Content posted by D. Clark Macpherson

Striving to empower those around her, Yetta's long history of activism includes community based initiatives, as well as work through both judicial and legislative channels to advocate for civil rights, education, arts and culture, affordable housing, employment rights and health care issues.

This week a huge billboard which had been erected along the BQE toppled over and landed upon one side of the highway. Fortunately, no one was injured. It was one among hundreds of such constructions which exist solely for the purposes of displaying advertising along the roadway where hundreds of thousands of motorists and their passengers view them every day.

The money arrived from investment banks via “warehouse lines” which didn’t care about anything except getting back paperwork for closed loans. Dead or alive. The borrowers were irrelevant.

Those of you who have an involvement in the dangerous game of politics, it may be of interest to know who’s telling the truth these days, and, whether the articles we read are real or imagined disinformation, emanating directly out of a governmental PR department. No genuine journalist would ever rely on such a source for the truth. As publisher of the SoHo Journal, through personal experience, take it from me that it is possible to become a political target for simply writing about the truth. And the mainstream media and writers eat their own for sales— as well as take orders from their masters— corporate, financial and political masters. Always pay attention to the agenda. Read between the lines. That is the basis of real reporting and political comprehension. Not the rehashing of a press release. OWS has a handle on this reality as well.

Looking toward the City Council seat that currently encompasses the western portion of SoHo, the contenders thus far are Yetta Kurland, Brad Hoylman, Corey Johnson and possibly Andrew Berman. Kurland is a vociferous activist whose primary issue has been the St.Vincent's Hospital closure and the Rudin development which currently does not include a hospital but, does include an Emergency Care facility that many believe is unsatisfactory for the several communities that depended on that hospital.

Since the SoHo Journal has published numerous articles and posts supporting the difficult work by our men and women in the Intelligence community, the Huffington Post has published a request for direct support. In the spirit of the holiday season, it is an appropriate time to say thanks for their dedication and sacrifices— especially, to the families of fallen heroes.

The levels of political power in SoHo, for the uninitiated, rest with elected politicians. Margaret Chin is the City Council member – having unseated Alan Gerson. And, in the Western section of SoHo, Speaker Quinn is the designated City Council representative covering the area from Thompson Street to the Hudson River as well as Hell's Kitchen. SoHo's boundaries arguably run as far West as Hudson Street, depending upon whose view you rely upon.

The professional pundits are already busy picking the next horse for Mayor. Among the favorites (at least in terms of frequency of media mention) are Christine Quinn, Bill Thompson, Bill DeBlasio, Ray Kelly and in the back of the pack, Scott Stringer. And, here's my reasoning, since it's anything BUT scientific, prescient, or even that reliable.

There are many facets of what is occurring in the Occupy Wall Street movement. Events are moving quickly. Whether you are outraged by the failure of the government to prosecute bankers over the economic destruction, outraged by the destruction of American jobs by corporations, or, angry about predatory student loans which are financially burying our young people, the treatment of the protesters is of paramount concern to all of us. Their actions represent one of our core Freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution: Freedom of Assembly.

There are a growing number of vacant storefronts in SoHo, primarily restaurants that have failed.The complaints from most of them are that there are zero governmental attempts (in other words, local politicians) that have attempted to help small businesses.

Content posted by D. Clark Macpherson

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