UFT to Launch Ad Blitz Against Bloomberg
The teacher’s union is set to run the ad, which not-so-subtly seeks to tie the current budget negotiations to Bloomberg’s handling of the Christmas Blizzard that was especially felt in the outer borough areas like Southern Brooklyn. It’s supposed to be running on Inside City Hall, Conan, Daily Show, Iron Chef, SNL, etc.
“Mayor Bloomberg sees things differently than the rest of us. Our schools are short of money, yet he refuses to ask millionaires to pay their fair share.”
“He says class size doesn’t matter. And talks more about who will get laid off, than trying to stop teacher layoffs, altogether.”
“This is about protecting our kids’ future, Mayor Bloomberg. And that’s a lot bigger than any snow storm. We can save our schools. But first, we all have to support them.”
Gotham Gazette has good background information on the dispute.
(Click on the image above to watch the video)
East New York Walmart Debate Heating Up
Erin Durkin from The Daily News writes on the latest City Hall protests and activities surrounding Walmarts plans to expand into New York City:
Hundreds of protesters angrily denounced Walmart, and small business owners testified that they were afraid they’d close if the retail giant succeeds in opening its first city store. Walmart supporters countered with boxes of petitions signed by 30,000 New Yorkers who want a store in the five boroughs.
…
“They’re going to kill me,” said Elvin Fernandez, 49, owner of an Aim Supermarket in East New York, near the planned Gateway II shopping center that Walmart is eyeing.
He said business already fell 25% after a BJs moved in nearby - and Walmart would be much worse. “It’s everything - electronics, shoes, clothing, everything. It’s all the small retailers that are going to suffer,” he said. “They say they’re creating 500 jobs, but they’re going to kill 2000 jobs.”
East New York activist Tony Herbert of the Walmart 2 New York City campaign showed up with 30,000 petitions from people who favor Walmart. “We as a community are suffering,” he said. “We need jobs now for our community and we need people to survive.”
(photo: protesters in front of City Hall, source: Daily News)
Castelfidardo: through history and music
Castelfidardo is situated not so far from the sea, dominating from its hill the Musone Valley and the area of Aspio. It is known throughout the world for its famous music instruments factories, such as accordions, keyboards and organs. When passing by this places, you are invited to go and visit the Accordion International Museum, located in the basement of the City Hall. The City Hall is situated in the city centre.
The Accordion is a musical instrument work of genius with an accurate mechanism so loved by many generations of Italians. In the Museum you can find documents about the history of a musical instrument that have had in Castelfidardo the main production centre for over a century, with its 350 unique specimens coming from twenty-two different countries…
Read More about Castelfidardo Via visitancona.com
Paolo Soprani, a famous maker of accordions (Wikipedia)
