Only 2 Days Left to Vote: Laura & Teresa Cookie Contest

"I use nothing but the best ingredients. My cookies are always baked fresh. I price cookies so that you cannot make them at home for any less. And I still give cookies away." ~ Debbie Fields, founder, Mrs. Fields Cookies

"My opponent called me a cream puff. Well, I rushed out and got the baker's union to endorse me." ~ Claiborne Pell, Rhode Island Senator [Democrat; serving terms 1961-1997]

family circle cookie cook-off

'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:

*

"A politician thinks of the next election. A statesman, of the next generation."

James Freeman Clarke 1810-1888, American Minister, Theologian

"A new poll showed that if the election was held today, people would be confused because it is normally held in November."

Kevin Nealon

Bush rallies supporters at Hammons Field

Bush back to campaigning in battleground states

"All Presidents start out to run a crusade but after a couple of years they find they are running something less heroic and much more intractable: namely the presidency. The people are well cured by then of election fever, during which they think they are choosing Moses. In the third year, they look on the man as a sinner and a bumble and begin to poke around for rumors of another Messiah."

Alistair Cooke 1908-, British Broadcaster, Journalist

Giuliani reminds Moore who was there

NYCLU will monitor cops, protest

"Even though this is late in an election year, there is no way we can go forward except together and no way anybody can win except by serving the people's urgent needs. We cannot stand still or slip backwards. We must go forward now together."

Gerald R. Ford 1913-, Thirty-eighth President of the USA

"Where annual elections end where slavery begins."

John Quincy Adams 1767-1848, Sixth President of the USA

labor pains

police continued to demonstrate, today at madison square garden, site of the 2004 republican national convention. under the watchful eyes of supervisory personnel, the event went almost un-noticed in the sea of preparation for the RNC next month.

the security personal for the event, sergeants all, were polite, helpful, in control and morale appears high despite on going contract negotiations.

hercules units in view earlier this week were conspicuously absent, mobile communication and command buses were in evidence along 8th ave.  10,000 police are promised in and around the garden by convention time.

New York Police, Fire Unions Protest At City Hall

Squad Cars Swarm City Blocks As Part Of Counterterror Drills

big labor, expected to demonstrate en masse during the convention (ATF/Local 338, AFL-CIO) made an entrance today near 33rd and 8th at the duane reade that lies in the shadow of the new 8th ave media bridge. smiling workers attempted to hand out fliers to an indifferent crowd emerging from the subway.

duane reade is screwing it's workers

expect many great and small, famous and infamous to emerge as the spotlights and cameras assemble. now this word form our sponsor

Republican National Committee Announces 2004 Platform Committee Staff

join the club

"There is no more beautiful life than that of a student." ~ F Albrecht

Republicans On Campus

all about access

"The journalists have constructed for themselves a little wooden chapel, which theyalso call the Temple of Fame, in which they put up and take down portraits all day long and make such a hammering you can't hear yourself speak."

Georg C. Lichtenberg 1742-1799, German Physicist, Satirist

Bloggers to Get Media Access at GOP Meeting Too

"Journalists are like dogs, when ever anything moves they begin to bark."

Arthur Schopenhauer 1788-1860, German Philosopher

Republican National Convention Travel Advisory

"Journalists belong in the gutter because that is where the ruling classes throw their guilty secrets."

Gerald Priestland, BBC Journalist, Quaker

hrr hrr hrr

"I'm gonna show you a hill that would choke a mule"
~ President George W. Bush


bush_bike 

bush cuts knee in biking mishap
MTB

king for a day

Like all great travelers, I have seen more than I remember and remember more than I have seen.

