Podcasts about New York State Legislature

On Monday, the New York State Department of Corrections (DOCCS) announced that the prison strike had ended. As part of the negotiations, they plan on suspending portions of the HALT Solitary Law that was passed by the New York State Legislature and signed by the Governor. Elizabeth Press speaks to Anisah Sabur about her experience in solitary and why she thinks it is essential to uphold the HALT Solitary Law.

Our latest episode is brought to you by the City Bar's Mass Incarceration Task Force. Tess Cohen, Chair of Task Force, discusses the Treatment Court Expansion Act, formerly known as the Treatment Not Jail Act, with guests Jeffrey Berman, a mental health attorney with the Legal Aid Society of Manhattan, and Mark Graham, founder and executive director of the Redemption Center. They explore the legislation's goal to expand treatment-based alternatives to incarceration for individuals with mental health issues, substance use disorders, and other disabilities. The discussion covers the bill's potential to reduce recidivism, the role of diversion courts, and the broader societal impact of addressing mental health and substance use issues within the community. Join the coalition at treatmentnotjail.com and advocate for change in our community. If you want to learn more about sensible legislative solutions to the treatment of people who are incarcerated in New York, read the Mass Incarceration Task Force's reports on the Treatment Court Expansion Act (https://bit.ly/43ETNRw) and the Communities Not Cages Act (https://bit.ly/4htf57U) and view the City Bar's Legislative Agenda (https://bit.ly/3DuhGAL) to learn more about how you can participate in advocacy that supports passage of these proposals in the New York State Legislature. 00:00 Overview of the Treatment Court Expansion Act 00:39 Meet the Experts: Jeffrey Berman and Mark Graham 01:29 Understanding the Legislation 02:39 Existing Criminal Justice Framework and Challenges 05:26 Expanding the Treatment Court System 06:47 The Importance of Removing Guilty Plea Requirements 11:53 Personal Stories and Advocacy 19:12 The Impact of Incarceration on Mental Health 22:12 Public Safety and Mental Health 26:07 The Cost and Benefits of Treatment Courts 28:33 Current Status and Future of the Treatment Courts Expansion Act 30:56 How Listeners Can Help 37:17 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

On Wednesday, January 29th, the New York State Legislature held a hearing on Governor Hochul's proposed budget for schools. While strong support was expressed for her proposal for universal school meals, various questions were raised with respect to the school funding formula as well as the issue of ICE immigration raids at schools. We hear from Melinda Person, head of NYS United Teacher; Mike Mulgrew of NYC's United Federation of Teachers; Randy Levine of Advocates of Children of New York; Catherine Cochran of Center for Science in the Public Interest; Jessica Pino-Goodspeed of Healthy School Meals for All NY Kids Coalition; and Claire Barnet of Healthy Schools Network. By Mark Dunlea for Hudson Mohawk Magazine.

Inwood Art Works presentsOn Air Concert: Birds, Bees and Electric FishEnjoy this flute and percussion concert "Birds, Bees and Electric Fish" featuring Caballito Negro + Friends. Caballito Negro: Tessa Brinckman, flutes, Terry Longshore, percussion with Lisa Cella, flute and Dustin Donahue, percussion. Carlo Lopez-Speciale provided Spanish translation. This concert was performed on October 27, 2024 at 2pm at Good Shepherd Auditorium. PROGRAM (PROGRAMA)Two Seaming | Jane RiglerLisa Cella, Tessa Brinckman – flutes (flautas)music for the small hours (música para las primeras horas de la mañana) | Emma O'HalloranDustin Donahue, Terry Longshore – percussion (percusión)No. 13 | Stuart Saunders SmithLisa Cella – flute (flautas), Dustin Donahue – percussion (percusión)Itch | Will RoweTessa Brinckman - alto flute (flauta alto), Terry Longshore - snare drum (caja)INTERMISSIONBirds, Bees, Electric Fish | Juri Seo Birds Bees Electric FishTessa Brinckman - flute/alto flute/found sounds (flauta/flauta alto/sonidos encontrados), Lisa Cella - flute/piccolo/ocarina/found sounds (flauta/flautín/ocarina/sonidos encontrados), Terry Longshore – percussion (percusión), Dustin Donahue - percussion (percusión)Inwood Art Works On Air podcast is a free program produced by Inwood Art Works. Aaron Simms, Founder and Executive Producer. You can support this program by making a tax-deductible donation at www.inwoodartworks.nyc/donate.This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. Inwood Art Works programming is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.Caballito Negro gratefully acknowledges the following support for the live concert performance of Birds, Bees & Electric Fish: 2024 grant from Chamber Music America's Artistic Projects program, funded through the generosity of The Howard Gilman Foundation; 2024 UMEZ grant, administered by Lower Manhattan Cultural Council; Inwood Art Works; University Of Maryland Baltimore County Music Department for rehearsal space and percussion in preparing for this concert.

