Electronics Recycling: SATURDAY 11 - 4 in Cobble Hill

Thanks to Paco Abraham of Cobble Hill Association and Tom Gray of Bill deBlasio's Office for bringing this to our attention (and for making it happen!)

Electronics Recycling -
Saturday, November 1st.... 10am - 4pm
Schoolyard of Brooklyn PS 29, 425 Henry Street, entrance is on Baltic between Henry & Clinton St in Cobble Hill

We will accept Working and non-working:
-Computers (laptop & desktop), Monitors
-Printers, scanners, fax-machines, copiers
-Network devices (routers, hubs, modems, etc.)
-Peripherals (keyboards, mice, cables, etc.)
-Components (hard drives, CD Roms, circuit boards, power supplies, etc,)
-TVs,VCR & DVD Players
-Radios/Stereos
-Cell Phones, pagers
-PDAs,Telecommunication (phones, answering machines, etc.)
-Media (SMALL QUANTITIES of floppies, cd's, zips, VHS tapes)

-Sponsored by Councilmember Bill DeBlasio, the Cobble Hill Association, and PS 29 PTA.

Remember, all of these items have toxic chemicals and heavy metals that leach into surrounding soils if not disposed of properly. They also contain some exotic elements that can be recycled into new components, obviating the need for new mining . . . so it's a win - win.

Killing Conservative Lies

Over at NY Mag, Matt Taibbi tears Byron York into tiny, perfectly coiffed pieces over the roots of the economic crisis. A sample:

M.T.: You don't think the unregulated CDS market was a major factor in the current crisis? Were you watching when AIG almost went under? Were you watching the Lehman collapse?

B.Y.: I think that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were also major factors. And I believe that many of the problems in the mortgage area can be attributed to the confluence of Democratic and Republican priorities: the Democrats' desire to give mortgages to people, particularly minorities, who could not afford them, and the Republicans' desire to achieve an "ownership society," in part by giving mortgages to people who could not afford them. Again, I believe that if you are suggesting that the financial crisis is a Republican creation, or even more specifically a McCain creation, I think you're on pretty shaky ground.

M.T.: Oh, come on. Tell me you're not ashamed to put this gigantic international financial Krakatoa at the feet of a bunch of poor black people who missed their mortgage payments. The CDS market, this market for credit default swaps that was created in 2000 by Phil Gramm's Commodities Future Modernization Act, this is now a $62 trillion market, up from $900 billion in 2000. That's like five times the size of the holdings in the NYSE. And it's all speculation by Wall Street traders. It's a classic bubble/Ponzi scheme. The effort of people like you to pin this whole thing on minorities, when in fact this whole thing has been caused by greedy traders dealing in unregulated markets, is despicable.

Primary Day!

Tuesday September 9th is the Democratic Primary . . . and in these low turnout contests, your vote does matter.

With the presidential primary long past (February), many people are simply unaware that there are a lot of hotly contested Democratic contests Tuesday . . . so turnout really matters.

You can find your polling place with THIS handy tool on the Board of Elections website.

Tomorrow I'll be proud to pull the lever for DEVIN COHEN, candidate for Civil Court in the 1st Judicial District and a solid progressive. I am confident that Devin Cohen will be scrupulously honest and fair behind the bench. While Devin is a true progressive Dem and a selfless volunteer, his mercenary opponent Roger Adler has a long history of working with the Conservative Party, even authoring their amicus brief against same sex marriage. In addition, Adler represented disgraced former Democratic leader Clarence Norman. We need to elect a good Democrat in this race; we need to elect Devin Cohen.

I'll also be voting for State Senator Marty Connor. Marty has served our neighborhoods for decades now, in the frustrating position of the minority party in the Senate. But this is the year that we will break the Republican hold on the Senate, and for the first time since 1965 win a Democratic majority. There is a lot to be said for institutional memory, and Connor is an old hand in the Senate: he has the experience to take a leadership role once again, and would be well positioned to provide a strong voice for our community. I've met Connor's challenger, Dan Squadron, a number of times, and I have nothing bad to say about him. In fact, I like Dan. But given the unique situation we are in this year, I believe we should place a premium on experience. And so I think we should reelect Marty Connor.