Benjamin Disraeli 1804-1881, British Statesman, Prime Minister

NYC & Company: New York City's Official Tourism Website America -- rather, the United States -- seems to me to be the Jew among the nations. It is resourceful, adaptable, maligned, envied, feared, imposed upon. It is warm-hearted, over-friendly; quick-witted, lavish, colorful; given to extravagant speech and gestures; its people are travelers and wanderers by nature, moving, shifting, restless; swarming in Fords, in ocean liners; craving entertainment; volatile. The chuckle among the nations of the world. Edna Ferber 1887-1968, American Author

welcome

familiar skyline

Republican National Convention NY Must See Old men and far travelers may lie with authority. Source Unknown

Republican National Convention guide Counter-Convention Guide Travelers are like poets. They are mostly an angry race. Sir Richard Burton 1821-1890, Explorer, Born in Torquay

courteous nyc wait staff

typical new york stage production

MAYOR MICHAEL R. BLOOMBERG ANNOUNCES NIGHT ON BROADWAY FOR REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION DELEGATES AND THEIR GUESTS  I really went to the Bar because I thought it would be easier to go on the stage after failing at the Bar than to go to the Bar after failing on the stage." Lord Gardiner (b. 1900), former Lord Chancellor of Great Britain

MAYOR MICHAEL R. BLOOMBERG ANNOUNCES FORMER MAYOR EDWARD I. KOCH TO BE CHAIRMAN OF VOLUNTEER DRIVE FOR 2004 REPUBLICAN CONVENTION Travelers repose and dream among my leaves. William Blake

helpful new yorkers

stand up and holla

"the foundation of every state is the education of its youth."

-Diogenes
 

vote for the 10 finalist  review each entrant, vote for your favorite

local teen finalist to speak at nrc teenager dan sharpe's essay one of 10 finalists

local girl a finalist for republican national convention  21-year-old port charlotte college senior sheri valera

Wynne Woman Could Speak at Republican National Convention twenty-year-old princella smith

 

"there is no virtue in being uncritical; nor is it a habit to which the young are given"

-Richard Livingstone

dance with the stars.

"the fight is won or lost far away from witnesses—behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights. "

Muhammad Ali

the dance, new york's finest meets new york at it's finest as Festive Union Square Crowd Turns Away Cops, and preparations far from witnesses and lights  Floor-raising for the GOP

foreign levy

"We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies, and competitive values. For a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people."

Alexander Pope 1688-1744

hear ye, hear ye, hear ye, from near and far Republican Delegates to See Sanitized Gotham Life and let it be known NY anti-war group accepts alternative location for protest

"americans are very friendly and very suspicious, that is what americans are and that is what always upsets the foreigner, who deals with them, they are so friendly how can they be so suspicious they are so suspicious how can they be so friendly but they just are."

 

Gertrude Stein 1874-1946

 

 

city without walls

"It is possible to provide security against other ills, but as far as death is concerned, we men live in a city without walls."  - Epicurus 

the city prepares it's walls. our fascination with our own security continues unabated. NYPD's Scuba Team adds anti-terror to its duties and from a federal standpoint USF sonar guards GOP convention  

"The greater the difficulty, the more the glory in surmounting it."  - Epicurus

 

Additional Program Speakers Announced for the 2004 Republican National Convention

sweet justice

pudding over veal
thanks to a ruling by federal justice robert w. sweet, demonstrators/protesters at the 2004 republican national convention will have protection against illegal search and seizure of their personal property, and nypd will not have the right to use iron gates to pen them in like so much veal. this is welcome news to defenders of the constitution, but of course it's all theory until put to the 'proof's in the pudding test'.


Federal Judge Orders NYPD To Ease Restrictions on Protesters
Activists Express Guarded Optimism


how not to win friends, or influence people
City Workers Blast Mayor at MSG Over Contract Talks

clouds and lemons

"the end of the world is coming upon us."
"pay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what belongs to God."

Saint Ambrose of Milan, 378 CE

the wised or most foolish among us is both.

as it seemed to st.ambrose with gothic victory at adrianople, so it seemed to many on 9/11. life is tenacious, the first organisms return to the blasted, ruined landscape and political conventions become selling points for brokers offering terrorism insurance

 ambrose's theological basis for individual rights independent of governmental regulations is essential to our society. the gods wish us to be free.

"The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation".

Henry David Thoreau, 1854

thoreau, like st. ambrose , like many, a product of his time couldn't extent to his own logical conclusion, "the mass of people". like st.ambrose, like many he forcast clouds and lemons others see inmates raise law enforcement dogs life is tenacious, the first organisms return to the blasted, ruined landscape

2000 words

These are the two anti-war bill boards that will be displayed in times square, new york city during the republican national convention 2004. the berkeley california based project billboard agreed

thursday july, 15 that the peace dove would appear in place of the stylized bomb first proposed to accompany the iraq war cost banner. billboard owner, San Antonio-based Clear Channel had questioned the appropriateness of the bomb image displayed in New York City. this Agreement paves way for anti-war billboard

the rain, the park and other things

The Ten Original Amendments: The Bill of Rights.

