Month: April 2010

April 17, 2010

Albany’s new Common Council leads the nation by
once again asking that the US Constitution be respected

It all started with The Wife’s involvement with the obviously bogus entrapment and convictions of Albany residents Yassin Aref and Mohammed Hossain by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI.) Soon she found herself writing to the men in prison and visiting regularly with their widowed families here in town. Next thing you know she’s been visiting and talking with families of other Muslim men in places like Newburgh and Philadelphia who have also fallen victim to the machinations of the secret police.

So earlier this year The Wife, along with her co-conspirators at Project SALAM (Support And Legal Advocacy for Muslims) came up with the idea of asking the City of Albany Common Council to pass a resolution asking President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder to open an investigation into the ongoing entrapments and prosecutions of Muslims. Project Salam has uncovered hundreds of these phony baloney “terrorism” cases, every single one of which brought convictions without physical evidence, on hearsay alone. They have yet to find one convincing “terrorism” conviction.

And it is starting to look like there are hundreds more cases of entrapped Muslim scapegoats out there that hardly anyone has heard about. “They’re coming out of the woodwork,” she says. As far as she knows, such a resolution passed by the Albany Common Council is the first one of it’s kind, another first for our City.

Common Council Members Barbara Smith And Dominick Calsolaro In Front Of Little Italy

To get this thing off the ground, the first thing she had to do was to talk our representative Dominick Calsolaro into introducing the resolution into the Common Council. “Oooh,” the man groaned, clutching his head. “You’re trying to get me in trouble.”

Dom’s long suffering and neglected spouse Mary overheard him. “What’s the problem,” she asked him, “Are you afraid you’re going to lose votes in the next election? Maybe I’ll get to see you more often.”

Dominick Interviewed By Channel 10 Before The Rally

Let me stop right here and clarify an important point. If there was any actual evidence that any of these Muslim men were actually plotting to kill fellow Americans and destroy public property – you know, recorded conversations, credible witnesses, recovered weapons, documents, fingerprints, DNA, that sort of thing – then I would be the first to demand that they all be hung from a lamppost and fed to pigs. I mean that literally.

So far, it looks like I’m not going to get the opportunity to make that demand. It looks to me like the real terrorists are operating out of the FBI fortress on McCarty Avenue. If the secret police consistently get away with perjuring hapless Muslims into political prison, then where and when will they stop? Who among us is safe from the lawless FBI?

The Dukas Arrive From New Jersey

The Wife lobbied the Common Council representatives for weeks, meeting with them at odd times like 7 in the morning and in various public places. By the Common Council meeting on April 5 it looked like the resolution had enough votes. But The Wife knows better than to count her legislative chickens before they cast votes, she’s learned the hard way that legislators routinely leave their voting options open right up until the last moment.

All true politicians, whether we’re talking about legislators, mayors or judges, only do what someone tells them to do. Ideally, they listen most closely to the bosses who can fire them from their jobs, the voters. But all too often the voter bosses are absent or passive or scared or too lazy to pay attention, so the politicians end up listening to corporate exploiters or to more local crooks and gangsters.

The Wife is well aware of this fact, she knows better than to depend upon politician’s promises. Thus, immediately before the vote in the Common Council, she organized some concerned citizens into a march upon City Hall.

The Crowd Begins To Gather In Front Of The Armory

People began to gather before 6 PM in front of the Armory at Lark Street and Washington Avenue. Actually, some folks had already started meeting at Little Italy Pizza on the other side of Lark Street, the take-out shop run by Fatima, wife of imprisoned scapegoat Mohammed Hossain. (Italian pizza made and sold by a woman from Bangladesh. That’s America buddy… love it or leave it.)

Fatima is traditional, at all times she wears a full length black gown and hajib that only reveals her eyes and part of her forehead. Thus I can’t tell you what she looks like, I usually recognize her by the flour and paint stains at the bottom of her gown. The Wife tells me, “I don’t understand how she stays in business, selling pizza at $1.50 a slice.” Like her imprisoned husband was, she is much in the habit of giving away her food to the neighborhood indigents.

