SuitorZ

HURRICANE DANA

Dana Rishpy is still missing. The hurricane season will soon begin in Mexico and clues, witnesses, and memories will disappear in the wind. Matthew Walshen and friends who were last seen with Dana have yet to appear or be interviewed by the police.


Their anonymous postings to this blog declared Matthew's innocence. The postings also speculated that Matthew would "soon come forward". Despite his so called innocence, he has not surfaced. And although the messages state that in Mexico, you are guilty until proven innocent.....then what does he believe would point to his guilt?


The Mexican government has closed the case. But for her family, the search for answers continues. The Mayan people, indigenous to the area, believe that everything in nature has a spirit. Trees, flowers. birds, etc. Even though Matthew won't speak, eventually the earth, the water or some one's good spirit will. See and hear Dana in the Suitorz video above.

SKIN PRIVILEGED

Slices of Life and Racial Profiling in New York City by
David Benjamin

A year ago, my friend Marcus went to work at a record store downtown. Marcus carried a knife in his pocket. Under-cover police officers entered the store and bought a brand of magic markers called Krunk. When selling the magic marker to the undercover officer, he did not ask to see the officer’s ID to confirm his age.

Marcus didn’t ask to see ID because no one had told him that in order to buy Krunk Markers in New York City, you must have a valid ID showing that you are at least 18 years of age. When the officers ran Marcus’s Name, they found that he was wanted for murder. The only problem was that the 28 year old soft-spoken, college educated store clerk was not wanted for murder. Marcus had no record, but did have the same name as a wanted suspect. He is also black.

When the officers searched Marcus’s person, they found that he was carrying a knife. Not a switch-blade or dagger, but a fold-open pocket knife with a three inch blade. The kind of tool one uses to open boxes, in a store processing shipments and putting out merchandise.

Marcus didn’t leave work that day with a warning, or even a summons. He left in handcuffs and was delivered by the police to central booking, where he sat in a jail cell for almost two days. A few cheese sandwiches and hours of confinement later; Marcus was released and issued a court date. Then he got a lawyer, and appeared before a judge. He sold a magic marker, while carrying a knife to open boxes, and ended his work-day in jail, and with a four figure lawyer’s bill.

One can only wonder what would have happened if he didn’t have the pocketknife or if he didn’t have the same name as a wanted criminal, or if he weren’t black.
I worked in retail as a clerk for years. I opened boxes on a regular basis, and I carried a knife both at work, and while going about my daily activities. Unlike Marcus’s flip open three-inch knife, I opted for a six inch tanto-style switchblade.

Sure, a smaller knife would have worked fine for my purposes, but I wanted something, well, cooler. Once, about two years ago, a young man entered the store where I was working and asked for a tobacco product. I showed him one and he came to the counter. I asked to see his ID. He said he didn’t have it. I told him I couldn’t sell him any tobacco product without seeing his ID. He immediately left. A man standing by the register opened his wallet and showed me a police badge. He told me we had passed the inspection for ID checks. He then checked our cigarettes to make sure the tax-stamps were as they should be, and that we had all the legally required signage posted in plain view behind the cash register. He filled out some forms on a pad, and told us we had passed inspection.

During this process, I had my switchblade clipped to my pants pocket, its large plastic handle in full view of the inspecting officers. Nothing happened. I left work that day thankful that our store passed the rigorous inspection. Then again, I am white.
Often, when we think of racial profiling, we are drawn to cases where bullets fly, or cars are stopped on the side of the road. While violence may command our minds and headlines, we ought to give a moment to think about the daily life occurrences that can change dramatically based on race.

A SCHMEER ON DEAR

Not long ago, Brooklyn judge Gerald Garson began serving time for bribery. While Garson was marching off, Taxi and Limousine commissioner, Noach Dear was marching on.
On that is in his quest to be elected to a Brooklyn judgeship. With that election looming ever closer, one needs to take a look at Noach's checkered past. That does not include cabs with the same adjective.

Let's begin in the late 1980s, when then-Councilman Dear founded and ran a purported charity called Save Soviet Jewry. The state attorney general investigated and determined that Dear was improperly spending the charity's money on himself, for example, by flying himself and his young daughter to the Soviet Union. Dear said it was not a vacation and in fact they were going to save Jews from the Communists, but it was unclear how his daughter might do that, so not many people believed him. The charity also paid for lots of electronic equipment that was apparently kept in Dear's house on East 7th Street off Avenue I.

Dear insisted he'd done nothing wrong, but ultimately had to dig into his pockets to settle the case. Dear nearly lost his 1991 reelection bid to Robert Miller as a result of that scandal. This was all documented in the Bay News, archived at the Kingsborough Community College.

