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City Council to law-abid ing people of this city: Go to hell. In a move that reeks of two-fisted police-bashing, the council today is poised to rename a street in Queens after Sean Bell. The man who, after a night of drunken carousing at a seedy strip club patronized by diseased hookers and low-rent junkies, rammed his car into a detective's legs, then died in a hail of police bullets. Now, Bell's memory is being sanitized. He is to join the rarefied ranks of leaders, humanitarians and sportsmen whose names grace the avenues and thoroughfares of this city. Martin Luther...

Detroit's (predominantly black) public schools are the worst in the nation and it takes some doing to be worse than Washington, D.C. Only 3 percent of Detroit's fourth-graders scored proficient on the most recent National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) test, sometimes called "The Nation's Report Card." Twenty-eight percent scored basic and 69 percent below basic. "Below basic" is the NAEP category when students are unable to demonstrate even partial mastery of knowledge and skills fundamental for proficient work at their grade level. It's the same story for Detroit's eighth-graders. Four percent scored proficient, 18 percent basic and 77 percent...

The Wall Street Journal reports this week that U.S. investigators are discovering that more and more young Muslims are vanishing from mosques, madrassas, and Islamic centers. The disappearances, the Journal notes, are raising grave concerns among FBI and Homeland Security officials who fear that an onset of jihadist activity will take place on American soil in the near future. Hundreds of Muslim men are also missing from Islamberg and this is not a propitious omen.

At least common thieves don't destroy an entire health care system and socialize the American economy when they commit their felonies. Too bad we can't say the same for our illustrious Democratic senators who sold out the nation. In exchange for criminally unconstitutional favors for their respective states, they voted to pass the Senate health care bill just 38 hours after it had been made available to the public for review. Everyone knows about Sen. Mary Landrieu's negotiating $300 million for her state in non-guaranteed Medicaid payouts. She was even cocky about her institutionalized larceny. Sen. Bernie Sanders finagled $10...

CUNY Graduate Center professor David S. Reynolds has an idea. He wants to pardon an American criminal that is a known murderer and fanatic and who led a life that was steadily radicalized by an extreme religious ideology. This domestic terrorist even went so far as to attempt to start a war inside the USA and advocated for American citizens to be killed in their homes for not seeing things his way. No, Reynolds is not hoping to pardon Islamic terrorist Nidal Hasan, though being a professor of one of our wonderful universities it would not be surprising if he...

Louisiana really seems to take the term "Big Easy" to hear as it clocks in as the happiest state in America, while New York is the least happiest or saddest. The list that measures the Happiness level states in America was the result of work done by researchers at the University of Warwick in the UK and Hamilton College in the United States and published in the journal Science. "The researchers examined a 2005- 2008 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System random sample of 1.3 million United States citizens in which Life-satisfaction in each U.S. state is measured. This provided a...

Do you live in the happiest state in America? Well if you live in New York, you're in the least happy state according to the Huffington Post article. The top thing on the list that made the Empire State the least happy was the government. One resident described the government as “…corrupt, self-dealing and too quick to increase taxes.” It is no secret that New York has had a troubled government for sometime now. Constantly cutting well needed programs for children and the elderly. Not being able to pass a budget in a timely fashion or one that works for...

The decision by New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority to sharply cut services to close a nearly $383 million deficit is the latest sign that the state will operate under harsh fiscal constraints in the coming year. The proposed cuts, which would include shutting down two subway lines and slashing night and weekend hours on a system that operates around the clock, will be aired at several public hearings this winter. A final vote is planned in the spring by the board of the MTA, which manages transit systems in New York City and surrounding areas, including Long Island. The measures...

Relatives of 9/11 victims asked an appeals court Wednesday to force the city to move tons of Ground Zero debris from the Staten Island landfill to a proper burial site. The families contend the debris includes remains of loved ones, while the city says there is nothing identifiable there - and it would cost too much to move it away from household trash. "There is no reason for all eternity that my son has to be in the garbage," said Diane Horning, whose 26-year-old son, Matthew, was killed at the World Trade Center. Seventeen families are seeking the right to...

Disgusted relatives of 9/11 victims yesterday were shocked to hear a city lawyer call debris that contains the remains of their loved ones "dirt." The insensitive comment was made as the families fought to have more than a million tons of World Trade Center wreckage at the Fresh Kills landfill, Staten Island, sifted for remains. "These ashes are undifferentiated dirt," said attorney James Tyrell. His comment brought gasps of horror from dozens of 9/11 relatives, who were crammed into the federal appeals court in Manhattan.

