

Gotbaum stressed that guaranteeing job security would lead to attracting and keeping workers with more experience. “I need and count on these folks every single day,” he said. “They’re as important to me as the teachers.” 

The event was called only two days earlier. Sponsors of the march included the ATU, New York Communities for Change, and Parents to Improve School Transportation.

The video was made and uploaded to YouTube by Occupy TVNY.

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/343250

Artists Against Fracking 'tweetstorm' to target Governor Cuomo February 6

Right now, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is considering lifting a temporary ban on fracking in New York, threatening communities' health, polluting vital water sources and opening up peoples' lands to gas exploration. You can help.

From Lady Gaga to Yoko Ono and Sean Lennon, Artists Against Fracking have got the backing of more than 200 artists in the fight to end fracking. See the full list of artists here. 

Digital Journal reported recently on the visit by Artists Against Fracking to Pennsylvania, where Yoko Ono, Sean Lennon, Susan Sarandon and Mahatma Ghandi's grandson, Arun Ghandi visited families living in the area. These families have been severely impacted by fracking, which has robbed them of clean ground water.

Fracking, or to give it its full name, hydraulic fracturing, is a method of extracting natural gas and oil from rocks, at depths from 2,000 to 10,000 feet. What they do first is to drill deep wells straight down through the aquifer. The drilling then curves horizontally below the earth's surface and into its shale rock formations. Once this is done, millions of gallons of water, laced with chemicals, is injected at extremely high pressure into the rock formations. This breaks apart the rock and frees trapped methane, along with other dangerous materials.

There are currently more than 27,000 wells in the US, each of which uses 1-8 million gallons of water and 80-300 tons of chemicals each time it is fracked. Wells can be fracked up to 8 times. However, the danger is that only 4 of the 31 states that have major fracking projects have robust drilling rules in place. The fracking industry remains exempt from Clean Water, Safe Drinking Water and Clean Air Acts, hazardous waste disposal and other federal regulations.

In the video above you can hear and see what has happened in Pennsylvania through the whole fracking industry. While fracking was previously banned in New York State, Governor Andrew Cuomo is currently considering a temporary lift to this ban, and this could happen within the next three weeks. 

Award-winning filmmaker Josh Fox has made the short film about the visit by Artists Against Fracking to Pennsylvania, where people can hear from residents living with fracking, and explaining the problems resulting from the industry.

Artists Against Fracking are asking everyone to watch the film, and then prepare for a coordinated day of action on Twitter. What they say is: "Groups and communities across the country are organizing a "tweetstorm" targeting Governor Cuomo on Wednesday February 6th from 1pm ET until 4pm ET."

"What's a tweetstorm? A tweetstorm is when people agree to use twitter.com to tweet a message at a decision maker, pressuring him or her to make a decision. Think of it as a virtual protest at the Governor's office." "Together we'll flood Governor Cuomo's Twitter inbox with thousands of tweets calling for a ban on fracking in New York."

If readers would like to get involved, here is what you should tweet: Tell @NYGovCuomo #dontfrackny! Click to sign the petition @causes to protect clean & healthy communities: http://links.causes.com/s/clIHwX?r=gUBO  

If readers prefer, they can go straight to the petition page and leave their mark. 

To the source: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/342888

Yoko Ono & 'Artists Against Fracking' visit Pennsylvania

Yoko Ono and her son, Sean Lennon, started a petition against fracking in New York. They were then invited to visit communities in Pennsylvania to see the actual impacts and effects of fracking, up close and personal.

Together with their friend Susan Sarandon, and honored by being joined by Mahatma Ghandi's grandson, Arun Ghandi, they headed off to Pennsylvania to find out for themselves the effects of this controversial method of gas extraction. They also invited members of the press to travel along with them.

They drove into the quaint town of Montrose, PA, only to be upset by the sight of a gas pad of four drills, with a hissing pressure release. There was a giant compressor station under construction, a drilling rig which reached to the sky, and a whole load of huge trucks, full of sand and toxic chemicals running around on narrow dirt roads. Not so quaint after all.