This Decorated Veteran Of Desert Storm Kept Silent. He Has "End War" Tattooed On His Left Arm

During the march Fatima stayed back at the shop working like she always does, but she joined with everyone later at City Hall. Eventually I counted about 120 people who marched down Washington Avenue. This included a core group of the usual activists and troublemakers, along with visitors from far away. I observed a fair number of passersby stop, ask what this was all about, and then enthusiastically join the crowd.

The Wife received invaluable help from Albany County Legislator Doug Bullock and his famous “Tax The Rich” bullhorn. I don’t think she could have pulled this off without Doug, who selflessly offered his extensive organizing skills to Project SALAM. He’s a labor organizer who has instigated and coordinated thousand of rallies and demonstrations, plus he has a real knack for bringing the right people together at the right time.

Now, Doug is not a natural politician, he’s a real basic guy. He’s helped organize so many rallies that when he’s out on the street in front of a crowd he tends to behave like he’s at home in his living room. For instance, I spotted a potentially great photo of Doug, The Wife and Alicia McWilliams from Newburgh, and behind them the two mounted cops. By the way, these bored cops were the only ones assigned to this event, that’s how respectable all this stuff has become.

I elbowed aside several people holding the big yellow banner, and then realized I’d taken a photo of Doug adjusting his drawstring pants:

Doug Bullock, The Wife, Alicia McWilliams From Newburgh

Here we were, listening to these solemn stories of entrapment and persecution, the media in attendance, and at the very center of attention here is the Honorable Doug Bullock grimacing and apparently trying to untwist his underpants. I swear I stood there for five minutes waiting for him to stop, I wanted to throw a rock at his head. I never did get that great snapshot.

Alicia McWilliams "I’m A Veteran!" (Not Really)

Alicia McWilliams was one of our house guests the night before, she is aunt to one of the Newburgh Four, probably their only friend right now. The first and earliest Muslim entrapment cases that The Wife and Project Salam had originally heard about were mostly of prominent men, such as doctors, heads of non-profits or imams. But the Newburgh Four are little more than street characters, easy to manipulate by the FBI and hardly capable of engaging in “international terrorism.”

Alicia is very upfront about her own past, which, she told us over breakfast that morning, is why she is not ashamed or afraid to stand up for these young men. Her nominally Muslim nephew, she tells us, was scamming around for money when an FBI agent provocateur lured him with a promise of ten thousand dollars if he performed some sort of scheme. At one crucial point he was instructed to meet someone and say the code word “jihad” several times, this moment was duly recorded and blown up into an act of “terrorism” for the media.

This poor sap and his codefendants are a far cry from the clean living young folks from suburban NJ called the Fort Dix Five, or the very respectable and much admired Dr. Rafil Dhafir of Syracuse. But I say, labeling ex-cons living on the margins of society “terrorists” and parading them through kangaroo show trials does not help us more respectable citizens sleep safer at night, on the contrary.

Common Council Members Ron Bailey And Barbara Smith Talk To The Wife

Besides the honorable Doug Bullock we had four members of the Albany Common Council at the rally. Besides Mr. Calsolaro of the 1st Ward there was Barbara Smith of the 4th, who has taken a deep interest in the cases of Yassin Aref and Mohammed Hossain since the beginning. From what I understand, Ms. Smith has been frustrated by the apparent lack of action on this issue, she is one of many people who have “come out of the woodwork” to support The Wife’s initiative and help carry it further.

The Wife was surprised and delighted when Ron Bailey of the 3rd Ward enthusiastically lent support to the pending resolution. “Oh yeah, I’m with you on that,” was his immediate reply when The Wife brought it up with him. It turns out that he represents the growing Muslim community settling behind the south side of Central Avenue, and his ward includes Little Italy Pizza. Like most people in the neighborhood, he knows Fatima well and respected her husband before he was entrapped and incarcerated.

South End Based Film Maker Ellie Bernstein, Common Council Member Anton Konev, Doug Bullock, The Wife, Mauri’ Saalakhan From Maryland Speaks

Anton Konev of the 11th Ward showed up with his trademark suit and backpack. Mr. Konev has a keen interest in the plight of immigrants, having himself emigrated to this country as a teenager from Russia. Thus he was also easy to convince, like Ms. Smith and Mr. Bailey he is a cosponsor of Dominick’s resolution.