Vito Fossella: New York State Legislature trying to protect illegal criminal migrants

Vito Fossella: New York State Legislature trying to protect illegal criminal migrants Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thomas Peter DiNapoli is an American politician serving as the 54th and current New York State Comptroller since 2007. A member of the Democratic Party, he was appointed by a bipartisan majority of the New York State Legislature to the position of comptroller on February 7, 2007. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Independent documentary filmmaker and policy analyst at Reason Foundation, Jen Sidorova, joins us to discuss how rent control impacts tenants, landlords and the housing market. Her latest short film project, “Shabbification: The Story of Rent Control”, reflects how rent control has a direct effect on housing quality. Almost half of rentals in NYC are rent-stabilized. We highlight the challenges faced by small property owners and the potential consequences of these regulations on the housing market. Bathtub in your kitchen, anyone? Yes, you read that correctly. In some cases maintenance has been deferred for so long that units have not been updated to code. Learn about the history of rent control and stabilization laws in New York. Resources mentioned: Show Notes: GetRichEducation.com/515 You can follow Jen on Instagram @jen_sidorova or check out her writing at reason.org For access to properties or free help with a GRE Investment Coach, start here: GREmarketplace.com Get mortgage loans for investment property: RidgeLendingGroup.com or call 855-74-RIDGE  or e-mail: info@RidgeLendingGroup.com Invest with Freedom Family Investments.  You get paid first: Text FAMILY to 66866 For advertising inquiries, visit: GetRichEducation.com/ad Will you please leave a review for the show? I'd be grateful. Search “how to leave an Apple Podcasts review”  GRE Free Investment Coaching: GREmarketplace.com/Coach Best Financial Education: GetRichEducation.com Get our wealth-building newsletter free— text ‘GRE' to 66866 Our YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/c/GetRichEducation Follow us on Instagram: @getricheducation Complete episode transcript:   Automatically Transcribed With Otter.ai   Keith Weinhold  0:01   Welcome to GRE. I discuss the effect that now lower mortgage rates can have how to get a strong return with private lending. Then, for this week's guest, she is a public policy expert with reason.com maker of a new film called Shabbification that spotlights the perils and even horrors of rent control in New York City, and she's a young Russian immigrant that lives in one unit of a Buffalo fourPlex and rents out the other three today on Get Rich Education.    When you want the best real estate and finance info, the modern Internet experience limits your free articles access, and it's replete with paywalls and you've got pop ups and push notifications and cookies disclaimers. Oh, at no other time in history has it been more vital to place nice, clean, free content into your hands that actually adds no hype value to your life. See, this is the golden age of quality newsletters, and I write every word of ours myself. It's got a dash of humor, and it's to the point to get the letter. It couldn't be more simple text, GRE to 66866, and when you start the free newsletter, you'll also get my one hour fast real estate course, completely free. It's called the Don't quit your Daydream letter, and it wires your mind for wealth. Make sure you read it. Text GRE to 66866, text GRE to 66866. Corey Coates  1:40   you're listening to the show that has created more financial freedom than nearly any show in the world. This is Get Rich Education.   Keith Weinhold  1:56   Welcome to GRE from Ankara,Turkey to Anchorage, Alaska and across 488 nations worldwide. I'm Keith Weinhold, and you're listening to Get Rich Education. Today's guest was one of four panelists at a conference that I attended recently. The panel was named innovative solutions to the housing crisis, and her story struck me as interesting, so I invited her to be on the show today, we'll learn that with rent control in New York City, when landlords cannot go inside their own properties and aren't allowed to sell their own properties, seven states have price ceilings on rents, and I'll tell you here At GRE we avoid investing in these places. Listen closely, California, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Maine, Oregon, Minnesota and then DC too. Now sometimes rent control isn't too restrictive. For example, you can raise the rent no more than the rate of inflation plus 3% per year, or the rate of inflation plus 5% per year. And also, it's not all parts of those states where it applies. In fact, you typically do not find the policies statewide in those states that I mentioned, although you do in Oregon, it's statewide in Oregon, and there you can still raise the rent 7% plus the rate of inflation each year. And the good news is that 37 states actually have laws against rent control, specifically saying that you cannot enact it. So not only do 37 states not have it, they just wouldn't even allow a law for it. And there is a strong consensus, like I mentioned here on the show before, among economists that rent control, it reduces the quantity and quality of housing. Today, we'll focus on just how dilapidated rental units become under rent stabilization, which is a lot like rent control in New York City. And we'll discuss New York State and Buffalo. And by the way, I find something amazing. I mean, just say you would ask a question of any citizen of the world, no matter where they live, from Indonesia to Japan, to Bangladesh, to Nigeria to the United States. If you would just ask any citizen of the world, what is the capital of the world? I think that the best answer that you could come up with is New York City. I'm in the United States, and there are people right here in this country that have such little understanding of New York City, and what goes on there, and where it even is, it just amazes me. Maybe it's my own bias, because I'm a geography guy, but now, for example, to get from New York City out to Buffalo, that's an almost seven hour drive to the northwest two different parts of New York State. These are two very different places. We'll get into that shortly. But first in the wider real estate world, I did a little research since first mentioning this to you last week here, where mortgage