However, the sight of the beautiful landscape being ruined was not all, as the group then met the residents, whose homes and lives have been forever changed because of fracking. Among the people they met were Vera Scroggins, Craig Stevens, Rebecca Roter, Frank Finan, Ray Kemble and the Manning family.

The video above includes an interview with Tammy Manning about the pollution of their well and ground water. None of these residents can drink water from their own wells any more, even though they are on their own properties, due to the poisoning of the fracking process. They cannot use their well water to drink, to wash dishes, to bathe, do laundry or to cook food. In effect, these families have to buy water every day, despite the fact that they have their own wells, on their own properties, that used to supply them with fresh healthy water.

As Manning says in the video, they have to run the water to prevent methane gas from building up and possibly causing an explosion. When they do this, they have to ensure that their windows are open, as the gas could then poison them. It is a dreadful situation, and there is apparently no way to reverse this.

Artists against Fracking

Sean Lennon, Yoko Ono, and Arun Ghandi visit with families impacted by dirty fracking operations in PA.

"Our water was bubbling in our well. It looked like a full running boil in our well," said Tammy Manning, 45. "We don't want to have to leave," she added. "We just bought the house. But if we've no water what can we do."

Naturally, when their water went bad, their property values declined, making it difficult to even sell and move to a healthier place to raise their families. "I don't think we can sell it with no water. We're stuck," said Manning.

What makes it worse is that the gas companies are accusing these defenseless people of lying. However, the Artists against Fracking group saw the brown smelly water in the homes they visited, and even took samples away with them. 
 

Artists against Fracking

Yoko Ono, Sean Lennon and Susan Sarandon hold water from Ray Kemble's kitchen sink.

During their visit to Pennsylvania, the Guardian reports that the group was somewhat attacked by filmmaker, Phelim McAleer, in Dimock, who is pro-fracking. McAleer apparently approached the group's bus with a cameraman.

McAleer apparently then loudly accused Ono, Lennon and Sarandon of acting in the interests of the "1%" in their opposition to the practice. The Irish filmmaker then apparently lost his trilby hat in the mud when he heckled the activists and got heckled back.

McAleer was also in the news recently after accusing Matt Damon, star of the new film, Promised Land which deals with the subject of fracking, of being a "liar." Apparently a panel discussion about the movie featured Damon and Damon said that the movie wasn’t political.

“I don’t want to call Matt Damon a liar but he’s a liar, really,” McAleer said. “It’s a deeply political movie and it’s deeply disingenuous for Matt Damon to say otherwise. … Matt Damon isn’t telling the truth.”

In the latest incident in Pennsylvania, McAleer shouted at them and cited EPA studies, that the group says are incorrect, saying that the drinking water in Dimock was safe.

Yoko Ono sincerely hopes that Governor Cuomo will make the same tour as they did before making any decisions on whether to allow fracking in New York. While its too late for Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, Ono is hoping that Governor Corbett of Pennsylvania will visit the same families and homes as the group did, to stop the industry from spreading further in that beautiful state.

Ono and Artists against Fracking are also urging President Obama to take a trip to Pennsylvania and to set aside any notion he may have of depending on fracking instead of true clean energy. Ono says that industry documents prove that these wells crack and leak, more and more over time. This cannot be prevented and once it occurs, cannot be fixed, thousands of feet below ground.

Anyone who wishes to prevent this same awful situation happening in New York can sign the petition here, and learn more about the dangers of fracking here.

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/342080

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Video: Actor Mark Ruffalo talks against fracking in New York:

D15 — Sandy survivors' day of action in Rockaways, NY

Residents of Rockaways joined together with Occupy Sandy on December 15, marching the streets and demanding that the government do something to help rebuild the neighborhood after Hurricane Sandy. 

It is now two months since Superstorm Sandy hit the area, but the disaster is far from over for these residents, and relief needs are still great. 

 

Heat and electricity are still absent in many areas, and many homes are uninhabitable, with black mold taking hold. Those living in homes with mold are becoming sick. 

 

With some landlords increasing rents by huge amounts, to try and cover their costs, and with other property owners deciding not to repair properties and evicting tenants, times are very hard in the Rockaways. Some people had household insurance on their houses and are now finding that the response from the insurance companies is taking much too long. 