Lots of media were present, but reportage was spotty. Metroland did the only good print report that I saw, and oddly enough the only TV segment I could find was Channel 13 news. (I’m told that all the jerks who picked on me back in 2003 no longer work there, so I guess I’ll have to stop badmouthing 13.) I’m guessing most of the media managers quietly killed the story of the march and resolution as too politically incorrect, who knows but maybe the FBI gave them all a call. With the secret police I’m ready to believe anything these days.

Marching Past The State Education Building

Right on schedule the crowd formed up and marched down the sidewalk of Washington Avenue to City Hall. The two cops on horses led off to one side in the left lane of the roadway, fortunately traffic gets light after 6 PM. I have to hand it to those guys, they did the absolute minimum to keep access clear and left the organizers to keep the respectable crowd orderly.

Outside City Hall there were more short speeches, more stories told while waiting for the Common Council session to start. This was the moment when the crowd started to get a sense that something historic was happening, that the City of Albany was about to take the lead on an issue that runs silent and deep. We were all here to try to head off a torpedo aimed right at the heart of American freedom.

In Front Of City Hall

Actually this is where I made my exit. I stayed to watch some of the crowd go through the unconstitutional phony baloney “security” checkpoint inside the door, including all the family members of these so-called “terrorists.” A checkpoint, I might add, that does not block access to the Auditor’s office, his staff or half the Treasurer’s staff, the entrance to which is a sharp left before the metal detector.

Aren’t these City financial employees at grave risk of terrorist attack? Or… could it be that the checkpoint serves no security purpose other than to harass and annoy the taxpayers? In any case, all these women wearing hajibs got in with no problem so the checkpoint didn’t do a very good job of filtering out potential terrorists that evening.

The Wife With Fatan Schnewer (mother of one of the Fort Dix 5) In Front Of City Hall

The Common Council members earned their pay that night. There was about four hours of speaking from about thirty or so speakers during the public comment period, much of it gut wrenching testimony from the families of the entrapped men. Council President Carolyn McLaughlin called it “the most emotional atmosphere I’ve experienced in over 12 years in this chamber.”

The idea, you see, was to introduce the measure and vote on it that night. You can do that with resolutions, which are non-binding recommendations. In contrast an ordinance, which becomes an enforceable law, cannot be voted on the same night it is introduced.

There was a flurry of activity around Dominick’s desk during a called recess, while some of the Council members negotiated minor changes to the whereases and the threfores in the resolution. It looked touch and go for a moment, but then the votes materialized and Dominick called for a vote. Here’s the tally:

Voting Yes: Voting Present: Absent: 1 Calsolaro 10 Golby 8 Rosenzweig 2 Freeman 13 Herring   3 Bailey 14 Igoe   4 Smith 15 Commisso   5 Jenkins-Cox     6 Conti     7 Fahey     9 Sano     11 Konev     12 O’Brien    

After that honest testimony none of them, not even old boys Igoe and Herring, could bring themselves to vote “no!” Contrary to my own expectations, we have a whole new ballgame on the Council, it appears to be no longer composed of the Mayor’s minions versus the minority progressives. If this vote is any indication, the new majority votes according to the merits of each measure rather than for or against The Mayor’s will. We’ll see if that continues to hold true.

Okay, so this is the first resolution of it’s kind in the nation, but so what? What’s the big deal?

SUNY Albany Professor Dr. Shamshad Ahmad, President Of The As-Salam Mosque On Central Avenue

First off, various observers agree that this is the first time that American Muslims, both natural citizens and immigrants, have dared to publicly protest the ongoing FBI campaign of terror being conducted against them. Up until now the FBI campaign, which has been designed to isolate American Muslims and make them feel powerless, has been very successful. This public display directly undermines the scheming of the secret police, whose political power over the citizens depends upon secrecy and misinformation.

Second, this could be the start of something big. Attorney Steve Downs has been suggesting that this could be the beginning of a national movement to get local municipalities to pass similar resolutions. He wants to start with some nearby Cities and suburban towns, and continue from there.

This is not far-fetched, we did it once before in open defiance of the obnoxious “PATRIOT” Act, the anti-American statute that “legalizes” clandestine surveillance of citizens, does away with effective warrants, and allows indefinite detentions instead o proper arrests. In other words. it is an attempt to legislate away the US Constitution, an attempt that almost succeeded.