Dear's latest problem, rehashed by the Village Voice in its July 20 issue, involves $40,000 from 47 sequentially numbered money orders deposited into his congressional campaign fund. The Federal Election Commission, noticing the similar handwriting on the money orders, interviewed the 47 purported donors, who said they'd given nothing to the campaign. Auditors found two of Dear's campaign staffers had written the money orders, so the FEC filed a complaint in civil court. The FEC also found that Dear's campaign accepted $564,000 over the legal limit in the process of finishing third in the 1998 race won by Rep. Anthony Weiner.

The commission demanded repayment, and in 1999 Dear's committee filed papers saying it had refunded more than $300,000. But it hadn't, according to the FEC, which filed another complaint in June 2003 that Dear still owed more than $200,000 in refunds. It appears that Dear will escape with virtually no punishment other than bad publicity. While his campaign treasurer agreed to fork over $45,000 to close the book, Dear will only have to cough up what's left in two old campaign funds-all of $710, the Voice reported. Why doesn't the FEC garnish some of the $300,000 Dear has raised to run? It can't. The money's in a state campaign fund, out of the feds' reach (and also out of reach of the folks owed $148,000 by Dear's congressional fund.

Not only is Noach lousy at math, but equally challenged with spelling. The following is an excerpt from a Daily News article.

"As I wrote in my column today, Noach Dear's name-change (to "Noah," and only for mailings directed at black people) may be the least dishonest element of his campaign for State Senate.
I got this mailer from a couple I know -- he has an identifiably Jewish name, she doesn't -- who have been getting both the Yiddish-heavy Jewish mail from "Noach", all about funding Yeshivas, and the "Noah" mail, which features almost exclusively black faces."

YFP advises readers....."judge Noach before he judges you"

VITO LOPEZ'S FAVORITE CHARITIES

In a previous YFP posting entitled BRUCE ON THE LOOSE, it was detailed that Assemblyman Vito Lopez had manipulated a multimillion dollar sweetheart deal for Brooklyn developer, Bruce Ratner. Speaking of sweethearts, it would appear that Lopez has done the same for his girlfriend. View the following excerpt.

"Another organization has received nearly $700,000 over the same two-year period under the sponsorship of Democratic Assemblyman Vito Lopez. It is the Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council Inc. in Brooklyn, which employs a part-time executive director, Christiana Fisher, for nearly $129,000 a year and 17.5 hours per week. That's roughly $141 per hour.
The council also employs Lopez's girlfriend, Angela Battaglia, as a housing director. She's paid $108,593 a year for 25 hours a week of work -- roughly $84 per hour.
Lopez and both women did not return calls, and the assemblyman's spokesman had no comment. The council's comptroller, Wesley Hitner, said he was not authorized to discuss the organization."

For more on Vito, go to http://vitolopez.com

HOLY HYPOCRISY PART II

Member items help grease political machine
State senator from Bronx used straw donors for campaigns, ex-loyalists say

By JAMES M. ODATO, Capitol bureau
Click byline for more stories by writer.
First published: Sunday, June 11, 2006

ALBANY -- Three people who worked at Bronx charities created by Sen. Ruben Diaz Sr. say the state senator secretly gave them currency or money orders and instructed them to personally contribute the cash into his or his son's campaign accounts. Two of the charities have been heavily financed by special legislative grants of taxpayer money -- called "member items" -- arranged by the senator's son, Assemblyman Ruben Diaz Jr. State law makes it unlawful for a person to give money in someone else's name to a candidate's campaign, but that is exactly what Sen. Diaz did, three former loyalists said in interviews.
Hundreds of dollars in campaign donations from the three appear on the Bronx Democrat's state and city campaign disclosure reports, as do thousands of dollars more from dozens of employees and former employees of not-for-profit organizations Sen. Diaz controls.

"He would hold a fundraiser and go to the employees and give them cash or money orders," said Edward Padilla, executive director of Soundview Community In Action. "It wasn't the employees' money."

Sen. Diaz and his son, Assemblyman Ruben Diaz Jr., both refused to comment.

Soundview Community in Action is a Bronx nonprofit group that formerly employed Sen. Diaz, his wife and his former wife, the mother of Assemblyman Diaz. Soundview received hundreds of thousands of dollars in so-called legislative "member-item" funds through the senator's son while his family members were employed.

That act apparently violated Assembly guidelines that render an organization which employs an elected official's relative ineligible for such funds. A recent story in the Times Union about the Diaz family's use of member item money prompted Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver to give Assemblyman Diaz a stern lecture, according to a source familiar with the confrontation.

Silver said he has since bolstered oversight of member-item spending by bolstering monitoring staff and investigatory resources.