rates have fallen fully one and a half points from the recent high. All right. Well, with every half point drop in mortgage rates, like I learned from First American, that's my source. With every half point drop in mortgage rates, about 1.1 million additional American households can qualify to buy an entry level home that's defined as the bottom 25% priced here. That's the number, and I checked their math. So with a full point drop in mortgage rates, then 2.2 million more American households can qualify to buy an entry level home. So we could very well have more buyers here soon, but yeah, when all these homeowners are still locked into three and 4% mortgage rates, I don't know that you're gonna have that many more sellers. So with demand exceeding supply, look for more upward pressure on home prices, especially higher values for those entry level homes that make the best rentals. Now, I'm talking about borrowing right there. And what happens when rates go down for mortgages, when they go down for borrowing? Well, rates on savings accounts, they typically fall as well. And this is a scenario that a lot of people expect. Now, most of my real estate activity is a borrower. I'm always here touting the virtues of how leverage builds wealth, and I know that I don't want to be a saver. So for my more liquid funds, I am a lender, and I'm reliably paid a stable 8% interest rate. And I think I've told you before that for years now, I make loans to real estate companies, and they use my funds to rehab properties and for other operations. Yes, an 8% return that I'm getting, and it's almost like getting an 8% yield on a savings account, and it's not expected to fall when interest rates fall. Well, the primary difference is that I often have to wait a few months if I want my full principal return, but not years. So it's not as rigid as a bank CD, but it's not as liquid as an old fashioned bank savings account. So the private real estate company that I've long made loans to works pretty diligently to maintain asset value and assure optimal returns. They'll tell you that they've never missed making a payment for their private money lending programs. And I did a little research, and I found that their fund utilization is 99.6% that really means that they deploy almost all of the capital if you want, you can potentially get a high yield at the same place I do. Sometimes you can get more than 8% or less than an 8% return, depending on what liquidity terms you want and what other terms you like. The company is Freedom Family Investments. They are real estate centric. If you want, go right ahead and learn more. You can do that by texting FAMILY to 66866. Remember, you're the lender, they're the borrower. And again, for most investment types, I want to be the borrower, but for liquid funds, and the fact that the rate of inflation is now down, an 8% return has a higher real yield now than it did two years ago and one year ago. And again, I'm happy to share it with you. It's Freedom Family Investments. If you want to learn more, do it now while it's on your mind and text FAMILY to 66866.    This week, our guest is a public policy expert that's also involved with a film called Shabbification, the story of rent control. Hey, welcome to GRE Jen Sidorova.   Jen Sidorova  9:16   Good to be here. Thank you for having me.    Keith Weinhold  9:18   Yeah and congrats. Shabbification screening in a lot of places, like the Anthem Film Festival at Freedom Fest last month and this month in New York City, tell us about the film.   Jen Sidorova  9:31    Yeah, so in Shabbification, I follow small property owners like myself who are subject to regulation, and most of them are owners of rent stabilized properties in the city of New York. Right, I follow three specific landlords. I They take me to their homes, they take me to their properties, and they show me around, and you can visually see what regulation has done to their property. Yeah, one of these properties was occupied by a tenant. From 1969 up until 2021 wow. And the landlord was never allowed to be in the property, so obviously no repairs were made. And you could see visually that the apartment was like from the 60s. It's like a museum, but not in a good way, because it's really falling apart, right? So it's like, almost like a Tenement Museum, or, you know, another museum New York City, where we they actually preserve those dates. But in this case, a private landlord actually owns that space, and they're having a difficult time. And so what my specific Shabbification With my film is about is a very specific regulation in New York City that happened in 2019 that applied to rent stabilized properties. What it did that is that it won't allow landlords to put them properties on the market even if they rent stabilized tenant vacates them. They're no longer allowed to put their properties on the market at all. And more than that, they are also not allowed to raise rent, even if they do repairs. So sometimes the cost of repairs in New York City for one bedroom unit can be 200,000 and they're only allowed to raise the rent by like roughly $90 a month, and only for 15 years. So it will take them, like, 200 years to recoup their investment. And obviously that doesn't make any sense, so stories like that is what my short film is about. I myself am a small property owner, so it was very special for me to go and kind of tell the story of people like me.   Keith Weinhold  11:36   That's amazing. So rent stabilization something that New York City has a history of. I sort of think of that as a genteel term or rent control. And a lot of times when your rent can't be raised above a certain amount, you get these long term tenants, in some cases, for decades, and in this case, over 50 years, with this particular tenant in New York City and landlords don't have much of any incentive to improve property when rent control is in place, because they know they cannot get a commensurate bump in rent.   