Passed by Congress September 25, 1789. Ratified December 15, 1791.

 

AMENDMENT I

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

 

The anti-war groups United for Peace and Justice  and Project Billboard challenge our words and deeds. we owe them a debt for the opportunity to re-affirm our dedication to the highest ideals. we must at this time more than most listen to the angels of our better nature.

 

"Suddenly the sun broke through (see the sun).I turned around she was gone (where did she go).And all I had left was one little flower from her hair."

anarchy now

Republican National Convention Blog NYC 2004

the forces of plan and chance will meet in new york city this summer. each embodied by armies of representatives of many
trades and philosophies.

the dynamics created by this confluents are sure to produce the common as well as the rare. the expected and the unexpected.

players great and small, famous and infamous will gather on the stage to play parts yet unwritten.

plan and chance.

vox populi

minority voices and national election security

the neighborhood school where i vote usually has a  cop in need of a haircut, and a uniform that looks like he hasn't had to be in it for a while at the door, to assure that any citizen registered to vote is free to do so.  volunteers [senior citizens and highschool kids] help the voters get to the correct voting machines for their neighborhood's district and if anyone needs assistance operating the voting machine, they explain which lever does what. the whole process  takes less than 10 minutes to complete. nothing sinister, no digital brownshirts, and i would imagine the same type of scene plays out across the nation---inclusive of  florida.

"I have a dream my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." ~ Martin Luther King Jr, Lincoln Memorial, Washington, D.C., August 28, 1963

"I believe in human beings, and that all human beings should be respected as such, regardless of their color." ~ Malcolm X

texas congresswoman eddie bernice johnson, and other congressional members have petitioned the un secretary general [a black man] to monitor the 2004 us presidential elections. recently interviewed by fox news' neil cavuto, the congresswoman made the assertions that: 1)blacks, and minorities on the whole have no voice in government or the current administration, 2)black floridians were not allowed to vote in the 2000 presidential election, and 3)that george w bush does not legitimately hold the office of president. congresswoman eddie bernice johnson is black. she is saying the electorate that voted her into office---an electorate that [by her implication] is comprised predominantly of blacks and other minorities has no voice. she is saying that even though she holds a us congressional seat [representing texas' 30th district] she has [because she is a woman and a minority] been prevented from voicing her concerns and those of her constituency. the fact that she was invited to speak freely on a nationally broadcast news program cancels the accusation that blacks, women, and other minorities have no national forum.  the un as monitor of our national election, is with all do respect to the congresswoman and her colleagues, RIDICULOUS. it's ridiculous to assert that the 43rd president does not legitimately hold office---of the 6 million votes cast in florida in the 2000 election, bush won the state's 25 electoral votes by 537 votes. mr. bush's cabinet and other prominent appointees are comprised of more minorities and women at the highest level than his immediate predecessor. to continue promoting the view that minorities and women have no political voice in 21st century america is equally ridiculous and insults the intelligence of anyone within earshot of such rhetoric.

following a warning from federal officials based on intelligence reports that al-qaida is likely to attack the us again in november to disrupt national elections, election assistance commission chairman deforest b. soaries [a black man] is scheduled to meet next week with homeland security head gov. tom ridge. chairman soaries has already conferred with national security advisor condoleeza rice [a black woman], and has sent a letter to democratic and republican congressional leaders expressing his concerns that, should there be another terrorist attack in the united states, there currently is no federal statute for suspension or rescheduling of national elections.