Soundview employees had begun to rebel at being used as political tools when Diaz Sr. rose from his position as a city councilman to become a state senator in 2003. Both the senator and his assemblyman son then began steering hundreds of thousands of dollars in member-item money to Christian Community Benevolent Association, another Diaz organization. Its staff is closely affiliated with Christian Community In Action, which employs Sen. Diaz's wife.

State records show Soundview's director, Padilla, contributed two checks of $500 each in 2002 to Assemblyman Diaz's campaign -- money Padilla said came from the senator. Sen. Diaz's filings for his last City Council campaign also list Padilla, misspelling Padilla's first name but using his Bronx address, as providing a total of $1,120 in June of 2001 in three checks -- money Padilla says he did not provide from his own pocket.

A woman who worked for Christian Community In Action, whose name is being withheld by the Times Union to protect her from retaliation, said she also received money from the senator, who also is a minister, to make contributions. She is listed as contributing to Assemblyman Diaz in 2000.

The woman also is listed as contributing to the Rev. Diaz's City Council campaign in 2001.

That source said the orders to donate and a supply of money orders came from the elder Diaz. "He's the only one with the audacity," she said.

A third source, who still works for one of the charities, said he received money to donate to campaigns as well. He is listed in 2002 filings as having given hundreds of dollars to both the senator's and assemblyman's campaigns. That worker said the senator provided the cash for the contributions.

"He would make money orders and just ask us to put our name on it," he said.

The allegations that Sen. Diaz has used straw contributors were corroborated by a fourth source who worked with Diaz, but they were disputed by several employees at Christian Community In Action, when reached at work. Those employees say they donated their own money to both the senator and his son.

Even while earning less than $30,000 a year, some gave hundreds or thousands of dollars to Diaz campaigns. They insisted the money came from their own funds. Many more would not comment and several others refused to take calls. Finally, a woman identifying herself as a lawyer for the group threatened legal action and demanded the Times Union stop contacting workers.

In recent years, Padilla and others who worked for Soundview complained to Attorney General Eliot Spitzer that the senator forced the nonprofit employees to work on voter campaigns, raise election funds and fill out money orders for campaigns, Padilla said. Spitzer, Sen. Diaz's filings show, donated $150 in 2002 to the elder Diaz's city council campaign. A spokesman for Spitzer could not explain the donation.

Spitzer's office concluded its investigation of Sen. Diaz by allowing the senator to use his campaign treasury to reimburse the state and federal government for misused public grants. Those grants, intended to help Soundview keep kids off the streets, were used to buy furnishings and audio speakers found at the senator's district office.

James M. Odato can be reached at 454-5083 or by e-mail at jodato@timesunion.com.

HOLY HYPOCRISY PART 1

In a week when NYC voters witnessed the perp walk of R-City Councilman Dennis Gallagher, the focus shifts to yet another potential unlawful lawmaker, State Senator Ruben Diaz Sr.

Despite having two gay brothers, the rabidly homophobic Rev. Diaz blames a recent FBI probe on "gay enemies".

Fed probe of Bx. pols turns into family affair
BY BOB KAPPSTATTERDAILY NEWS BRONX BUREAU CHIEF
Friday, March 23rd 2007, 4:00 AM


A Bronx state senator and his assemblyman son are being investigated by the FBI, the Daily News has learned.
Federal agents probing state Sen. Ruben Diaz and his son, Assemblyman Ruben Diaz Jr., walked into the Bronx office of the city Board of Elections yesterday and slapped officials there with a subpoena, sources said.

The agents seized voter petitions and voter registration records related to the Diazes, and apparently are investigating allegations of voter fraud, the sources said.
Neither Diaz could be reached for comment last night.

The investigation is the latest in a recent string of high-profile criminal probes, indictments and convictions involving Bronx politicians, the largest number since several scandals in the 1980s.
The younger Diaz, considered a popular and energetic politician among his Democratic supporters, has been viewed as a potential candidate for Bronx borough president.
The elder Diaz, who also is a minister, had previously run afoul of authorities for his misappropriation of government funds and his residency.

Under a deal cut with then-state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, Diaz repaid the state $5,000 in 2005 after he improperly used state and federal funds given to the nonprofit Soundview Community in Action group to buy furniture for his district office and loudspeakers for his campaign.

Diaz was previously the $65,000-a-year chief executive of the nonprofit group, and his ex-wife was paid $16,000 a year by the group to be a consultant.
Workers at the nonprofit had accused Spitzer of failing to fully investigate their claims of more widespread misuse of federal aid. They also accused Diaz of forcing workers to toil for his campaign while they were paid by the nonprofit.