Speaker 1  12:11   rent control and rent stabilization are a form of government enforced limit on the rents. And in New York we have two laws that govern that we have more but the most prominent ones are the rent control law of 1969 and the Rent Stabilization Act of 1974 so back in the day, there were issues with availability of affordable housing, and the government was trying to fix it, and that fix was supposed to be temporary. It was supposed to eventually run out once the tenants who were currently in place at the time in late 60s and 70s, once they move out, landlords were able to put those properties back on the market. And eventually, that's kind of what was going on up until 2019 when housing stability and Tenant Protection Act made it so that the landlords could no longer put their rent stabilized properties on the market anymore. So essentially, all rent stabilization became permanent in the state of New York, and actually, in the just a couple of weeks after my film, in April of 2024 we had another law. It's called Good Cause Eviction, and that one regulates every landlord or enterprise who owns more than 11 units. So once you own 11 units or more, you're subject to regulation. You can no longer evict your tenant without a good cause. And there's a bunch of other rules that apply, including the limit on how much rent you can raise year to year. So yeah, that's certainly what's going on. That's roughly the landscape all regulation in New York.   Keith Weinhold  13:44    Yeah, some of this is really punitive, because if rent control comes into a market, that's one thing sometimes that landlords want to do. They want to sell their property, and in some cases, there's a roadblock against that. You know, Jen, I looked up the definition of Shabbification. I just simply googled the term. Urban Dictionary had one of the first hits, and fortunately, it was a G rated definition there in urban dictionary, it was defined as the opposite of gentrification. So therefore with Shabbification, it's where a neighborhood goes through deterioration and despair. So tell us about some more of those bad cases of deterioration, in despair, in Shabbification. Just how bad does it get?   Speaker 1  14:30   Well, one of the properties that we went to was basically from 1910 it was in Chinatown, and we saw was that the bathtub was in the kitchen in that property, oh my gosh. And I believe that was a way for them to do renovations fast and cheap, like 100 years ago. And because that property falls under rent stabilization, and there's obviously limits on how much rent you can charge. So. Landlords of those properties never really make renovations. Sometimes you could see cases like the director of photography, who was in the film, he lives in a rent sabilized property, and in his case, he has a shower unit in his kitchen as well. Instead of a tub, he has a shower unit. And it kind of is, as he described as one of those telephone booths, like, you know, red telephone booths from London, and then kind of just sits in the kitchen, and you obviously cannot really have company or friends visiting or dinner or anything if you have something like that. But those are the setups that we frequently see. Also a lot of things like uneven floors or just, you know, the property, if it's not being taken care of, there might be, like, a hole in the wall, a hole in the ceiling, or the ceiling is falling out. And those are really graphic images. And we do, we do capture them on camera a lot in Shabbification, and that comes from, kind of, my attraction to urban decay. I do enjoy, you know, touring older buildings, or maybe buildings that are preserved as a ruin, maybe like an old prison and or like an old mental asylum. I do do that a lot. It's just a hobby when I travel. So I was always attracted to that esthetic, and that does show in my film as well. I think I love studying the tragedy because I love studying how the hope died, because it's fascinating to me. It's very specific to usually a town or a city, and then just is so telling, and it's such a teaching moment for us as a society to kind of revisit those stories and figure out why did that hope die. And you can see a lot of that in the film.    Keith Weinhold  16:41   it's a great way to scratch one's itch for I suppose, seeing real life haunted houses, if you will, in Jen's film Shabbification here. Well, Jen, we've been talking about the conditions of the tenants. Why don't we talk more about how the landlord is portrayed in Shabbification.    Speaker 1  17:00   since this is the story, primary of the landlords, not so much on the tenant. You know, normally in this sort of films and these sort of documentaries, the story falls in tenant, because the tenant is the one who is seen as likable and sympathetic person, and that's how, and that's usually a more preferable framing angle. But in my story, my story is a story of a merchant class, or like a more, like a war on the merchant class, the war on landlords. Because in the state of New York, no matter how small or large of a landlord you are, whether you own one unit or 1000 by a lot of people in New York State Legislature as a landlord, you're seen as evil. They think you've done something wrong and you have to be punished. So that's the attitude to a lot of landlords, and although they're not that many small property owners, and sometimes we're not seen as a sympathetic I think this is the story that we need to tell, because some of them are like me. I am an immigrant to this country. Once I got an opportunity, I got my first rental property in Buffalo, New York, and right away, I've been renting out three units and lived in one, and I still do own it. Five years later, I live alongside with my tenants. When I go on vacations, they feed my cat, and when they go travel for work, I do take care of their properties. I water their plants, do things like that. So we do live as a small community, and this is something that a lot of people do in Buffalo, because it's a working class city. It's very hard to be able to afford a single family home. Right away, what you can do is acquire one of these properties, either a two unit, three or four unit, because when you're four units less, then you can do an FHA loan, which I did, and you can put minimum amount down, which I did, and then day one, right away, the income from the tenants was paying off my mortgage, right? That's kind of how I can build generational wealth. But not only that, that's how I can start my journey of home ownership and hopefully building generational wealth in the future, as I've said. And I also have my own passion for buildings, and we did a lot of renovations with my family on that property. So there's a lot of heart and soul in that space. And laws like rent control and Good Cause Eviction, they put a cap on people like me and how much we can grow. Because, as I've mentioned, the Good Cause Eviction in New York, it puts a cap on how far and how big people like me can grow. Because once you have 11 units, that's my cap. Once I have 11 units, I have subject to regulation, and somebody like me cannot afford having a tenant who would just never move out. So yeah, I think these laws, they intended to protect the needy. They intended to protect the families, but they do just the opposite. They. Just limit how much we can grow, and they also just make an environment within our properties very toxic, because tenants now basically have more rights than we do.   