A new video released by the Christian Action Network shows Muslim women at a compound in New York state practicing throat-slitting techniques and assault weapons attacks. The video was distributed by the makers of the movie "Homegrown Jihad: The Terrorist Camps Around the U.S.," which documents how a jihadist group has developed dozens of training camps across the nation. WND reported at the time how Jamaat ul-Fuqra has built 35 compounds – mostly in the northeastern corridor of the U.S. Now the organization has posted on YouTube a "chilling" training video provided to CAN by an unnamed law enforcement source...

A chilling new video released by the Christian Action Network shows Muslim women at a compound in New York State practicing throat cutting techniques and assault weapons training.

A new video released by the Christian Action Network shows Muslim women at a compound in New York state practicing throat-slitting techniques and assault weapons attacks. The video was distributed by the makers of the movie "Homegrown Jihad: The Terrorist Camps Around the U.S.," which documents how a jihadist group has developed dozens of training camps across the nation. WND reported at the time how Jamaat ul-Fuqra has built 35 compounds – mostly in the northeastern corridor of the U.S. Now the organization has posted on YouTube a "chilling" training video provided to CAN by an unnamed law enforcement source...

Mysterious Group Buys Building Next to Ground Zero For Mosque Wednesday, December 16, 2009 Jim Hoft A mysterous Muslim group with unknown sponsors has purchased a building steps away from Ground Zero. Hudson New York reported: An identified group with unknown sponsors has purchased building steps away from where the WorldTrade Center once stood — to turn it into potentially one of the largest New York City mosques. At the moment the building, the old Burlington Coat Factory, already serves as a mini-mosque: an iron grill lifts every Friday afternoon for a little known Imam leading prayers a few yards...

A campaign that wasn't supposed to be In a township of just 1,600 voters, the race for Town Supervisor in little known Richmondville New York, put a whole new meaning to the phrase, "every vote counts". Just a few weeks ago, a small, yet hot blooded town of 3,000 citizens, was in the midst of one of the most interesting elections one person could ever encounter. Supervisor John Barlow (R) wasn't supposed to be running for re-election, as the death of his beloved wife of decades and the loss of his leg because of diabetes, painted a bleak picture for...

Marcus A. WintersTeachers’ Unions vs. Progress—Again New York resists reforms that would bring in millions and improve teacher quality. 14 December 2009 Ever wonder how effective your child’s teacher is? Officials in Albany would rather you didn’t know. At least that’s the lesson one has to take from their refusal to allow data systems to match students to teachers, though doing so would help the state compete for a pot of perhaps hundreds of millions of federal dollars. Narrow political interests stand in the way of improving our schools and easing New York taxpayers’ burdens. The use of data...

New York Yankees have quite a catch in Curtis Granderson, who's a leader on and off field Curtis Granderson laughs at the memory now, but when he saw that the letter had come from the baseball commissioner's office, his first thought was, "Did I do something wrong?" What Granderson found when he opened the envelope, however, "was amazing," he says, and the letter sits in one of his parents' scrapbooks to this day. The Yankees' newest star had gotten a letter from commissioner Bud Selig earlier this year praising Granderson's work as a baseball ambassador during offseason clinics in places...

They do their dishes in the shower, sit sideways on the toilet and need to watch their weight just to fit into their bathrooms. But these cramped New Yorkers wouldn't have it any other way. A week after The Post told the story of Zaarath and Christopher Prokop and their 175-square-foot micro-studio on Sunday, other New Yorkers lined up to share their tales of living small, including a 55-square-foot apartment in Hell's Kitchen and a 90-square-foot home on the Upper West Side. "To me, it's all about location," said Eddie Rabon, 24, who lives in a microscopic Hell's Kitchen abode....

A new Muslims of America (MOA) terror training video has been uncovered by the Christian Action Network. This video show members of MOA participating in paramilitary style training on their compound in upstate New York, near the town of Hancock. Click the link to see the exclusive new tape.

Protesters are arrested outside US Senator Chuck Schumer's office in New York. Angry constituents of Schumer staged the sit-in at his Manhattan office, dissatisfied that the influential senator hasn’t done enough to push for universal, national health care.

Eliot Spitzer, the former Governor of New York who resigned after his sexual exploits with numerous prostitutes was exposed, is considering a run for the Democrat nomination, to be the Democratic candidate for State Comptroller. Thomas DiNalopi, the current Comptroller who was elected to that position via the state legislature after Alan Hevesi resigned (another Democrat violating the law), is considered a weak Democratic candidate for the 2010 elections, and thus Spitzer might be an appealing candidate. New York is one of the most unstable governments in the Union, as the state is deep in red ink, we have one...