In 2004, a constituent backing a political rival sued the elder Diaz in federal court, claiming he did not reside within the 32nd Senate District, covering Soundview, the Bronx.
Federal Judge Richard Berman dismissed the complaint, ruling that the case fell under the purview of Spitzer's office.
But Diaz later admitted to The News that he slept only a couple of nights a month at a rented house in the district and spent the rest of his time with his wife at a home outside the district.
rkappstatter@nydailynews.com

TOSS THE BOSS

Bad bosses get promoted, not punished

Fri 03 Aug, 2007 04:32
By Rachel Breitman
NEW YORK (Reuters) - How do people get ahead in the workplace? One way seems to be by making their subordinates miserable, according to a study released on Friday.
In the study to be presented at a conference on management this weekend, almost two-thirds of the 240 participants in an online survey said the local workplace tyrant was either never censured or was promoted for domineering ways.

"The fact that 64.2 percent of the respondents indicated that either nothing at all or something positive happened to the bad leader is rather remarkable -- remarkably disturbing," wrote the study's authors, Anthony Don Erickson, Ben Shaw and Zha Agabe of Bond University in Australia.

Despite their success in the office, spiteful supervisors can cause serious malaise for their subordinates, the study suggested, citing nightmares, insomnia, depression and exhaustion as symptoms of serving a brutal boss.
The authors advocated immediate intervention by industry chiefs to stop fledgling office authoritarians from rising up the ranks.

"As with any sort of cancer, the best alternative to prevention is early detection," they wrote.
They faulted senior managers for not recognizing the signs of workplace strife wrought by bad bosses. "The leaders above them who did nothing, who rewarded and promoted bad leaders ... represent an additional problem."

RESTAURANT RIPOFF

Beneath the glitz and the glamour of New York City lies a dark underworld of corruption and fraud. Yesterday, one of NYC's premier restaurateurs plead guilty to tax evasion. Cipriani's Restaurant, a name synonymous with high prices, influential politicians and celebs bowed to the accusations.

NEW YORK -
Restaurateur Giuseppe Cipriani, whose family runs the city's venerable Rainbow Room and Cipriani restaurants, pleaded guilty Tuesday along with his father to evading $10 million in state and city taxes.
Giuseppe and Arrigo Cipriani, and their corporation, admitted in state Supreme Court to knowingly filing falsified tax returns for 2003 and 2004.
Both left the courtroom without speaking to reporters.
On July 2, Dennis Pappas, a reputed mob money adviser who was vice president of Cipriani USA, was sentenced to prison for cheating Social Security and three insurance companies out of more than $1 million by filing false disability claims.
In addition to the Rainbow Room at Rockefeller Center, Cipriani operates Harry Cipriani downtown, Cipriani Dolci at Grand Central Terminal, and Cipriani 42nd Street.

YFP thought the following poem was appropriate for the occasion.

RESTAURANTS TAKE HEED


By Joyce Dutka

WHY IS THE NOISE LEVEL SO HIGH?

I CAN’T ENJOY THIS RESTAURANT ALTHOUGH I TRY

WITH THE AMBIANCE SO BEAUTIFUL, AND FOOD SO FINE

OF THE HIGHEST QUALITY AND THE VERY BEST WINE


I’LL NEVER GO BACK WHERE IT’S HARD TO HEAR

NOT NEXT WEEK, NEXT MONTH, OR EVEN NEXT YEAR

CONVERSATION IS DULLED BY THE NOISY ROOM

AND I CAN’T WAIT TO LEAVE , THIS PLACE IS DOOMED!


THE FRIENDLY WAITERS, THE FEELING SO WARM

BUT NOISE IS DEAFENING LIKE A THUNDER STORM

DON’T THEY KNOW IT DIMS THE FUN

WHEN A PERSON CAN’T HEAR AND WANTS TO RUN


“FIX IT PLEASE”, I WANT TO SCREAM

AM I IN A VERY BAD CULINARY DREAM?

RESTAURANTS TAKE HEED, YOU NEED TO KNOW

YOUR PLACE IS TOO NOISY, I WANT TO GO


BUT STAY I MUST, I HAVE A RESERVATION
AND I’LL PAY THE BILL WITHOUT HESITATION

RUDY HOOCHI?

YFP thought long and hard about publishing the following story. On a day when the news broadcasts that there were ten shootings in one night in Brooklyn, we decided that readers need some comic relief. The rumors of Rudy Giuliani's new dalliance have yet to be substantiated. The story is entertaining but YFP has no confirmation as to the facts. You dear reader....be the judge.

(Alleged) RUDY MISTRESS' CYBER LOVE NEST

'FRIEND' WITH BENEFITS? Shephard's MySpace pageIs this the MySpace page of Rudy Giuliani's mistress?