Keith Weinhold  20:09   Yeah, well, you're really humanizing the plight of the landlord here, Jen with your four Plex over there. For those that aren't familiar with the geography in western New York in Buffalo, sort of the opposite end of the state where New York City is. And, yeah, I mean, landlords are usually portrayed in media is these people that are sort of greedy and bumbling and they won't fix the broken air conditioner. And, you know, it's, it's unusual to me, Jen, that a lot of people tend to resent landlords, whom are often small business owners, but yet they champion other small business owners. And talk about how, you know, small business ownership is the very heart of America. I'm trying to figure out why that is, you know, maybe some tenants that just don't really understand how things work. Just think, well, why should I have to pay this landlord. All I'm doing is sort of renting air or renting space. But you know, one group of tenants that does not seem to resent landlords, Jen, in my experience, that is people that were previously homeowners and are now tenants. They don't seem to resent landlords, and that's probably because that tenant that has experience being a homeowner. They've seen bills for property tax and property insurance and mortgage principal and mortgage interest and maintenance and repairs. I think that's what makes the difference.    Jen Sidorova  21:33   Yeah, definitely. It's almost like, you know, when I lived with my parents, I didn't pay attention to the bills, like election bills or water bills or anything. But once you start living on your own, you now see how it gets deducted from your account, and then it changes you, adds you towards consumption, changes right? You now turn off the light when you leave and do just small things like that. And that's a similar psychology that works with people who previously owned their own homes. I think what the dynamic that's happening here with tenants is there's always going to be more tenants than landlords, so tenants have a lot more political power, and we see a lot of that in New York. We have a lot of tenant groups, tenant unions, who are very hold a little, a lot of political power. And it's one side of it, another side of it is that a lot of these policies do benefit large landlords, in a sense that once the small property owner is no longer able to keep up the property and they just foreclose on it, a larger landlord can always pick it up. And for large landlords, these costs of litigating with the tenant, or the cost of fixing a unit, or even the cost of having somebody live without paying for a few months, these are just the costs of running business, whereas for somebody like me, it's a significant chunk of my income, right? So at the moment, I think it's like 25% of my income is coming from the rentals, so it's significant. So I guess what I'm trying to say is, on the other side of political power, I just legislators who do not want to see private rentals. You know, small property owners having rentals and Damn, motivations are something else. It's almost like, if there's one conspiracy theory that I believe in, is that one you know, is that there is a war on the merchant class among some legislators, especially in the state of New York, who really just do not want to see small property owners providing housing to the community, and they would rather see it in in the hands of larger developers, and that's just the nature of how political process works, sometimes.   Keith Weinhold  23:45   in the broad business world, large institutional corporations, they're often pro regulation for just the reason you talked about it helps put smaller operators out of business that can't bear the expense of dealing with the regulation. But yeah, your film Shabbification, it helps underscore the fact that rent control, it stifles the free market in the process of price discovery. I mean really that price discoveries, that is the process of supply versus demand, with the referee being the price and finding that right rent amount, and amidst this low housing supply we have, it's just really bad timing for any jurisdiction to enact rent control. Existing landlords stop improving property. Builders stop building new property, and it can make landlords want to sell, like we touched on earlier. But also I'd like to talk about making the other case, the case for rent control. When we come back, we're talking with public policy expert Jan siderova, the maker of a film called shabbatation, where we come back. I'm your host. Keith Weinhold, hey, you can get your mortgage loans at the same place where I get mine at. Ridge lending group  NMLS, 42056, they provided our listeners with more loans than any provider in the entire nation because they specialize in income properties, they help you build a long term plan for growing your real estate empire with leverage. You can start your pre qualification and chat with President changley Ridge personally. Start now, while it's on your mind at Ridge lendinggroup.com that's Ridge lendinggroup.com.   Your bank is getting rich off of you. The national average bank account pays less than 1% on your savings if your money isn't making 4% you're losing your hard earned cash to inflation. Let the liquidity fund help you put your money to work. With minimum risk, your cash generates up to an 8% return with compound interest, year in and year out. Instead of earning less than 1% sitting in your bank account, the minimum investment is just 25k you keep getting paid until you decide you want your money back. Their decade plus track record proves they've always paid their investors 100% in full and on time. And I would know, because I'm an investor too, earn 8% hundreds of others are text family, 266, 866, learn more about freedom. Family investments, liquidity fund on your journey to financial freedom through passive income. Text, family 266, 866,   Caeli Ridge  26:32   This is Ridge Lending Group's president, Caeli Ridge. Listen to get rich education with Keith Weinhold, and remember, don't quit your Daydream.   