The “PATRIOT” Act is still on the books, still enthusiastically maintained by the Republicans and their subservient Democrats. However, 414 anti-PATRIOT Act resolutions have so far been passed nationwide including several states and New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles. This incredible campaign defied and shattered the corporate media censorship, educating millions of Americans about this attempt by our idiot federal politicians to overthrow our Constitution.

Filing Through The Unconstitutional Search And Seizure Checkpoint

By the way, it’s no coincidence that Dominick Calsolaro introduced the original “PATRIOT” Act resolution into the Albany Common Council. The latest word is that Project Salam is establishing close ties with the Bill of Rights Defense Committee (BORDC) with the object of launching a new campaign of local resolutions.

Like the old song from World War Two says, “We did it before, we can do it again.” As long as we are all breathing we can and will do our part to keep the US Constitution alive. We will not sit quiet and scared and alone waiting for the secret police to disappear American Muslims… and then come for the rest of us.

 

Watch the two part video of the April 5, 2010 Common Council session, courtesy of Albany Community Television (ACT) and read the text of the resolution here.

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April 4, 2010

Howe Library becomes the new cultural and community center of the South End, inside is near perfect but outside problems remain

* * UPDATE * * See the old Howe Library desk in action on a Friday night!

Inside The Building:

The “Grand Opening Celebration” of the John A. Howe branch library was held on March 27, a Saturday. Actually, the library had been open for more than a week and was already seeing heavy use. Folks sat reading and using the computer terminals while more than a thousand people filed through the building inspecting the renovations.

Howe Library Was Packed With Visitors

The interior of Howe Library is filled with natural light that pours through the giant wooden windows and thoroughly illuminates every corner. In effect the outer walls are made of light, sort of like an old fashioned gothic church without the stained glass. Indeed the the place brings up a feeling of awe as soon as one walks through the front door, a religious urge for learning and open communication.

Before the renovations the place looked old, dismal and worn out, so bad that the library administration originally planned to tear down the building. As I wrote two years ago, that was not acceptable to those of us who live here and pay taxes. Since the library managers needed South End votes to pass the facilities bond act, they granted a stay of execution and promised to upgrade the building while preserving architectural integrity.

We were all pretty skeptical of their promises, and some of us fought them over details, particularly the fate of the wooden windows. Bur overall, I’d have to say we have a success here, a public facility that will serve the community as a center of cohesion for at least the next hundred years.

"Teen Room" Off To One Side Of The Main Floor

The main floor of the library is now divided by wood and glass partitions that allow light to circulate, that give a sense of privacy without making the library user feel isolated. Tim Burke, who was acting director of the library system when the big decisions were made, told me that the original design for Howe called for these partitions but they were never installed. He seemed very pleased to have had them installed, I have to say that they work very, very well. This is an interior design for other libraries to copy.

The New Modern Desk In Action

The librarians are proud of the new custom made front counter, a marvel of ergonomic efficiency that wraps around the center of the floor. The old oak desk that sat next to the front door was lovely but not very useful, having numerous file card drawers and mysterious openings. I happen to know that the old desk is enjoying retirement as an occasional food and drink bar located just inside the entrance of a former church that is now a private residence on Delaware Avenue.

One Panel From The Fireplace,
The Bowling Dutchmen From Rip Van Winkle

The restored fireplace tells the story of Rip Van Winkle with raised relief ceramic tiles, a unique marvel. Library Board president Dennis Gaffney told us that he pushed for working fireplaces in each of the new library branches around the City, but was outvoted every time. “The only one I got was this one,” he said, “but that was already here. And this fireplace had to be restored.”

Board President Dennis Gaffney Speaks
While Library Officials And Politicians Listen

The officials gathered in front of the fireplace to do the dedication, the speechifying didn’t go on too long. Of course Albany Mayor Jerry Jennings was in attendance, but interestingly He was not the star of the show. He waited quietly in the background as the library people congratulated each other, several speakers apologizing for preceding The Mayor at the podium.