gonzo japanese journos stalk nyc's upper west side

seen while waiting for the republican national convention: they camp out or repeatedly return to the rumored haunts of their selected prey. who are they and who are they looking for? they are freelance japanese journalists in search of michael moore. recently a knot of 8 from japan staked the upper west side in search of michael moore. their search's main stop was a cafe where michael moore has been known to spend time. to protect mr moore's [and other celebs known to dine at the same spot] privacy we won't divulge the specific name, but i will tell what details i can. when the 8 arrived they did not want a table. the manager told me that the 8 are part of a larger group of freelancers which he described more as fanatics and a japanese cult phenomenon rather than journalists. this group had a unisex look about them so their genders were not discernible, but i would hazard a guess as to 6 men and 2 women. they stalk their prey and ambush them with questions until they agree to an interview. they asked the hostess if mr. moore was there? no. is he expected today? no. he does come here, yes? yes. ah ha! hope. with that they did agree to be seated. from my vantage they appeared to only be having coffee for the better part of an hour. disappointed that they wouldn't capture mr. moore here [at least on this day], they settled up and moved on to other locales.

in related news: a Q & A of michael moore by various international journalists can be found at australian broadcasting corporation online Michael Moore brands Howard 'disgraceful'

also check out michael moore's voting record at: thesmokinggun.com

nsa rice recipe:

Republican National Convention Blog NYC 2004

plans for national election delay not the same as plans to delay national election
Rice: No plan to delay national election

the devil is in the details...

Republican National Convention Blog NYC 2004

as dr. frist is about to find out , desending into the neither world of politics. that's the sign post up ahead. the republican national convention's 2004 platform committee. how white will the coat and reputation remain in this theater? sure to entertain all and please none.

RNC Chairman Announces Leadership for Republican Party Platform

answer is, ... security ... number one answer.

USF sonar guards GOP convention

oops! florida does it again

Republican National Convention Blog NYC 2004

Report: Touchscreen Voting Flawed in Fla.

Beantown and Big Apple Insured

Republican National Convention Blog NYC 2004

Boston, New York hosts buy insurance

the times they are a-changin'

Republican National Convention Blog NYC 2004

our first story finds bloggers in the twin convention spot lights. let's get ready to rumble for "truth, justice and the american way." in the interest of balance remember that "with great power goes great responsibility."

next we deal with civil and personal rights

"We here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." ~ 16th US President Abraham Lincoln

separate but equal? the mayor proves again he can be right, with proper lighting.

hear ye hear ye hear ye ... and remember

Dems Credential Bloggers; GOP Will, Too

NY's Bloomberg to Entertain Gay, Pro-Choice Groups

comings and goings

Republican National Convention Blog NYC 2004

the type of story that we should expect from here on in, more extensive and intrusive closings and slow downs. this information will be released in drips and drabs daily for dramatic effect.

Longer Waits at MSG for N.J. Transit During Convention

more backstage gossip and tea leaves as we wait for the principals to arrive.

President's brother to keep low profile

gods of security and business

Republican National Convention Blog NYC 2004

more post 9/11 realities brought home by the human faces in these two stories. nice job by locals, about locals, for locals, flavor. lessons to be observed and learned by the powers that be and all those that watch with interest from near and far.

common sense for new yorkers as what we knew all along comes to pass. those in charge as usual are the last to know.

IN THE SUBWAYS

Party no boon for local shops

Delegates: RNC Host Committee Wants You to "Be a Part of It"---NYNY

Republican National Convention Blog NYC 2004

The City That Never Sleeps Wants RNC Delegates to Shop Til You Drop and Party Non-Stop
Banner Season for City

RNC officials, NYC mayor bloomberg spar over turf and dollars.

Republican National Convention Blog NYC 2004

this feud has been simmering since we first reported the dust up at the May media walk-through. expect more fireworks as local princes feel the heavy hand of the capital upon them.

the mayor won't miss this chance to play champion to the people of new york. the feds trump card of security will prevail as it should and must.

the scramble by the mayor for federal dollars is all together fitting and proper. his efforts to secure the maximum benefits for his electorate is applauded.

NYC Mayor Irks GOP Ahead of Convention

Closings and Security

Republican National Convention Blog NYC 2004

Convention to Close All But Two Entrances to Penn Station


Big Apple Hotels Prepare for Republican Convention

6. What is the deadline for protest demonstration permit applications? June 15, 2004. This date has been extended. Here is the latest on protest permits for the Republican National Convention. Training protesters, Convention Protest permits, Women Protest, protest overview, Volunteers Protest, Politcal protest a crime, Columbia University protesters,