Keith Weinhold  26:52   Welcome back to Get Rich Education. We're talking with a really interesting guest, Jen Sidorova. She's the maker of a new film called Shabbification. This centers on rent control and dilapidated housing conditions. And Jen, you know, I've talked about here on both this episode and another episode a few weeks ago about the deleterious downstream consequences of rent control. It benefits a small group of people in the short term and ends up with deteriorated neighborhoods in a lot of municipalities, but I like to look at things from the other side. What is the case for rent control?   Jen Sidorova  27:27   So I think the the original story behind the rent control in New York City was that in the 70s, it was just really dire situation, kind of what we're going through right now. Right now in New York we have the housing crisis that's the worst in the last 50 years, so basically right around the 70s again. So the current vacancy rate is like 2% and at the same time, we have between 20 to 60,000 rent stabilized rent control units that are vacant because landlords just do not want to put them in more on the market, because talking just in New York City here, yeah, just New York City. And New York City has roughly 1 million of rent stabilized or rent control properties altogether. But yeah, so what is the case for rent control, right? So in my opinion, what is the most problematic saying about rent control or rent stabilization right now, the way the current laws are in New York City is that the property itself is being stabilized or controlled. It's not the person. It doesn't matter how much money you're making. If you're making half a million dollars, you can still live in an apartment that's like 500 $600 a month, right?   Keith Weinhold  28:38   You can have your second lavish vacation home out in the Hamptons, and it doesn't matter.    Jen Sidorova  28:42   Yeah, you can live in Texas for like, nine months out of a year, and come back to New York City for the summer, and then people do that. That's like, not, I'm not making it up. It's a real thing. People are basically hoarding these rent stabilized rent control units, and they just never let them go. And that definitely pushes out young people out of the city. It pushes immigrants out of the city, because people, yeah, all the newcomers. So that's what's going on. So instead of having a property itself being controlled, what could be done? Maybe like a voucher program, maybe like a housing voucher program, but we can only do this if we let the rent control and rent stabilization laws sunset. So once the current tenants move out, that has to be put back on the market, right? So what we could do is the housing voucher program maybe, so that we will always have people in the society that need a little bit of help, but it shouldn't be in such a way that they it's the landlord who is paying for it, right? So if there's a housing voucher, they can live wherever and however that program works in the sense that whoever picks up the rest of the bill, as long as it's not a landlord directly. Yeah, so that's how I see it. And I think just other things that can be done is better zoning regulation that allow more buildings to be built a lot of New York City. Is like a museum, right? We have a lot of historic buildings, a lot of preservation of all the buildings, but we have to reevaluate that, because we don't necessarily have to have the East Village look like a museum if we don't have enough housing, right? So we have to reassess of how much of those policies we still want to hold on to, and then maybe also building codes. Sometimes it's really hard to expand or have more units within the same building. If I have a four unit property and I want to convert it into five units, I am subject to whole different regulation and a whole different bunch of coding, whereas my square footage remains the same. So I think we have to revisit that, because a lot of these new materials that we work with when building are safe right now. So maybe we could let people do more with their properties, and that way we provide more house.   Keith Weinhold  30:50   Yeah. Well, some of this comes down to, how do you get politicians to say no to rent control, which I believe is part of the motivation of your film?    Jen Sidorova  31:01   Right, So the motivation behind myself was that I bought my property in 2019 I went under contract in 2019 and I fully acquired the rights in March of 2020 and between the August of 2019 and 2020 we had a new law passed that was housing stability and Tenant Protection Act 2019 in New York State, and that kind of put a cap on how much I can raise the rent if the tenant remains the same. And at the time when I found that out, I was like, well, that's kind of quirky, but whatever, what can I do? But then a year from that, like in 2021 we had a new mayoral candidate who was a socialist, openly socialist person, and they were advocating for rent control. And at the time, I had an opportunity to go to do a film workshop, and I was thinking, so what is that I really wanted to write film about? And I was this, definitely rent control, because it's relevant for me. It's the story of my people among small property owners, and that's how I did it. And I really want policy action. The idea behind this film, the goal is policy change, right? But this short film is only the beginning of my project, which is exploration of the topic prevent control in the state of New York and everywhere else in the country, and we keep interviewing more people, more experts, and to convert into a larger film, and then hopefully, like a full feature documentary, in order to educate both policymakers and the public about what rent control can do. And eventually, we do hope for policy change in New York, and hopefully, with this film, no more new rent control can happen, or at least when politicians start those bills, they take a look and talk to me and make some changes.    