In its new issue, the National Enquirer reports that Starr Shephard, a 36-year-old motivational speaker from Houston, "is being accused of telling friends that she is Rudy's new lover." There are some caveats: Giuliani denies it, and Shephard herself says it's not true and that she's only met the former New York mayor and would-be president at campaign events.
Presumably, it was at one of those events that Shephard and Giuliani posed for the photo featured on her MySpace page. (She also has snaps of herself with Larry King and Donald Trump.) Above the photos, there is a link to a page urging visitors to donate to Giuliani's campaign; below them, there is this statement: "Believing unswervingly in the Honorable Rudy Giuliani to lead our nation and for his legacy of excellence and optimistic spirit for America to influence generations to come. His excellence, discipline, management, belief, optimism, and compassion to our citizens will protect and advance our One Nation under God. God Bless America for his power."
Elsewhere on the site, you can learn about Shephard's star sign (Pisces), body type (five feet, four inches/athletic), MySpace friends (Tony Robbins, Bill O'Reilly fans), and favorite books (including Leadership by, yes, R. Giuliani).
Starr will be in New York City to give a motivational, inspirational whatever in August. The following is an excerpt from her promotional ad.
Email now to schedule apt while she is in town. New York City - Mid town - August 18,19.

www.worldstarr.com

Apt. $200 hour to change your life and create the life you really want to LOVE. STARR Shephard, Masters of Science Clinical Psychology/Marriage-Family Therapy, Demartini Consultant (psychological paradigm to a new level), author for woman's handbook Girls Gals and Gurus motivational speaker seminar leader/keynote speaker The seven area's of our life must balance to receive the gifts of abundance that will fulfill our hearts innermost desires. All ages, any profession.
Everyone with a mind and a heart are welcomed to shine with STARR's inspiration. "Love Yourself as much as God loves you" "Believe in your true potential, live with vivid clarity, fulfill your inspiring mission, and definitely LOVE and be GRATEFUL to what you do" -STARR
Location: Midtown Manhattan

BLOOMBERG NO SHY GUY

SEX SUIT MAY HURT BLOOMBERG'S PRESS PLANS

SARA KUGLER

Associated Press WriterJuly 29, 2007

Mayor Michael Bloomberg speaks his mind and that is a big part of his cachet in anything-goes New York. But new details from a sexual harassment lawsuit he settled in 2000 and other racy comments over the years show how his blunt style could prove a liability if he runs for president as an independent.

Before his election as mayor in 2001, Bloomberg was the target of a sexual harassment suit by a female executive who accused him of making repeated raunchy sexual comments while he was chief executive of his financial company, Bloomberg LP.

Among the allegations in the complaint:_Bloomberg asked the woman who sued if she was giving her boyfriend "good" oral sex._He said "I'd like to do that" and "That's a great piece of a--" to describe women in the office._When he found out the woman was pregnant, he told her "Kill it!" and said "Great! Number 16!" _ an apparent reference to the number of women in the company who were pregnant or had maternity-related status.

Bloomberg denied the accusations. Both sides were barred from commenting because of confidentiality agreements. Stu Loeser, the mayor's spokesman, said Friday he had no comment for this story. The suit was a minor annoyance for Bloomberg during the mayoral race in 2001; opponents in that first race tried, with little success, to draw attention to the allegations.

It was not an issue in his 2005 re-election campaign. But the suit and other potential embarrassments resulting from Bloomberg's tendency to speak his mind are largely unknown to the rest of the country and are certain to be re-examined if the billionaire media mogul undertakes a third-party, self-financed presidential campaign for 2008.

Bloomberg has denied having any plans to seek the presidency. Yet he recently left the Republican Party to become an independent and has increased his out-of-state travel, increasing his national visibility. The harassment suit was filed in 1997 by former Bloomberg LP sales executive Sekiko Sakai Garrison.

Bloomberg adamantly denied all the allegations in the suit. He settled the case in 2000 for an undisclosed amount without admitting any wrongdoing. During his first mayoral campaign, aides told reporters that Bloomberg had passed a polygraph test in which he had denied the allegations.

That year, his campaign refused to release the actual test. Loeser said Friday the mayor's office would not provide The Associated Press with a copy of the original polygraph. Bloomberg founded Bloomberg LP in the early 1980s to provide financial information in a way that had never been available before on Wall Street.

According to Garrison's suit, Bloomberg and other male managers at the company made "repeated and unwelcome" sexual comments, overtures and gestures, contributing to an offensive, locker-room culture. Comments attributed in the suit to Bloomberg include: "I'd f___ that in a second," "I'd like to do that," and "That's a great piece of a--."Once, according to the suit, Bloomberg pointed out a young female employee and told Garrison, "If you looked like that, I would do you in a second."The suit also accused Bloomberg of referring to Mexican clients as "jumping beans" and saying of another female colleague who was having trouble finding a nanny that "all you need is some black who doesn't even have to speak English to rescue it from a burning building."