Mayor Jennings Takes His Turn At The Podium

This was more or less appropriate protocol since Jerry Jennings has had little direct involvement with the Library Facilities plan and the reestablishment of neighborhood library branches. This is generally a good thing, the most successful projects which Jennings has initiated are the ones in which He has personally interfered as little as possible. An excellent example of that is the South End Action Committee (SEAC) which is showing spectacular results in the immediate neighborhoods surrounding Howe Library.

But it is a fact that we wouldn’t be celebrating the renovation of Howe Library without The Mayor. It was Jennings who removed the library system from the regular City budget and allowed the creation of an independent elected board. Like the elected public school board, the library board has the power to levy taxes and bond for construction projects, all subject to voter approval of course.

At the time many people assumed He had “offloaded the libraries” merely to balance the budget. Whatever His original intentions, a number of passionate citizens saw this offloading as an opportunity to rebuild our libraries and expand our library system. Consequently the citizens and taxpayers became aware of the importance of our neglected branch libraries, particularly during the give and take with the public that preceded implementation of the plan.

I really couldn’t say if The Mayor intended this kind of result, whether or not He had a long term strategy in mind. But here we all were inspecting the new Howe Library because of The Mayor’’s policies. See? I’ll bark at The Mayor and snap at His ankles all day long, but when the man does something right, intentionally or not, I’ll give credit where credit is due.

In His remarks, Jennings seemed anxious to assure the audience that He cared about the South End and very much supported it’s revival. This seems to be a theme lately in His South End speeches, certainly good to hear. But with politicians words are cheap, it’s the results that count.

Kids Cut The Ribbon

At the end of the speechifying a whole bunch of kids emerged from one of the side rooms to cut a symbolic ribbon in front of the podium. Scissors in hand, they lined up and counted down “three. two, one…” and cut the ribbon to, um, ribbons. Thus the library officially opened.

The TV crews dropped in for the dedication, the media reports were brief but positive, with one exception. The Hearst-owned Times Union sent one of their best photographers, the guy who wears the hats, and he took lots of photos. But the editors, true to form, selected from this fellow two cold, distant unappealing photos that managed to make the building look shabby, along with the flat caption, “Howe Library Opens.” How very typical of the Hearst Rag and their attitude toward the South End of Albany.

The Larger Community Room In The Basement

The basement of the building used to be a dismal cavern, but now it has two very attractive community center rooms, one large the other small. The rooms are designed so that they can be used after regular library hours by community groups, with a separate entrance to the outside. During the event the smaller room was being occupied by a group of children busily cutting up and pasting construction paper at a long table.

The larger room had all the food and drink. The library managers went all out, there was plenty of good edibles such as cut up melon, and there was sweet stuff. I watched several parental units wag their fingers at children grabbing too much cake, there was plenty for all.

Outside The Building:

The next day I returned to inspect the exterior of the building. When plans for the building were being discussed, there was grudging acceptance all around that an exterior addition needed to be built to provide handicap access, elevators, fire escape, and after hours access to the community rooms. And bathrooms, let’s not forget that. Only a few activists mourned the loss of the shabby little park upon which the addition is built.

The original 1929 Howe building is such an architectural masterpiece, why must the addition look so astoundingly ugly and out of place? Looking at the graphic depiction of the proposed addition two years ago, I commented that it looked like a suburban dentist office from the 1970s. And indeed, that is what we have:

The Retro Dentist Office Addition

I’m convinced that the precipitous decline of architectural beauty in America these last 70 years is due to table tops. You see, architects have gotten into the habit of designing their buildings to look good as scale models sitting on tabletops, which is where the point of sale occurs. Inevitably, these tabletop models look horrible as real buildings in the real world. Sad to say, these rathole boxes are everywhere.

Well, no point in complaining about it anymore. At least the blocks from which the addition is constructed are higher quality than standard cinder blocks, and the interior is much nicer than I thought it would be. Also, blogger NY Cowboy has told me that additions to historic buildings in NY State are not supposed to match the original too closely, why I’m not sure. Is this true?

One Of Howe Library’s Magnificent Windows

The big success is the preservation and refurbishing of Howe Library’s magnificent wooden windows. The wooden windows have been stripped of paint and glazing, repaired where necessary and set back into place without the ugly iron grates. Inside each window has a sheet of plexiglass (or possibly lexan) for climate control and security.

