A Call for Mass Action Against the Suppression of the Occupy Movement

February 5th, 2012

The Atrium, Wall Street Area, Meeting With General Assembly, OCCUPY WALL STREET. Saturday, February 4, sometime after 7 p.m.

I’ve been working with an ad hoc group that wants to do a mass action rally against the blatant political suppression – via NYPD – of OCCUPY WALL STREET in New York City and the attack on the movement in general across the country. The purpose of the nonviolent rally is a quick infusion of visible energy and support to OWS  in this time of crisis, to stir up the spirit of millions in the wake of the NYPD attack on Zuccotti Park, evicting OWS. I was concerned that though the spirt of OCCUPY is manifest, the NYPD eviction could be interpreted as a defeat for OCCUPY and that the movement has been thwarted.

Members of the ad hock group believe that a quick response is necessary as a response to the police eviction. So, I was there in the Atrium with the ad hoc group seeking approval to move forward with the plans: An interesting experience for this writer who did not participate directly in the Zuccotti Park action. Most of the 50-plus GA members seemed generally supportive of what we wanted to do. There were at least four who didn’t and, based on the rules formulated by OCCUPY, one could block the support. And, of course, there were four.

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Former WORD Writer’s New York Times Piece

January 19th, 2012

Trial Puts Morocco’s New Charter Under Spotlight

CASABLANCA — In a packed courtroom, Mouad Belrhouat, 24, an anti-monarchist rapper who performs as El-Haqed, or The Spiteful, was convicted last Thursday of assault and sentenced to prison and a fine.

Article by Aida Alami 

The Pat Buchanan Bigot Boogaloo Now a Shuffle

January 10th, 2012

Huffington Post: Pat Buchanan Denies MSNBC Suspension: ‘I Don’t Know Anything About That’ (AUDIO)

Pat Buchanan spoke out for the first time about his absence from MSNBC on a Monday radio show.
Speaking to conservative host Hugh Hewitt, Buchanan denied reports that he has been officially suspended from the network following the release of a controversial book, “Suicide of a Superpower,” which claims that America’s European values are being drowned by waves of immigration. Buchanan has not been seen on MSNBC since Oct. 22.

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NYCLU Challenges Nassau County PD’s Refusal to Release Records on Dealings with TV Personality Bill O’Reilly

January 9th, 2012

 

Bill O’Reilly’s penis envy?

The New York Civil Liberties Union has filed court papers challenging the Nassau County Police Department’s refusal to disclose public records concerning allegations that the department launched an internal affairs investigation at the behest of Fox News pundit Bill O’Reilly of a detective whom the TV personality believed was romantically involved with his wife.

Click here for more info.

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NYPD Commissioner Wins “2011 Bull Connor Award”

January 9th, 2012

Bull Connor Theophilus Eugene “Bull” Connor (July 11, 1897 – March 10, 1973) was the Commissioner of Public Safety for the city of Birmingham, Alabama, during the American Civil Rights Movement. Connor directed the use of fire hoses, and police attack dogs against peaceful demonstrators, including children during the Civil Rights era. Read more here.

Check out the WORD’s Michael Hensley’s story on NYPD’s Stop and Frisk taking place in primarily Big Apple Communities of Color.

Stinkiest Journalism of the Year

December 27th, 2011

Occupy the PU-litzers!

This year has given us simply too many worthy contenders for FAIR’s annual P.U.-litzers–recognizing the stinkiest journalism of the year. A big part of the problem was that so many outlets were striving to distinguish themselves with especially awful coverage of the Occupy Wall Street movement. So to note those lowlights, we bring you a special installment of P.U.-litzers: The OWS edition.

Read full story here.

The Handwriting on the Wall, the Elephants in the Room

November 13th, 2011

D:F/M Colleagues were shocked at the Wednesday, November 9, faculty meeting when Dara Meyers-Kingsley, Project Director, Arts Across the Curriculum Initiative, said several departments in the College were submitting proposals to add media to their curriculum. [The Chair, speaking in a manner that set off alerts in this Colleague, expressed to Meyers-Kingsley hissurprise that he had not been made aware of this action, as chairs are suppose to be aware of threats to department turfs. No one even blinked.]

D:F/M sobriety was also blown away when it became known that D:F/M was not represented on the AAC Committee that had been formed.

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A Letter to the Prof

November 12th, 2011

Below is an excellent description by a student (ambushed by circumstances beyond his control) about an advance news writing class which started with an enrollment of 11 and is being taught this semester.

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Vanessa Casavant: Whoa! What Happened to This Former WORD Writer?

November 10th, 2011

There are way too many inaccuracies and too much misrepresentation and deceit in this blog-tumblr piece [below] by Hunter alumna Vanessa Casavant for this former mentor-instructor to engage in rebuttals, rejoinders, replies and the lot at this point in time in the early fall semester. For the moment, this writer is collecting her online posts as well as contacting news services who wrote about her quotable and paraphrased whining in their news articles to alert them to the spurious and the specious and that they were snookered.

So, what is this about? Read on.

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Union Square, 14th Street Station, NYC

November 10th, 2011

On my way home from Hunter College

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