Some elements of the case were made public at the time. An individual with direct knowledge of the case provided additional details to the AP. The individual said Bloomberg admitted in a deposition, which never was made public, that he had said the words "I'd do her" about Garrison and other women.

When asked during the deposition what he thought that expression meant, Bloomberg said it means to have a personal relationship, according to the individual, who is barred from discussing the case and spoke on condition of anonymity. The individual also said Garrison had a tape of Bloomberg leaving a message on her home answering machine, saying he had heard she was upset about the pregnancy and maternity comment and adding: "I didn't say it, but if I said it I didn't mean it."Garrison sought $15 million in the suit.

She is bound by a confidentiality agreement and declined comment to the AP. Garrison, who worked at Bloomberg LP from 1989 until 1995, left the company, unable to return to work after Bloomberg allegedly made the remarks about her pregnancy, according to her suit.

The company contended Garrison was fired. Besides Garrison's suit, two other suits were filed in the late 1990s that accused the company of sexual harassment; one was dismissed and the other was withdrawn. The people involved in those suits also are bound by confidentiality agreements. Bloomberg is often praised for his straight-talking, no-nonsense style.

Since he took office in 2002, his language in public settings has sometimes risen to a level that some may find blunt, but rarely offensive. When asked recently whether New Yorkers should be concerned about a foiled plot to blow up John F. Kennedy Intern ational Airport, his exasperated response was that people should "get a life!" "You can't sit there and worry about everything," he said.

His staff and circle of city commissioners praise him endlessly as a boss, but acknowledge that he is often startlingly direct. "He can be a little gruff," Patricia Lancaster, his commissioner for the Buildings Department, said at a recent news conference. She is one of a number of women serving in high-level jobs throughout his administration, including his No. 2 in City Hall, the first Deputy Mayor Patti Harris.

Many are part of a close-knit group that has remained fiercely loyal to him for years, following him from his company to various city government jobs. In private conversations, Bloomberg is less inhibited and is known to tell bawdy jokes, use provocative language and comment on women's appearances. The public got a glimpse of this in 2003, when he told a pair of disc jockeys on a radio program that he would "really want to have" actress-singer Jennifer Lopez. A day later, Bloomberg backpedaled a bit and told reporters, as his face reddened, that he would want to "have dinner" with her.

The 65-year-old divorced bachelor had a reputation as a womanizer during the years he was building his financial empire. He began dating his girlfriend, investment firm executive and former state banking superintendent Diana Taylor, before his first run for mayor. "I like theater, dining and chasing women," he once told a reporter. "Let me put it this way: I am a single, straight billionaire in Manhattan. What do you think? It's a wet dream."In his 1997 autobiography, he boasted of keeping "a girlfriend in every city" during his years as a young Wall Street up-and-comer in the 1960s and 1970s. A less-restrained Bloomberg was also portrayed in a book of quips, quotes and anecdotes attributed to him and put together by employees for a birthday present in 1990.

It contains such statements as: "If women wanted to be appreciated for their brains, they'd go to the library instead of to Bloomingdale's. "Or, as he is quoted as saying about his invention, the Bloomberg computer terminal that made him rich, "It will do everything, including give you (oral sex). I guess that puts a lot of you girls out of business. "A former longtime Bloomberg employee who was familiar with the book confirmed the authenticity of the quotes to the AP and said Bloomberg regularly made similar offensive remarks.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear that Bloomberg would retaliate. During Bloomberg's 2001 campaign, he dismissed the book as "Borscht Belt jokes" and said he did not recall saying those things. Lee Miringoff, head of the Marist College poll that tracks New York politics, said the allegations had little impact on public opinion at the time, but that a presidential run would draw more scrutiny. "He doesn't have a defined national persona at this point," Miringoff said. "Certainly as a presidential candidate there might be a resurfacing of this _ it gets a second airing if he does decide to run."

JUDY COMES UP FOR AIR

After her initial foray into the limelight, Judy Giuliani was sent limping back to her shopping sprees. I'll prepared for the scrutiny of the media, Judy flamed out with faux pas. She reappeared last week in Savannah, Georgia on the campaign trail with Rudy. With Stepford Wife perfection, she beamed at her presidential hopeful. Long on mascara and short on comment, she praised the beauty of the Georgia terrain. Praise, however, is lacking in a soon to appear Vanity Fair article about Judy .

The Vanity Fair piece explores a run-in between Mrs. Giuliani and Sen. Clinton which transpired during a commemoration of the one-year anniversary of Sept. 11.