 

Yet with all the problems still ongoing, government and FEMA response has been glaringly absent. As they did with Hurricane Katrina, and other recent disaster-and-recovery events, reconstruction resources and responsibility have been handed off by city, state and federal agencies, to corporations and markets. This hand-off has pushed affected people further out of their communities, further into crisis and vulnerability, and further from the decision-making tables that allocate public resources. 

 

Where the government has failed, Occupy and other groups have stepped in. Occupy Sandy Relief NYC has done the very best it can, but it cannot restore electricity and replace homes. 

 

On December 15, citizens, activists and community leaders took to the streets to demand change from the government and to take charge themselves. The people are demanding that power is restored to the people.

The people also now understand that climate change has turned a corner and they know they will be hard hit again by extreme weather events. Hence they are taking to the streets to ask "whose interests our government serves? Is it polluters, predatory lenders, and disaster profiteers?" 

 

"Or can we build a stronger, better, resilient New York where all of us, regardless of race, class or power, can weather future storms?" Do you live near the Rockaways? Have you also been affected by the lack of government and FEMA support after Sandy? Please comment below.

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/339478

'Casablanca' piano sold at Sotheby's, New York for $602,500

The famous phrase, "Play it, Sam" is now off the table, as the famous piano goes under the hammer at Sotheby's in New York. 

The 58-key upright piano made an appearance in the classic 1940's Oscar-winning World War II movie, Casablanca. It was used in one of the movie's most iconic scenes, when the song "As Time Goes By" was played by Sam (Dooley Wilson). 

 As Sam played, Humphrey Bogart's and Ingrid Bergman's famous characters, the doomed lovers Rick and Ilsa, toast with glasses of champagne. Then Bogart's character, Rick, pronounces his most famous line, "Here's looking at you, kid."  

The sale of the piano marks the 70th anniversary of the classic film, which was largely set in the Moroccan port city of Casablanca, then part of unoccupied French North Africa. 

Just before the bidding began, Rachel Kaufman, a pianist invited by Sotheby's, played the famous tune "As Time Goes By".

Kaufman, 43, is a professional pianist, who made her living as a music director and accompanist in the musical theater and cabaret worlds in New York City for 20 years.

She said, “It was very emotional to play. I’m still choked up. There’s something magical about this piano.”

The Japanese owner purchased the piano for $154,000 on auction in 1988. At the time, this was one of the highest prices ever paid for a movie prop.

He was hoping to get $1.2 million for the piano, but had to settle for $602,500 when the famous piano went under the hammer to an unnamed owner. Apparently the lot failed to meet the expert's expectations.

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/339143

Confidential confetti drops in Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

In a case of possible recycling gone horribly wrong, shredded confidential police documents were used as confetti in the recent Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

While normally the parade organizers, Macy's, uses "commercially manufactured, multicolor confetti, not shredded paper," a New York police department is now in trouble after its badly shredded, confidential documents were used as confetti in the parade.

As crowds were watching the floats and balloons go by in one of America's biggest annual spectacles, some people were rather surprised at the confetti that landed on their clothing. Many documents, imprinted with the letterhead of the Nassau Police Department, were seen amongst the paper. Some contained addresses, license numbers and even social security numbers.

Even worse, some of the recovered scraps seem to be fragments of police reports and also private staff records, including records of undercover officers. One scrap even detailed the route used by Mitt Romney during a presidential debate last month.

 

According to the New York Post, some of the material remained scattered near Central Park West and West 65th Street on Saturday - even as the department vowed a thorough investigation.

 

Ethan Finkelstein, 18-year-old Tufts University freshman of Manhattan was one of the first to notice the unexpected paper shower and told reporters, "I'm just completely in shock."

 

“A friend of a friend was standing in front of me, and she had a big piece of confetti on her coat. She saw it had something on it, and we read it said SSN, like Social Security number,” he said.

 

“We started picking all the confetti up, and it had all kinds of stuff - birth dates, addresses, account information.“

 

"I don’t know where it came from. All of a sudden it was everywhere!”