Keith Weinhold  32:52   Well, you're really doing some good work there. I appreciate that. I mean, rent control is analogous to price controls, and we see what happens when there's price controls per se foods like you've seen in other nations in previous decades, and that's how you end up with bread lines, because producers don't want to produce bread when they would have to take a loss and they can't profit on selling that bread. You see a shortage of housing come up just the same, like you do with bread. Well, tell us some more about Buffalo and its market. You had touched on it previously. I think they have lots of older two to four unit buildings there. It sounds like you found one of the four plexes where you could do the owner occupied thing. FHA, three and a half percent down 12 month owner occupancy period. Minimum credit score only needs to be 580 at last check, which is the same way I began with the four Plex building. But yeah, let's learn more about the buffalo housing market. Just a little bit there with rental properties and then the rising tide against Airbnb, like you touched on last month when we met in person.   Jen Sidorova  33:56   Right, so a lot of those properties, a lot of those older homes, were built around the late 1800s beginning or 1900 and that's how they used to build back in the day. Because what would happen is that a large Victorian home with two primarily stories, with two large floors and then maybe an attic and a basement, but one family would live on one floor and another on the second floor. So they were originally built for two homes, but at that time, both families would own that space, right? So there would be co owned by two families. Mine was also an originally a two family home that was converted into a four unit because the previous owners made an addition a lot of young families, that's how they start when they cannot afford a single family home. That's how they start with home ownership and the money that they make for with the rentals. That's how they pay mortgage partially, or maybe that's how they pay the taxes, depending on where you live in the city, sometimes tax burden can alone be very high. So as I've mentioned, we had some mayoral candidates talking about rent control, but recently we started having Airbnbs being regulated in Buffalo. And so there's a few districts in the city where Airbnb is regulated, and my district does not fall into that, and I actually am on four of my units. One is occupied by me. Two are long term tenants, and one which is the newest and the nicest one. I decided to make Airbnb interesting because I did not want to risk, you know, giving it to a long term tenant, because it's just such a nice unit. It's a lot of investment that went in there, so I didn't want it to be provided by somebody who would never leave, because the, you know, environment is just so toxic. You just don't want to take chances, unless you like, really believe in the time. But I don't know people are out here. So I decided to keep it Airbnb. And so because some of the other parts of the city are regulated, and mine is not. I am the beneficiary of that regulation because I get a lot, all of those clients, right, all those Airbnb client so in that sense, funny enough, I am benefiting from some parts of the city being regulated because my my part is not. So all the clients go to me. I do have an Airbnb right now, but we're definitely at the risk of all of the city being regulated. And I think a lot of people complain, right? People who lived in the city for a long time, allegedly, they started complaining to the city council about not recognizing their neighborhood because of Airbnb. But I think what legislators need to understand is that my generation, millennials and Gen Z. That's how we live our lives. We share our assets, right? It's like a big millennial and Gen Z thing that the Airbnb itself is a millennial thing, that this is just will be recognized, that assets like cars and houses, they can be shared, you don't have to have that many of them, even from the unit in the unit that I live in. When I I went out on a trip to Long Island last week, and I airbnbied my own unit. And so that's just how it is. That's just a little lifestyle. And when I see new people who stay in Airbnb on my street, it doesn't bother me. I kind of enjoy a little bit of a variety. But, you know, sometimes it's almost like a culture clash or a generational shift when it comes to thinking about properties and housing ownership. Yeah, that's just my experience.   Keith Weinhold  37:33   Younger generations embrace the sharing economy, and that is quite the mixed use building that you have there with your four Plex in Buffalo, you've got one unit that's a primary residence, a second unit that's a short term rental, and then two long term rental units. There's some diversification of income and utility, for sure. Well, Jen, tell us more about how our audience can connect with you, and especially how they can watch Shabbification.   Jen Sidorova  38:00   So Shabbification, right now is in the film festival circuit, so it's not available to watch yet. Although, if anyone reaches out directly to me through Instagram, my handle is @Jen_Sidorova, which is my first underscore, my last name, anyone can just reach out directly to me and I will send them a screener, and they can watch the full film. And also on my Instagram page, I do put a lot of like other content about buildings, and a lot of like videos so and some, you know, B roll footage that we haven't used in the film, but you can watch it in my Instagram. So yeah, definitely check it out. I also do write for Reason Foundation, and you can find it on my profile, my policy writing work. You can find it at reason.com and it's just under my name, pretty much Instagram and reason website.   Keith Weinhold  38:51   Jen, thanks so much for your Shabbification project. I really think it's going to help people see an important part of American society in a different light. It's been great having you here on the show.   Jen Sidorova  39:02   Thank you so much.   