"Senator Hillary Clinton stood in the aisle -- until she was unceremoniously pushed by a phalanx of four burly cops entering the tent, these guarding Judith Nathan, Giuliani's girlfriend. No apologies were offered, one observer noted," Bachrach reports.

Clinton was apoplectic at the perceived slight.

"'The nerve of that woman!' Hillary exploded, recalling that her own daughter's Secret Service detail evaporated soon after Bill Clinton left office," Bachrach reports. "Why should an ex-mayor's girlfriend get such royal treatment? 'Who does she think she is?' Hillary said to an observer, who later recounted the story."

In her article, Bachrach employs some unflattering quotes from a longtime critic of the GOP presidential candidate, but identifies him as simply a "Giuliani biographer." Since the nineties, journalist Wayne Barrett has criticized the former mayor in a number of Village Voice articles and columns, plus two books he authored.

Barrett is used to back up the Vanity Fair profiler's observation that there may be cracks in Rudy and Judith Giuliani's marriage because the Republican presidential candidate appeared "strangely disconcerted" when his wife embraced him after a recent debate.

"It did not look like he was happy to see her. It looked to me like he was estranged," says Barrett. "He was cold."

NY Post gossip column Page Six characterized the Vanity Fair article as a "hatchet job" for painting Judith Giuliani as some sort of "an opportunistic, puppy-killing homewrecker."

Bloomquinn Boots Viola

Last week, New York City Hall became a battle ground of Barron vs. Quinn. City Councilman Charles Barron and Christine Quinn are in a running feud regarding the firing of Barron aide, Viola Plummer. Barron has vowed to keep Plummer on his staff
while Quinn upholds her "right" to fire city employees.

The power struggle escalated last week when Quinn ordered Plummer's removal from a section of City Council chambers reserved for staff only. Now granted, Christine won this round. However, it is only a matter of time before Charlie returns for yet another confrontation. Christine wants to be Mayor and Charles B. wants to be king. As Al Sharpton continues to ease into the main stream, Barron seeks to fill the void of grassroots leadership. Barron's fiery rhetoric is an eerie reminder an era gone by. A time when the political divide between Black and White was well defined. Hopefully this situation will resolve itself before we are back to the future. Watch the fireworks at:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5122393062274800998&pr=goog-sl

NO PEACEFUL DOV

In a recent unfortunate event, a child was abducted and sexually abused in Boro-Park. Community members were as enraged with their politicians as they were with the crime. The following excerpt is from Chaptzem.blogspot.com. Furthermore, comments disparage a not so "kosher" Noach Dear.

Dov Hikind’s political illusion. Blame the victim.

If you’ve watched Dov Hikind’s press conference on the four-year-old girl’s assault in Boro-Park you’ve seen one of the best pieces of political slight-of-hand performed lately. Once again, before any facts have surfaced a Boro-Park politician, that is very unBoro-Park-like, has gone on a rampage to throw blame on the victim and their family, rather than look at his own job record. Dov Hikind, who, for all means and purposes, does not represent the Boro-Park people or their culture, or even understand them or like them for that matter, has tried one of the oldest political tactics in the book.

Dov went in front of the television cameras and, instead of saying in a humble voice “There is a safety problem in Boro-Park and I will do my best to help fix it.”, he rather decided to misdirect the focus and cast all the blame on the mother of this little girl. Dov Hikind hopes that by blaming the mother everyone will forget to ask why the Police are not doing their job of protecting the community and why our politicians aren’t demanding that they do. Dov Hikind will run again for office soon and once again he will run only against Dov Hikind. Now, who does that say more about, us as a community, or him?

www.chaptzem.blogspot.com

Click Dov Hikind's political illusion. Them click comments.

CASH FOR CANDIDATES

Political campaigns are run with money, vitriol, and promises. Once elected, the candidate has to reciprocate with favors, jobs and contacts. The campaign donation list is a partial view of who will be the recipient of political largess. Check it out.

http://www.campaignmoney.com

DEBT FREE DOCTORS

US medical students graduate debt-free in Cuba
Wednesday, 25 July 2007 FREE DOCTOR:


US medical students Jose Deleon and Kenya Bingham are two of eight Americans graduating from a Cuban medical school after studies fully funded by Fidel Castro's government. They plan provide cheap health care in poor US neighbourhoods. Eight
Americans have graduated from a Cuban medical school after six years of studies fully funded by Fidel Castro's government. Two are from the New York area. They plan to return home, take board exams for licenses to practice and provide cheap health care in poor neighbourhoods.