Two years ago the citizens of the South End (and beyond) rose up to defend these windows after library officials announced that they planned to throw them in the dump and replace them with aluminum windows. We told the planners that this was not acceptable. As far as we were concerned, if you trash the wooden windows you might as well turn Howe Library into a hamburger stand.

At first glance this seems an esoteric matter hardly worth the bother. But as was plainly evident to all who attended the Library’s grand opening on March 27, the interior of the building is defined and made unique by the light that pours in through these windows. We all understood that the quality of the light is defined by the quality of the portals through which it passes.

This celebration of natural light goes back to the 12th century in our civilization, but somehow this aesthetic concern mysteriously disappeared during the course of the 20th century. Certainly this comes from a growing reliance on artificial light and cheap energy to illuminate interiors, perhaps an over-reliance. And of course naturally illuminated interiors do not come across on table tops.

More simply for many of us the issue is one of communication between the inside of the library and the community outside. To turn Howe into a typical tabletop rathole, or even to move in that direction by degrading the windows, would be to continue to reject the surrounding neighborhood as unworthy. That, you see, is precisely what we are battling against.

Before After

It’s amazing what a change in basic attitude followed by a little basic maintenance can achieve. At the grand opening I talked to a young lady library volunteer who told me with a grand flourish, “The community wanted wooden windows and we listened to the community.” I gazed at a window and said, “Yes, we did. Thank you for listening to us.”

The Parking Lot

In my opinion, there wasn’t enough controversy over the creation of the 10 space parking lot. Originally two buildings, one vacant the other owned and occupied, were supposed to be demolished for to make room for this layer of asphalt. The architects and planners and library officials, almost all of whom were suburbanites, couldn’t even conceive of a building that did not have at least a token parking lot.

And like all typical suburbanites they were fired up and hot to destroy as many urban buildings as they could. They managed to destroy the vacant two story mid 19th century wooden house. But the owned and occupied brick house hard up next the the library building survived.

The owner of that building, who angrily refused a buyout offer, told me that the City has been coming down hard on him. “The City impounded my dogs,” he said, “because I tied them up outside and the workers didn’t like ‘em.” Admittedly, he is not an easy person to deal with. The City continues to fight with this fellow to clean up the exterior of his building, he continues to be angry and defiant.

The Mysterious Dead Lot, The Block Addition At Rear

What’s the story with this lot, wedged between the parking lot and this fellow’s building? He told me in no uncertain terms that he did not own this lot. So where comes this nasty patch of dirt lined with shrubbery?

I asked several library officials to clue me in here, but the response was deafening silence. This suggests to me that the story here may be very, very ugly and fraught with disputed legalities. If anybody knows some of the facts please pass it along to me. I’ve suddenly become very curious.

The truth is that such friction around the exterior of the library building is inevitable. Naturally much of this unpleasantness could have been avoided by not trying to spread asphalt for suburbanites and destroy buildings. But this is an issue that is coming up repeatedly as revitalization projects begin to transform the South End.

After some 70 years of planned decay and neglect by the City government, the people of the surrounding neighborhoods have become accustomed to living in decay and neglect. Naturally, they resist renovation and revitalization of their own neighborhoods as impositions by a belligerent government that they stopped trusting many decades ago.

For example, this fellow who owns this building doesn’t seem to understand why the City suddenly wants him to clear off the highly visible pile of crap on his front porch. The City never cared before. I don’t know how to solve this ongoing problem of conflicts caused by revitalization, but I would guess that a heavy handed threatening approach by the government would consistently strike these urban survivors the wrong way.

Howe Library And Schuyler Mansion, March 2010

These ongoing exterior problems aside, the renovation of Howe Library can be declared a stunning success, a major event in the rebuilding of our community. The general expectation is that Howe will become a major defining center of the South End, an important portal through which outsiders will connect with our neighborhoods.

Is the renovation of Howe all done with, or is it the start of positive influences on the surrounding neighborhoods? That, of course, depends upon the future attitude of the government. But we the people ultimately call the shots, if we continue to fight for our community and our architectural treasures then we can look forward to a South End that fills us with unqualified pride.

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