Among the recent anti-science, ignorant drivel from right wing Republicans was the tirade by radio talk show host Michael Savage. In the same tirade where he showed his ignorance and insensitivity towards children with autism, Savage also attacked children with asthma:

"[W]hy was there an asthma epidemic amongst minority children? Because I'll tell you why: The children got extra welfare if they were disabled, and they got extra help in school. It was a money racket. Everyone went in and was told [fake cough], 'When the nurse looks at you, you go [fake cough], "I don't know, the dust got me." ' See, everyone had asthma from the minority community."

This is just stupid. Really literally stupid, as well as mean-spirited. There is real science out there regarding the asthma epidemic and related allergy epidemic.

The Develop, Don't Destroy Brooklyn (DDDB) website lists, just in time for the holidays, all the businesses that have been supportive of their efforts to preserve Brooklyn. Here's that list below:

RESTAURANTS AND BARS:

7th Avenue Donuts Luncheonette (Park Slope)
Diner fare and fresh baked donuts.
324 Seventh Avenue (between Eighth and Ninth Street)
(718) 768-0748

Al Di La Trattoria (Park Slope)
Park Slope’s perpetually packed, widely-acclaimed Venetian institution.
248 Fifth Avenue (Near Carroll Street)
(718) 852-1572
www.aldilatrattoria.com
(I can personally vouch for this one. Absolutely excellent! The sage butter gnocchi and the saltamboca (sp?) are among the best as is their frozen cappuccino).

Antonio's Pizzeria (Park Slope)
Pizza since 1950.
318 Flatbush Avenue (between Park & Sterling Place)
(718) 398-2300

Bacchus Bistro (Boerum Hill/Cobble Hill)
French bistro.
409 Atlantic Avenue (between Bond & Nevins Street)
(718) 852-1572
www.bacchusbistro.com

Beast Bar (Prospect Heights)
A unique take on Spanish tapas, and bar.
638 Bergen Street (at Vanderbilt Avenue)
(718) 399-6855

At last night's Independent Neighborhood Democrats meeting Assemblywoman Joan Millman gave us a grim outlook for next year's state budget. I hear the same issue was discussed at Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats as well. This comes the same day the MTA forcasts an equally grim picture (but in their case we always have to question the numbers of an agency that keeps two sets of books depending on whether they want to show a surplus or a deficit). And from Governor Paterson we are hearing ideas like raising CUNY and SUNY fees and cutting education and health programs (our biggest outlays).

Three New York journalists, Rafael Martínez Alequin, Ralph E. Smith and David Wallis, have been denied press credentials by the NYPD with little explanation or appeals process. All three write for online journals and believe that they are being denied press credentials because they write for non-traditional media. The lawsuit alleges that the current Press Credential procedure violates the Constitutional Rights of the plaintiffs and interferes with the reporting of news in NYC.

Rafael Martínez Alequin, a long-time critic of Mayor (Tsar) Bloomberg, publishes the New York City Free Press, an online version of his earlier print version, the Free Press (originally the Brooklyn Free Press). His stated philosophy for the NYC Free Press is:

[UPDATE: Seems today's Daily News has confirmation that Nydia Velasquez is a front runner to replace Hillary Clinton should she be elevated by Obama (Cabinet or, possibly, Supreme Court). Don't know about you, but I heard it first at CBID!]

Tonight was CBID's (Central Brooklyn Independent Neighborhood Democrats) dinner honoring the Brooklyn for Obama people who worked so hard both locally and nationally to elect Barack Obama. It was held at Bogota, the excellent Colombian restaurant on 5th Ave. Those who know me know that I paid particular attention to the food, so let me get that out of the way, then I will mention some of the rumors that came my way today both at the dinner and by email after I posted my "Defeating Tsar Bloomberg and his Trained Surrender Monkeys" diary.

This was sent to me on Veterans Day but I am just getting around to posting about it.

Here's what they are all about:

Within the United States there are over one and a half million service members that have served in military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Over thirty thousand have been physically wounded, but many more have experienced less visible, psychological wounds. Traumatic Brain Injury and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder have emerged as signature injuries of these conflicts, with recent reports suggesting an increase in rates of suicide, alcohol and drug abuse, homelessness, and domestic violence among returning service members and veterans.

Just came across a Facebook site dedicated to defeating Tsar Bloomberg and the Bloomberg 29 (his trained surrender monkeys). So far it is just a sattement of purpose and a list of possible challengers to the 29 City Council members who voted to overturn the will of the people on term limits.

Here is their statement of purpose:

On October 23, 2008 the New York City Council passed Mayor Bloomberg's proposal that extended term limits from 2 terms to 3 terms for the Mayor, City Council, and other city officials without a voter referendum even though New Yorkers voted in 1993 and 1996 to keep term limits at 2 terms. The final vote was 29 YES and 22 NO.

According to a Quinnipiac poll, 89% of New Yorkers believe that the issue of term limits should be decided by voters in a referendum, not by an act by the City Council.

This was not an issue about whether you supported term limits or not. This was not an issue about whether you believed Mayor Bloomberg was a good mayor or not. This was an issue about whether the New York City Council had the right to overturn the will of the people.

Well, having just highlighted the anger people feel about the Bloomberg Putsch in my "Tsar Bloomberg and his Trained Surrender Monkeys" piece, I think it might be good to discuss the heroes of this fight and their actions to stop Bloomberg and the City Council from screwing the voters. A lawsuit has been filed.

From the Norm Siegel for Public Advocate website:

On Monday, November 10th, Norman, along with Randy Mastro and other attorneys of The law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, filed a federal lawsuit challenging the extension of term limits from 2 to 3 terms without a public referendum. Below is Norman’s statement regarding that lawsuit:

Today, we filed an important civil rights lawsuit regarding the extension of term limits from 2 to 3 terms.

The lawsuit is filed on behalf of 26 Plaintiffs, including voters, elected officials, citizens who aspire to be elected officials and good government groups.

Mayor (Tsar) Bloomberg and his Trained Surrender Monkeys

(Bloomberg photo from WCBSTV; Quinn photo from The Chief-Leader; Yassky photo from Streetsblog; Dom Recchia photo from Daily News)

This Sunday, November 16 event in Manhattan also comes from the Jewish Heritage E-Report (November 13, 2008) Edited by Samuel D. Gruber (see also here)

The Lower East Side Conservancy offers a walking tour (approximately 2 and ½ hours) of a largely unknown period of Jewish history on this coming Sunday, November 16th. The tour will include a visit to the usually locked early cemetery of Congregation Shearith Israel, across from Chatham Square. The cemetery is the oldest surviving Jewish burial place in New York.

The tour traces the history of the first Jewish settlement in the United States, visiting the sites (most original features do not survive) of the first Jewish institutions in New Amsterdam (later renamed New York):

• First & Second Spanish/Portuguese Rented Synagogues of Congregation Shearith Israel;
• First Mill Street Synagogue;
• Colonial Revival Houses;
• Stone Street;
• Sites of the homes of: Asser Levy,( ?-1681) New Amsterdam's first kosher butcher &
Gershom Mendes Seixas, (1745-1816), first native-born Jewish minister.