 

"At first I thought it might be documents from Macy’s employees until I saw that there were detectives’ names and information about crimes in there. This is really shocking!” he added. 

 

Nassau County Police have apparently admitted that the documents do belong to them, but say they have no idea how they found their way to the crowd.Inspector 

 

Kenneth Lack said, "The Nassau County Police Department is very concerned about this situation. We will be conducting an investigation into this matter as well as reviewing our procedures for the disposing of sensitive documents."

Read more and watch video: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/337692#ixzz2DJubtP6t

In a case of possible recycling gone horribly wrong, shredded confidential police documents were used as confetti in the recent Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

While normally the parade organizers, Macy's, uses "commercially manufactured, multicolor confetti, not shredded paper," a New York police department is now in trouble after its badly shredded, confidential documents were used as confetti in the parade. As crowds were watching the floats and balloons go by in one of America's biggest annual spectacles, some people were rather surprised at the confetti that landed on their clothing. Many documents, imprinted with the letterhead of the Nassau Police Department, were seen amongst the paper. Some contained addresses, license numbers and even social security numbers.

Video screen capture

Part of a Nassau County Police Department letterhead in the Macy's Day Thanksgiving Parade confetti.

Likes

Even worse, some of the recovered scraps seem to be fragments of police reports and also private staff records, including records of undercover officers. One scrap even detailed the route used by Mitt Romney during a presidential debate last month. According to the New York Post, some of the material remained scattered near Central Park West and West 65th Street on Saturday - even as the department vowed a thorough investigation. Ethan Finkelstein, 18-year-old Tufts University freshman of Manhattan was one of the first to notice the unexpected paper shower and told reporters, "I'm just completely in shock." “A friend of a friend was standing in front of me, and she had a big piece of confetti on her coat. She saw it had something on it, and we read it said SSN, like Social Security number,” he said “We started picking all the confetti up, and it had all kinds of stuff - birth dates, addresses, account information. “I don’t know where it came from. All of a sudden it was everywhere!” “At first I thought it might be documents from Macy’s employees until I saw that there were detectives’ names and information about crimes in there. This is really shocking!” he added. Nassau County Police have apparently admitted that the documents do belong to them, but say they have no idea how they found their way to the crowd. Inspector Kenneth Lack said, "The Nassau County Police Department is very concerned about this situation. We will be conducting an investigation into this matter as well as reviewing our procedures for the disposing of sensitive documents."

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/337692#ixzz2DJuWuZAA

NYC marathon runners ignore cancellation, raise money for victims

The ING New York City Marathon was cancelled, due to the devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy. 2,000 runners ignored the cancellation and held the "Run Anyway NYC Marathon 2012" to raise money for Sandy's victims.

The 2,000 runners ran approximately 26.2 miles (42.2 km), four times around Central Park – some clockwise, others counterclockwise, some running straight through the park... read more and watch video.

Occupy Sandy Relief NYC: OWS helps victims of the superstorm

In the wake of devastation by Superstorm Sandy, OWS is getting involved, using its grassroots strength to help those affected and to organize relief efforts. 

As stated on their home page, "Occupy Wall Street & 350.org have teamed up with Recovers.org – a people-powered disaster relief platform – to help coordinate response to Hurricane Sandy in NYC." 

With around 750,000 New Yorkers without power, large areas of New York City remain under water and at least 18 people have been killed. The OWS volunteers started in the Lower East side and have been moving through New York's five boroughs with members of international environmental organization 350.org and recovers.org, a disaster aid group. 

OWS is using the social media to coordinate its efforts, with the help of local churches and city agencies. Anyone wishing to get involved should tweet using the hashtag #SandyVolunteer. If you need help, tweet using the hashtag #SandyAid. 

There is also a Facebook page to help coordinate efforts as well as a Twitter page. Volunteers are also out on the streets, giving aid where possible and finding those in need, and passing the information on to Recovers.org. 

OWS is calling for people with "experience in or tools for medical and psychological services, electrician work, plumbing, construction, financial or legal services, debris and tree removal, childcare, transportation, senior services or language skills," who can sign up at one of three sites in the Red Hook in Brooklyn, Astoria in Queens and in the Lower East Side in Manhattan.  