PEACE activists have carried mock coffins through New York to protest against President Barack Obama's Nobel Peace Prize. About 50 demonstrators walked from outside the United Nations to the military recruiting office on Times Square in central Manhattan. Walking to a slow drumbeat, they carried black cardboard coffins, the first of which was draped in the US flag. "Barack Obama does not deserve the Nobel Peace Prize, especially after his recent announcement that he will escalate the war in Afghanistan," said Will Travers, 30, who helped carry one of the coffins.

A New York appellate court last week harshly rejected the state's effort to take property from businesses in upper Manhattan and give it to Columbia University for its campus expansion, calling it a "scheme" hatched by the university and the state and labeling their arguments in favor of invoking eminent domain, the government power to seize private property, as "mere sophistry." Yet for decades the state has confiscated private property on the slimmest of pretexts, often vastly underpaying, and in the process ruined businesses and lives. The Institute for Justice, an Arlington, Va.-based, public-interest group, recently called New York one...

By Genevieve Pollock NEW YORK, DEC. 8, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Today in New York City, a Catholic health center for women officially opened with a waiting list of patients eager for its particular approach to reproductive care and family planning. Doctor Anne Mielnik, the director of "Gianna -- The Catholic Health Care Center for Women," explained to ZENIT that her clinic is only one piece of the last pro-life bastion in the city. The center is owned by St. Vincent's Hospital Manhattan, the last of its kind in a city that once numbered 15 Catholic hospitals. Mielnik stated that the Sisters...

Stars Express Support For Military Commissions, Support Reversing Holder’s Decision NEW YORK, DECEMBER 5, 2009 — Today, some of America’s most gifted actors and entertainers have signed a statement expressing outrage over Attorney General Eric Holder’s decision to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four 9/11 co-conspirators in a civilian court in New York City... (See which stars have the courage to stand up in our nation's defense and read their statement after the jump.)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Bill Zeiser at bill.zeiser@gmail.com (516) 448-5489 Website: www.911neverforget.us SPEAKER LIST FOR THE 9/11 NEVER FORGET COALITION DECEMBER 5 RALLY When: Saturday, December 5th, 2009 12:00 noon; Where: Foley Square, New York City; Who: The 9/11 Never Forget Coalition, a diverse group of 9/11 victims, family members, first responders, active and reserve members of the military, veterans, and concerned Americans, is holding a major rally on December 5th to protest Attorney General Eric Holder’s plan to bring the 9/11 terrorist conspirators to trial in New York City. Confirmed speakers list: DAVID BEAMER David Beamer is the father...

The bottom line for the editors at the New York Daily News is this: "[Khalid Sheikh] Mohammed belongs in front of one of the fully constitutional military tribunals created by Congress expressly for the purpose of trying his ilk, rather than being given a propaganda platform that downgrades the notion from an act of war into a crime. If you're appalled by the Ghailani preview, we can guarantee you'll hate the Mohammed feature-length movie even more. So stop it from coming to a theater near you. Join the rally. (I'll only add: the 911NeverForget rally is noon today, in Foley...

Thanks to a special freepmailer for pointing to this link. # SNIPPET: “”We are trying to ascertain whether the Moroccan was one of the women who could have helped guide the Mumbai terrorists during the attacks. Our investigations show that this woman had visited Mumbai on two occasions and met Headley during his stay here,” said an IB source.” SNIPPET: “Indian investigators say that Headley was not a womaniser but used women as a perfect cover for his operations. The IB says that this is contrary to the image Headley portrayed during his interrogation by the FBI. He came across...

SNIPPET: "Search at Grundy County plant called part of ongoing probe" SNIPPET: "But a source said the owner of the plant, which processes lamb and goat, was taken into custody at his home in Chicago. Documents and records were taken from the plant and from a Chicago travel agency on West Devon Avenue, also owned by the same person, the source said."

"LAMBERTVILLE: Restaurant owner jailed on attempted homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault and other charges" 14 May 2009 | Uncategorized LAMBERTVILLE — SNIPPET: "Khalid Altawarh, 36, who also goes by the name David Shookby, took the woman’s Jeep Wrangler and fled the scene when she escaped into the arms of a friend who had stopped by to see if she was all right. She had failed to show up for work that morning, May 8, police said. Plumstead Township, Pa., police Chief Duane E. Hasenauer said Mr. Altawarh has been charged with attempted homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault and other related...

