gentrification, squatter

Squatter Films

And there it was taped up on the light pole as I passed by on Avenue C. It is a sign of the past, a sign of resistance that you never see in today’s gentrified, genocided East Village. It read “Squatter Films. Need a Home, Take one!”. It is an ode to the days gone by when these signs were everywhere and squatters were everywhere. There is no squatter scene in this neighborhood anymore. It has been bought out and sold out. This is a sign for everything now lost and forgotten that the Lower East Side neighborhood once stood for. A sign that the neighborhood once fought against. Gentrification and impending Gentrification. It is an ode to the park that once had the horses running through it, the cows running round it, and the helicopters hoovering over it. It is an ode to the bandshell that stood as a symbol of freedom for all long torn down, lost and forgotten. Free that park, that park everywhere. Freedom and utopia a thing of the past. It is a sign that once meant the squatters are your neighbors who will not surrender their lands or homes and who will not disappear or cease to exist. And so this flyer goes on to read: As the dizzying process of rampant speculation and gentrification goes on, we travel back to the days of resistance and a culture of life and struggle here on the Lower East Side. Join us for some home movies about people who needed a home and took one! Squatting is about taking back life, taking back the land in the interests of justice, equality, peace, and love between neighbors, neighbors who share a common need for a home, a human right to a home, made real in the act of seizing one! Join us for a night of cinema which explores Lower East Side history, a legacy of resistance, through direct action, and a celebration of cultural liberation. Various guest speakers will be present. Sliding scale donation at the door. Squatters rights are human rights! Gentrification is Genocide. -Not Dead Yet-
And what does this have to do with a No Police State?

Saint Mark’s Church
2nd Avenue @ 10th Street
Saturday Night, August 18
7-Midnight

environment

Green Energy

Yes I am all about green energy these days. Because of global warming and climate change, green is the thing. And I am not exactly sure what the following press release is about and how gasoline can be green because when I think of gasoline I see red. Maybe it’s a bio diesel fuel or something. I hope this is helping to save planet Mother Earth and is not a profit before people, petroleum related, take all of the oil you can find out of the earth at whatever cost company, and if it says Green, then I guess its the thing.

BRITISH GAS LAUNCHES GREENEST ENERGY TARIFF

9 August 2007: British Gas has announced it is launching two new green energy tariffs, Zero Carbon, which will be the greenest tariff available on the domestic market and Future Energy. British Gas has launched the tariffs, in response to the increasing demand for green energy products.

Householders signing up to the Zero Carbon tariff will:
• reduce their household energy carbon emissions to zero through Kyoto compliant offset schemes which will meet the new Defra requirements
• help fund a direct increase in investment in renewable energy generated in the UK
• contribute to the new British Gas green fund which will:
o invest in developing new renewable technologies such as wave power
o oversee a programme to help schools in the UK reduce their CO2 emissions

Gearóid Lane, Managing Director British Gas New Energy said,”Our new tariff responds to consumer demand for truly green energy solutions. It is essential that customers have confidence in green energy tariffs and that their credibility is not damaged by tariffs that claim to be green but in reality do not deliver any incremental environmental benefits. Green tariffs are moving from niche to mainstream products and we’re leading the industry by offering a tariff that will do more for the environment than any other product currently available.”

Under the government’s Renewables Obligation (RO), electricity suppliers in the UK are already required to produce an increasing percentage of their electricity through methods such as wind farms which, unlike traditional power plants, produce zero carbon emissions. For 2007/2008 this figure is set at 7.9%.

In a recent report, the National Consumer Council (NCC) raised concerns that some energy suppliers are packaging electricity which is produced under the RO scheme as “green”, yet it delivers no additional environmental benefits. The NCC called on energy suppliers to take steps beyond their legal requirements and offer green energy tariffs that provide genuine additional environmental benefits, in particular CO2 emissions reduction.

British Gas worked with Global Action Plan and The Climate Group’s “We’re in this Together” campaign to develop Zero Carbon which goes further than any other green tariff in meeting these requirements offering consumers the only zero carbon option on the market.

The tariff carries a premium of £84 per year, reflecting the higher cost of producing energy through lower carbon emission schemes.