Lastly, it's outside of Brooklyn, but I want to express my support for Assembly Candidate Paul Newell. Paul has waged a courageous campaign against Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. Silver is an example of an entrenched politician who could benefit from a primary challenge. Silver, you'll remember, let the congestion pricing plan wither and die. Paul Newell will make better transit, and transit funding, a reality for our City. If I could vote in the 64th, my vote would go to Paul Newell.

Now get out and vote . . . these are low turnout contests and quite literally, every vote counts.

CGNA Meeting Monday Night 9/08/08

A message from Maria Pagano, President of the CGNA:

Hi Everyone!
Just a reminder- the new cycle of CGNA General Meetings will begin next
Monday, Sept. 8.
We will continue to meet on the second Monday of each month (except as
noted for holidays) at our new location: the Hannah Senesh Community
Day School, 342 Smith St (entrance mid block between First and Second
Places) at 7:30 PM.
Looking forward to seeing you all!


Also of note this week, the General Meeting of CB6 at LICH (339 Hicks St) on Wednesday night at 6:30.

No guest testimony at the General meeting, but there's always valuable information.

Wanted: Brownie Leader

I received an email from a woman looking for a co-leader for a local Brownie troop and was going to post it . . . but Katia beat me to it and has a cute picture to illustrate. Why reinvent the wheel?

Click through to Pardon Me For Asking if you or someone you know might be interested in helping out. Thanks!

Cobble Hill Bike Ride September 14th

Lots of good news these days for pedestrians and cyclists in NYC. We had Summer Streets, which was a refreshing turnover of roads from cars to people walking, running, biking and skating.

Last week, DOT's Chris Hrones and a colleague presented a number of new bike lanes on tap for Cobble Hill, Boerum Hill, and Downtown Brooklyn at the CB6 Transportation Committee meeting.

And now this:

The Cobble Hill Association and Brooklyn Greenway Initiative announce the first ever Cobble Hill Bike Ride.

September 14th, 2008
10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Cobble Hill Park
FREE, to participate simply email your full name and daytime telephone number to CobbleHillBikeRide@gmail.com
http://cobblehillassociation.blogspot.com/2008/08/join-cobble-hill-bike-ride.html

The Cobble Hill Association and Brooklyn Greenway Initiative are hosting a 12 mile casual bike ride that will start at Cobble Hill Park and then pass through the Columbia Waterfront District, Red Hook, Park Slope, Prospect Park, Gowanus and loop back to Cobble Hill.

There will be several scenic rest stops as the ride follows mostly calm streets with some light vehicular traffic. Several Bike Marshals will travel alongside the group, guiding the ride. Bike Marshals will also be prepared to handle any urgent bike repairs needed. Light snacks and water will be provided but riders should be prepared with sunblock, plenty of water, and ready for a light pace that will include some cobblestone streets in Red Hook and the 9th Street hill in Park Slope, with an option to also ride hill within Prospect Park's car-free loop.

I'm looking forward to it!

Working Seven Days A Week Is Fun!

But does not allow much time for blogging.

- The Denver Police are taking a page from the Bloomberg/Ray Kelly playbook and planning in advance to harass and detain cyclists at the Democratic National Convention next week. Besides being wrong on many levels, it is just asinine.

- The Brooklyn Paper has an article on the Devin Cohen / Roger Adler civil court primary. This one is hugely important for progressives. Registered Democrats, please get out and vote for Devin Cohen on September 9th . . . it's a choice between one of the best, most altruistic community activists I've ever met (Devin) and a mercenary political hack (Adler). These primaries are typically low volume affairs . . . your vote counts!

When I get a chance to catch my breath, there's a lot of transit blogging to catch up on. We've got a real opportunity this year to revisit our transit funding schemes and fund the infrastructure investments that will keep New York on top . . . or we could make the same mistakes of the 70s.

Enjoy the unusually cool August weather . . . summer will be gone before you know it.