"Cuba offered us full scholarships to study medicine here. In exchange, we commit ourselves to go back to our communities to provide health care to underserved people," said Carmen Landau, 30, of Oakland, California.

The programme is part of Castro's pet project to send thousands of Cuban doctors abroad to tend to the poor in developing countries, such as Venezuela and Bolivia, and train tens of thousand of medical students from developing countries in Cuba.

Officials in Cuba's communist government relish the idea of training doctors for the United States, its arch-enemy since Castro took power in a leftist revolution in 1959.
The ailing Cuban leader, 80, did not attend the graduation for 850 students from 25 countries at Havana's Karl Marx theatre. He has not appeared in public since intestinal surgery forced him to hand over power to his brother Raul Castro a year ago.
There are 88 Americans studying medicine in Cuba. The first to graduate two years ago was Cedric Edwards, who is now working at Montefiore Hospital in New York City's Bronx borough.
The US students praised Cuba's universal, free health-care system, which is community based and focuses on preventing illness before it becomes more serious and costly, in contrast to the US health industry indicted for being profit-based in Michael Moore's recent film "SiCKO."
"We have studied medicine with a humanitarian approach," said Kenya Bingham, 29, of Alameda, California. "Health care is not seen as a business in Cuba. When you are sick, they are not going to try to charge you or turn you away if you don't have insurance," she said.
The main difference in studying in Cuba was that there was no charge and the graduates can begin their practice debt-free, said Jose De Leon, 27, from Oakland.
"When medical doctors graduate in the United States they are usually in debt, between $US250,000 ($NZ315,099) to $US500,000, and spend the first 10 years of their careers paying it off," he said.
That, Landau said, requires rushing patients in and out to earn more. "'SiCKO' was an inspiration," said Landau, who plans to return to the United States to help promote the creation of a universal health-care system.
"It is a wonderful idea that makes total sense in every country, especially in one with so many resources. If they can do it in Cuba, we can do it in the United States," she said.

FOX ATTACKS BLOGGERS

BLOGGER POWER

The controversy of blogging continues to create discussion, apprehenssion and criticism. Blogging challenges traditional journalism. It creates an egalitarian forum where the powerless are empowered and the media elite are held accountable.
It's legitimacy will eventually be recognized despite the naysayers. As they slowly lose their strangle hold on the "News of the Day", bloggers will triumph.

Documentarian Robert Greenwald has a new campaign to answer the critics.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpht4sXDhx0&v3

MONSERRATE DEALS CARDS

Councilman Hiram Monserrate has proposed an equitable solution to the problem of personal ID's for New York City residents. Although controversial, it could work.
Identification cards would be made available to all New York City residents — including tens of thousands of illegal immigrants — under a proposal by a City Council member from Queens...

“The city of New York is home to eight million people, many of them immigrants and some of them, frankly, undocumented,” said Mr. Monserrate, who plans to introduce legislation tomorrow to create the ID card. “Some of them have been residents of the city for many years, and to give them a basic ID card that’s valid within the city limits only makes sense for our municipality.”

Bill for New York City ID Card to Be Introduced by Councilman

But critics argue that it will entice illegal immigration and undermine border security.

For many city residents, the only state or local government identification now available is a driver’s license or a nondriver ID card. For both, the State Department of Motor Vehicles requires a Social Security card and other documents that prove legal presence in the country.

Posted by Queens Crapper at 12:27 AM

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6033720416853359949&pr=goog-sl

YIPEE FOR HIPPIE

Has it really been that long ago folks? Well...maybe but we can relive it again.

HIPPIE
CULTURE HAS NOT BURNED OUT
THE YIPPIE MUSEUM, AN EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION CHARTERED BY THE BOARD OF REGENTS OF NEW YORK STATE IS SPONSORING A BE IN IN CENTRAL PARK.

THIS EVENT WILL BE AT THE NAUMBURG BANDSHELL Mid-Park from 66th to 72nd Street ON FRIDAY JULY 27, 2007 BETWEEN 2PM AND 7PM. AMPLIFIED MUSIC WILL BE BETWEEN 5 and 7 in accordance with park rules as we do have a permit
THE BANDS: AFUCHE / JAMMIN JON AND THE JAMMERS / TWENTIETH CENTURY FOXES
ARON KAY AKA THE PIEMAN IS YOUR HOST / HERO OF THE SUMMER OF LOVE IN NYC DANA BEAL / AJ WEBERMAN / AND XXX. LIKE COME THERE DRESSED LIKE YOU DID 40 YEARS AGO OR IF YOU ARE PART OF THE NEW CROP OF HIPPIES GET YOURSELF SOME BEADS, TIE DYE SHIRTS, BELL BOTTOMS, MUUMUUS. FOR MORE INFO CALL 1-917-374-7024