Virginia Graham, Chair of Global Action Plan, said, “The British Gas Zero Carbon tariff delivers on all three of the essential requirements of a green tariff which are: additionality, transparency and verifiability. As such it is a very welcome new offering in the market. Consumers signing up to the tariff can be confident that they are getting 12 per cent more renewable energy than they would otherwise have got. The carbon emissions from their electricity and gas will also be offset with emissions reductions from projects accredited by the United Nations.”

Zero Carbon is one of the first initiatives launched through the ‘We’re in this Together’ campaign, which was launched in April 07 as an alliance of some of the UK’s biggest brands who are all working to help their customers reduce their impact on the climate.

Dr Steve Howard, CEO of The Climate Group and founder of ‘We’re in this Together’ said, “We’re committed to offering people ways to make a real impact on climate change through Together.com. We’ve worked with British Gas to ensure that Zero Carbon is a genuine step forward in delivering more environmental benefits than any other tariff currently available.”

British Gas’s second green energy tariff, Future Energy, offers an alternative green electricity tariff at a premium of just £20 per year. Customers signing up to this tariff will contribute to a green fund which will provide solar panels and other renewable energy technologies to UK schools. Money from the fund will also be invested in development of future renewable technologies and sources.

To sign up customers can call British Gas on 0845 604 0055 or visit http://www.britishgas.co.uk
This is a sponsored post

filming

Camera Camera On The Street

It’s Big Brother time again and he is watching you. This time it’s you need permission from him to film in New York City. How are tourists and everyone else in this town supposed to know that? Will there be signs posted reading “Anyone not moving along” or “Anyone standing still for more than one second” or “Anyone standing with one or more persons” or “Anyone out after dark” or “Anyone riding a bike” or “Anyone riding the subway” or “Anyone driving a car” or “Anyone walking” or “Anyone shopping” or “Anyone carrying 100 or more bags” or “Anyone not at home” or “Anyone at home” or “Anyone waking up” or “Anyone”, will need permission from New York City or else…. And the list goes on and on. You can sign a petition if you have thoughts on this rule at Picture NY, especially if you do not want to see New York pictured as pictureless. And what does this have to do with a No Police State?

credit

Credit Debit

I was reading somewhere today that the population of the world has doubled since 1965 and it’s going upward with that J curve thing. Wow! In other news in addition to the horrible atrocities that seem to happen around the world daily too innumerable to mention, I also read the recent headlines “The Dow Jones plummets a million points”. What exactly is the Dow Jones? Doesn’t that have something to do with the stock market and Wall Street in downtown New York City? Well whatever it is, I think it is all about money, money and more money. This plunge seems to be about loans, mortgages, foreclosures, delinquencies, borrowing and credit debt. Is my credit card debt contributing to the fall of the Dow and causing the world to run out of money? How does that work? Should I pick up the phone the next time the creditor calls and say I will pay them back so that the world does not run out of money? Will the world economy system collapse if everyone cannot afford to pay their debt? They say seven years is bad luck. Can debt be erased every seven days instead of every seven years? Can the Federal Reserve print up free money to give to everyone and can the Treasury give away free money to everyone so that everyone can pay their debt or just make everything free in the world so that money is no longer required to obtain anything? Can everyone who needs a home just take one and squat the land now? Oh, that’s a utopian thought. And forgive us of our debts as we forgive our debtors. Is another world possible.

gifts

Garage Gifts

Well it’s not exactly Christmas yet, but in case you happen to be looking for great Christmas gifts for him months ahead of time, you can find all gifts garage at Car Guy Garage. Nothing says the perfect gift like a Car Guy Garage gift. You can find cabinets, work benches, flooring, storage systems and much more storage items for your garage at their website. They carry many different products to make the garage another room in your house, if you happen to have a garage. This is a sponsored post.

life

The Cost of Living

Why does it cost so much to live in New York? Why does it cost so much to live anywhere? Is it inflation, and what exactly is inflation. Why is that 1970, $260 one bedroom apartment now $2600 and why is that mom and pop shop now Starbucks? Why is that corner coffee house now the corner laptop shop and why is that infamous Tompkins Square Park bandshell now the glorious tennis court? Why is that ten cents subway token now the two dollar subway token and why is that bagel now called a biagli. Why is Kmart now Walmart and why is that neighborhood bookstore now Barnes and Nobles’. Why is that Salvation Army shirt now an Urban Outfitters trend and why is that one dollar tank of gas now ten dollars. Why is Alphabet to dangerous to go there City now Alphabet let’s go there and party City and why is CBGB’s no longer CBGB’s. Why is 42nd Street now Disneyland and why is The Bowery no longer The Bowery. Is it change, ever constant. Does New York reflect the state of the world, is there change everywhere in the world now in these times. Long Live New York.

travel

Have A Great Trip?