Paraguay named an undocumented U.S. immigrant to run its consulate in New York, discovering his illegal status only when the man returned home to get his diplomatic papers and was denied a U.S. visa. Paraguay's foreign ministry acknowledged Wednesday that it was a mistake to name Augusto Noguera as the consulate's "first official," but said President Fernando Lugo annulled the decision as soon as he was informed of the U.S. Embassy's visa denial. Vice Foreign Minister Manuel Maria Caceres told The Associated Press that the decision to name Noguera as a diplomat on Sept. 21 was made in good faith...

New York lawmakers have rejected a bill to legalize gay marriage. The Senate decision Wednesday comes after months of delays and arm twisting of lawmakers sympathetic to the bill but representing conservative districts. It follows a referendum in Maine earlier this month that struck down a gay marriage law before it took effect. Advocates say they aren't surprised by the decision. Most, including Gov. David Paterson, say they at least wanted a floor debate and vote. Gay marriage is legal in Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts and Vermont. A New Hampshire law takes effect Jan. 1.

MINEOLA, N.Y. — Thomas R. Suozzi conceded defeat on Tuesday in the race for the Nassau County executive, a harsh setback for Mr. Suozzi, the Democratic incumbent who was widely regarded as a potential candidate for higher office. He acknowledged his loss after a recount of the votes cast last month showed that his Republican challenger, Edward P. Mangano, a county legislator, had a 386-vote lead. Mr. Suozzi, speaking to reporters at a news conference, said he believed it was “mathematically impossible to win. I didn’t think it was fair to the public, my team or Mr. Mangano, and I...

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There's a vital lesson for New York in the travails of Dubai, the little Persian Gulf emirate with big buildings and bigger debts -- if only our politicians and taxpayers would understand. Last week, Dubai's state-owned investment arm, Dubai World, told its banks (mostly British) that it needs a freeze on debt repayments. It also needs to cut $60 billion that it borrowed to speculate on office towers, hotels, luxury retailers and like. Global bankers were shocked. The Dubai government doesn't legally back Dubai World's debts -- but investors had thought that two levels of bailout would protect them if...

Many New Yorkers are in for a surprise. State government is running out of money and soon won't be able to pay all its bills. State tax revenues are forecast to be $20 billion lower than projected spending over the next 21/2 years. Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=871474&category=OPINION&TextPage=1#ixzz0YSBcapQP

Some city Muslims feel uneasy and fear a backlash like they experienced after September 11th. In this first installment of Queens reporter Ruschell Boone's close look at the borough's Muslim communities, a young family in Flushing looks over its shoulders every time they go out. Nabeel and Sabeen Mahmud of Flushing, Queens are on guard these days, worried about a potential backlash against Muslims.

The glorious fruit of giving the 9/11 plotters civilian trials is already beginning to appear. Watch for these guys to walk—after wasting a few taxpayer millions, that is. “Mental State Cited in 9/11 Case,” by Jess Bravin in the Wall Street Journal, November 27 (thanks to Elisa): WASHINGTON—When five defendants are brought before a New York federal judge to face charges for the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the first question may be whether some of them are competent to stand trial at all. Military lawyers for Ramzi Binalshibh, an accused organizer of the 9/11 plot, and Mustafa al-Hawsawi,...

The decision by Obama administration officials to bring a terrorist who admits to plotting the Sept. 11 attacks and four others to New York City for criminal trials amounts to a public relations bonanza for terrorists and a disaster for U.S. security interests. At the same time, the trials will present terrorists with a venue and a reason to launch further attacks... They will draw just as much attention if similar to, for instance, the shootings by another Islamic extremist at Fort Hood just a few weeks ago. The trials also will give U.S. enemies valuable insights into vital national...

After enduring three years of delays, several lawsuits and the collapse of the real estate market, the $4.9 billion Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn took a major step forward on Tuesday when New York’s highest court ruled that the state can seize private property for the 22-acre development. The Court of Appeals ruled 6 to 1 that the state could exercise eminent domain in claiming businesses, public property and private homes for economic development projects like Atlantic Yards. In doing so, the court backed the state’s assessment that the area in question — where some holdouts had refused to sell...

On Wednesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee met to question Attorney General Eric Holder about his decision to prosecute Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four others in criminal courts rather than military tribunals. As the father of Todd Beamer, who died on United Airlines Flight 93, I was able to attend that hearing. What transpired caused me great concern and shook my confidence in our current administration....How can we be assured that these enemies will be found guilty? Given that criminal courts are now the presumed venue for those captured on the battlefield, will soldiers need to read them their rights at...