A pay portal has been set up for anyone wishing to make financial donations in the recovery efforts. Also drop off points have been established throughout Brooklyn, where people can donate food, water, flashlights, batteries, candles and other necessities.  

Drop off points are as follows:  

Red Hook - Red Hook Initiative, 767 Hicks St  
Park Slope - Residence, 258 15th St, apt #2  
Sunset Park - St. Jacobi Church, 5406 4th Ave  
Williamsburg - Residence, 75 Powers St. #2, 11211  
Bedstuy - Residence, 136 Jefferson Ave, apt 2 11216  
Harlem - Residence, 47 Saint Nicholas Avenue #4d, btw 112 and 113 

In other response news, Mayor Michael Bloomberg's office has suggested the NYC Service be employed, which is a government initiative coordinating volunteer efforts on a year-round basis. 

Bloomberg wrote on Twitter, "We've seen an enormous outpouring of support from people who want to volunteer & contribute." Volunteers will be notified once opportunities become available. 

Bloomberg also praised New York City's first responders, for their "heroic efforts to protect New Yorkers" during the storm. "I can’t say enough about the extraordinary work of our first responders at the FDNY and NYPD, EMS, hospital workers, and more," he said. 

In his speech, Bloomberg says that it will take some time to get things back "on the path to recovery." He admits it could take up to five days to have the city's transportation system running again. He also quoted Governor Andrew Cuomo as saying, "It was as bad as anything I have experienced in New York." 

The American Red Cross is coordinating blood donations, collecting financial donations and seeking volunteers to staff its shelters. The Daily Mail has several striking photographs of the devastation in the city.

Read more and watch videos: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/335860#ixzz2ArshU52o

Alert as 26 nuclear plants in Hurricane Sandy's path (video)

The projected path of Hurricane Sandy could impact as many as 26 nuclear plants. Arnie Gundersen, the chief engineer of energy consulting company Fairewinds Associates, warns of the dangers.

 

As the Frankenstorm hits the east coast, leaving millions without power, Gundersen warns that even if engineers at plants from North Carolina to New England say their plants have been shut down and are safe from disaster, this could already be too late... read full article and watch video of the interview.

Jewish & Christian groups respond to anti-Muslim NYC subway ads

Three different groups are responding to the launch of anti-Muslim ads in the New York City subways last month, by hanging posters of their own, right next to the "hate ads." 

Digital Journal reported on September 22, that a federal judge had ruled that the city’s transportation authorities could not legally refuse to host anti-Jihad ads in the subway. The ads, prominently displayed in the subway, read, "In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man. Support Israel. Defeat Jihad" and were placed by the executive director of the American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI), Pamela Geller. 

 

The three groups are planning to place their own ads right next to them, including Rabbis for Human Rights - North America, the Sojourners Christian group and the United Methodist Women. The United Methodist Women have already added posters of their own to the New York subways, reading “Hate speech is not civilized. Support peace in word and deed.”

United Methodist Women

During an interfaith press conference on September 25, Harriett J. Olson, General Secretary of the United Methodist Women said, “We needed to be present with a counter voice, we need to stand for the work of peace, and to say that free speech should not be used recklessly or in an inflammatory way.” The groups want to respond with a message of love by hanging these pro-Muslim posters, in order to condemn intolerance and to celebrate the city's diversity. Rabbis for Human Rights plan their ads to read, “In the choice between love and hate, choose love. Help stop bigotry against our Muslim neighbors.”

Rabbis for Human Rights - North America

On their website, a message reads: “Our subway platforms and buses should not be the platform for messages of hate that divide friends, neighbors, and colleagues.” A petition on their website reads: “These disturbing and misguided ads are not meant to educate; they are meant to increase hatred and discrimination against New York City’s Muslims, and to drive a wedge between Muslims and Jews. The subway ads demonize Islam and ignore the positive contributions that our Muslim friends, neighbors and colleagues make to our country every day,” The Sojourners Christian Group are planning to use the message, “Love your Muslim neighbors.”

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/334226