So what’s up with all of these airport trauma drama stories I’ve been hearing from friends lately. It’s summer vacation time and more and more people are flying to their vacation getaway destination and airlines are more busier than ever. And what if your vacation getaway travel plans involve reaching your destination ten days and ten trauma drama stories later with flight delays, cancellations and security checks that cause you to miss your flight from having your baggage checked and items opened, your shoes stripped and then winding up sleeping on the airport floor until the very next day. And do you get a hotel room or a bag of cookies as recompense or do you have to pay a penalty. And what’s up with those stories of you can buy liquids at the airport but you can not take them on the airplane and so you lose that gift bottle of wine and it is left behind. And what about those stories about those high tech we are looking for something devices, those scanner machines that blow air all over your body and x ray the iris of your eyes. Are civilians losing more and more of their rights in the name of terrorism and security. Is it nineteen eighty four yet, is daily life a science fiction movie these days. And despite all of this, we hope you enjoy your flight and be glad you made it to your destination. Have a great trip and happy vacation.

marketing

Market My Blog

Internet Marketing, now that sounds like something I can use, as I am always trying to figure out how to market and promote this blog to reach a bazillion readers a day and I am always forever looking for those online tutorials and manuals on how to market your blog. At allinanchor.com you can find marketing news and tips if you are interested in finding out what’s going on in the Internet marketing world. Their website offers helpful knowledge, tips, information and articles about everything Internet marketing such as site design, website popularity, iPhones and other interesting articles to read. And as everything Internet seems to also be about everything SEO, there is also an interesting article about links and Search Engine Optimization. This is a sponsored post.

art, New York, peace

Chico

I have been reading the local papers often and finding myself commenting on interesting articles I read in them lately. And one interesting sentence in an article that caught my eye today was “You never see me draw guns. I want to make the neighborhood something nice to look at. If I see a negative message or mural, I go up to that person and say we need to change something.” That sentence is an excerpt in this weeks The Villager titled “Still keeping it real on L.E.S.: Chico’s message is indelible.” Chico makes his mark a positive on the Lower East Side. Antonio “Chico” Garcia is a graffiti mural artist who has painted thousands of colorful murals on walls throughout the Lower East Side neighborhood in New York, now the East Village for real estate marketing purposes maybe, over the past few decades. The neighborhood is his gallery and he is recognized as a pioneer in graffiti art. The article goes on to say that Chico is tired of graffiti that glorifies drugs and violence, and even made the personal decision some years back to stop doing the neighborhood mural memorials to those lost to violence that launched his career. This article sticks in my mind because Chico speaks for peace and end to violence. As I have written in what seems like every other blog posting, who invented guns? Guns are the worst invention ever. And the news stories are endless of persons losing their lives on a daily basis as the news story was yesterday and the news story will be tomorrow with no end in sight for no reason at all. I could cut and paste my appeal to banish the gun industry and guns from every human being on planet earth and to end the use of the images of guns in all forms of advertising and marketing as I have written in blog posts of the past. I am only one blogger, one voice. Is another world possible. Peace on earth and goodwill to all mankind. And what does this have to do with a No Police State?

advertising, media

Sex Rehab?

No sex ads in the paper anymore for the New York Press? Wow, now that’s news. That’s an article I read in their paper this week. For they have repented, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. In reality, The New York Press’s article says that their paper has a new owner, Manhattan Media, which bought the New York Press last week. Manhattan Media says sex sells, but not in the New York Press, as sex ads drive away mainstream advertisers. As of this week, the New York Press is no longer accepting explicit advertising with photos. So how is everyone going to call the back pages of the Village Voice for sex now? Oh, I forgot, half of the Village Voice back pages are still sex ads and pharmaceutical ads. And how is everyone going to locate that escort, prostitute, massage parlor, xxx theater and sex shop now that has already been exiled from 42nd street Disneyland to the back pages of the local newspapers? Long Live Sex in the New York Press.