For discussion only! Should the criminal case of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (aka KSM) be dismissed? Some potential motions: 1) Judicial Misconduct: Violations of Miranda, violations of Escobedo, as stated by the President of the United States, KSM was "tortured". Violations of the right to a speedy trial. Detained by federal agents for more than 24 hours without being formally charged. 2) Double Jeopardy: In the case of Dr. Jeffrey McDonald: Source:http://www.altlaw.org/v1/cases/534614 Quote: "Since MacDonald was not put to trial before a military tribunal authorized to convict or acquit him, jeopardy never attached. Serfass v. United States, 420 U.S. 377, 387-89,...

Dear Friends, Today, Tuesday, November 24, 2009, it is with a heavy heart that we declare this election over. We will formally end this election and not ask for a recount. This was a difficult choice to make because so many people have put their faith, hope and aspirations into our campaign. Yes, there seem to have been many vote counting problems, missed vote counts and, as was recently reported by the Gouvernour Times, software problems in the computerized voting machines. Despite these incidents, I do not believe the voters of NY-23, or New Yorkers in general, would be well-served...

Man Survives 47 Minutes in Cardiac Arrest Doctors Wouldn't Give Up on N.Y. Man, Delivering 4,500 Chest Compressions and 8 Defibrillator Shocks to Save Him (WCBS)  What happens if your heart stops beating? Is it possible to survive? CBS station WCBS in New York recently met a Brooklyn man who lived after his heart quit for 47 minutes, and it's all thanks to a team of doctors who refused to give up until they brought him back from the dead. "These doctors did not stop," Joe Tiralosi said, fighting through tears to find the words to describe his experience....

NEW YORK -- Saying the state faces an unprecedented fiscal crisis, New York Gov. David Paterson on Tuesday sought emergency legislation that would give him authority to implement a one-time, across-the-board reduction in state payments to close a $3.2 billion budget gap for the current year. The proposed bill includes a legislative finding that the state's deficit "presents a genuine danger that the state will lack the funds necessary to make payments as they come due," Mr. Paterson said in a Web address. The state's "extremely precarious and worsening fiscal situation" necessitates the payment denials that the legislation would allow,...

Let it shut down. The state of New York. Let it run out of money, let the lights go out, let the IOUs roll. Sometimes to fix it, you’ve got to break it. And this is one of those times. New York needs tough love. In these waters, the best thing is to put the ship on the rocks and wade to shore. With a budget gap of $3.2 billion, an incompetent for a governor and a gaggle of moral crooks in the legislature, it’s time to take Grama off life support. Just let it shut down. Gov. David Paterson...

Note: The following text is a quote: Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Monday, November 23, 2009 Arms Dealer Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Supply U.S. Fighter Jet Engines to Iran Jacques Monsieur, a Belgian national and resident of France suspected of international arms dealing for decades, pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama to conspiracy to illegally export F-5 fighter jet engines and parts from the Untied States to Iran. Monsieur along with Dara Fotouhi, aka Dara Fatouhi, an Iranian national currently living in France, was charged in a...

China State Construction Engineering Corp, the largest contractor in China, has bagged a subway ventilation project worth about $100 million in New York’s Manhattan area, marking the construction giant’s third order in the United States’ infrastructure space this year. The contract was given to China Construction American Co, a subsidiary, the Wall Street Journal quoted a source as saying. “The new project, along with the $410-million Hamilton Bridge project and a $1.7-billion entertainment project it won earlier this year, signals China State Construction’s ambition to tap the American construction market,” said Li Zhirui, an industry analyst at First Capital Securities....

Having friends over for dinner used to involve a minimal and fairly unremarkable to-do list: There were groceries to buy, along with flowers and a couple of bottles of semi-respectable wine. I would put out some guest towels and a collection of fancy soaps that were off limits to blood relatives, and then — voilà! — dinner was served. Preparing for a dinner party these days is far more complex, thanks to a vast and bewildering array of dietary needs that seem to have suddenly overtaken everyone I know. Complaint Box Steamed? Dish out the peeves. Send your essays —...

New York's Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer just doesn't know what to think about terrorism. He does, however, know what to say - whatever is politically convenient at the moment. That's not what New Yorkers need to hear with the trial of Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed about to land on the docket. Immediately after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Mr. Schumer chaired a Judiciary Committee hearing to figure out how to legally handle terrorist suspects. While smoke still hovered in the air over Ground Zero, the senator was all about being tough. His opening statement included his support for...