Keith Weinhold  39:09   I talked to Jen some more outside of our interview. Her buffalo four Plex has a high flying 1.04% rent to price ratio. I crunched it out that is super strong for a four unit building, but it is older, and like she said in the interview, she did make some substantial renovation to it, yeah, rent control is a bad plan. You know, on an episode a few weeks ago, I mentioned to you about last month's White House proposal for a sort of rent control light, that was such a bad plan. I told you that it only applies to property owners of 50 plus units, and rent increases were capped at 5% a year. Well, I dug into that release from the White House briefing room, and it's almost like they know it won't work, because. Oh my gosh, this is almost humorous. Economists and any long term thinkers will tell you that rent control doesn't work because you won't get any new builds. Well, the White House release Wood said it won't apply to new builds. It's almost like someone told them, like, hey, this won't work for that reason. So then they wrote that sentence in there, which just undermines so much of it. And economists will also tell you that what doesn't work because owners don't want to improve property well, yet, the White House release actually said it would not apply to substantially renovated property. I mean, my gosh, with these carve outs and all the other caveats that are in it that I described a few weeks ago, this White House rent control planet has no shot of going anywhere. It is lip service virtue signaling, and also would not get past a divided Congress. Really bad plan. In fact, how doomed to failure is wide scale rent control. Well, don't worry, the federal government hasn't regulated rent on private buildings since World War Two. Yeah, it's been 80 years, and it took World War Two scale conditions to bring it. Thanks again to today's guest, Jen Sidorova, with reason.com. Again, like I mentioned earlier, if you want to deploy some of your more liquid funds for a potential 8% return at the same place where I've been getting an 8% return for years, you can make a loan to a long standing real estate company for their property rehabs and other operations. This might really help you out. You can learn more by texting FAMILY to 66866, lots of great shows coming up here at GRE to actionably build your Real Estate Wealth until next week, I'm your host. Keith Weinhold, don't quit your daydream.   Unknown Speaker  41:53   Nothing on this show should be considered specific, personal or professional advice. Please consult an appropriate tax, legal, real estate, financial or business professional for individualized advice. Opinions of guests are their own. Information is not guaranteed. All investment strategies have the potential for profit or loss. The host is operating on behalf of get rich Education LLC, exclusively.   Keith Weinhold  42:21   The preceding program was brought to you by your home for wealth building, GetRichEducation.com

Join hosts Jodie Sweetin and Amy McCarthy as they explore the human side of the fentanyl crisis. Hear from Andrea Thomas, Dr. Gary Kirkilas, and Kevin Collins about the devastating impact of fentanyl and efforts to combat this epidemic. This episode highlights the importance of open conversations and offers hope for a brighter future. Educate yourself, support loved ones, and be part of the solution. Key Takeaways This episode revisits the fentanyl crisis and emphasizes that behind every statistic is a real family suffering loss. Illicit fentanyl is widespread and can affect anyone, even those without a prior history of substance use. Fentanyl can cause death even with minimal exposure, making it extremely dangerous. Emphasizes the danger of fentanyl even for those without a history of substance use. Stresses the need for open conversions and education about the dangers of fentanyl. No one should take anything not prescribed for them by their doctor and purchased from a legitimate pharmacy. Key Moments: [01:04] Andrea Thomas: A Mother's Story [03:51] The Mission of Voices for Awareness [08:59] Dr. Gary Kirklis: Frontline Insights [14:31] Mental Health and Substance Use [15:45] Advocacy and Legislation [20:33]DEA Initiatives and Family Support [26:35] Final Thoughts and Call to Action BIOS: Jodie Sweetin is an actress, author, and advocate, best known for her role as Stephanie Tanner on the iconic sitcom "Full House" and its sequel "Fuller House". In 2009 she penned her memoir, "unSweetined", which chronicles her journey through addiction and into recovery. With her frank and open approach, Jodie has emerged as a compelling speaker and advocate who now seeks to use her platform and experiences to educate others and reduce the stigma associated with addiction and recovery.@jodiesweetin Amy McCarthy, LICSW, is a Director of Clinical Social Work at Boston Children's Hospital's Division of Addiction Medicine. She has been working in the Adolescent Substance Use and Addiction Program since 2019 @amymccarthylicsw Dr. Gary Kirkilas is a general pediatrician with a unique practice. His office is a 40 foot mobile medical unit that travels to various homeless shelters in Phoenix providing free medical care to families. He serves as a spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics, giving commentary on trending pediatric issues in the media. As a spokesperson, he is often called to speak on the effects of cannabis advertising on children as well as advocate for more mental health access for youth. He and his lovely wife, have four wonderful (most of the time) children and one dachshund. @dr_gary_kirkilas Kevin Collins serves as Senior Prevention Program Manager for Drug Enforcement Administration Community Outreach and Prevention Services. In this capacity, he leads efforts to collaborate with national organizations and support families affected by substance use. Prior to joining the DEA Kevin worked for the Partnership to End Addiction for two decades with a focus on family services. He served in the US Army Reserves, including a deployment to Bosnia, and worked for the New York State Legislature. DEA: The United States Drug Enforcement Administration was created in 1973 by President Nixon after the government noticed an alarming rise in recreational drug use and drug-related crime. A division of the Department of Justice, DEA enforces controlled substances laws by apprehending offenders to be prosecuted for criminal and civil crimes. DEA is the largest and most effective antidrug organization in the world, with 239  domestic locations in 23 field divisions and 91 international field divisions in 68  countries. Resources & Links SAMHSA | Help and Treatment https://bit.ly/3DJcvJC Get Smart About Drugs: https://bit.ly/45dm8vY DEA Website: https://bit.ly/44ed9K9 DEA on Instagram: https://bit.ly/3KqL7Uj DEA on Twitter: https://bit.ly/44VvEUt DEA on Facebook: https://bit.ly/440b6ZY DEA YouTube Channel: https://bit.ly/3s1KQB6 Elks Kid Zone Website: https://bit.ly/3s79Zdt Elks Drug Awareness Program Website: https://bit.ly/44SunO6 Elks DAP on Twitter: https://bit.ly/45CfpvR Elks DAP on Facebook: https://bit.ly/3Qw8RKL Elks DAP on YouTube: https://bit.ly/444vMQq https://museum.dea.gov/** (https://museum.dea.gov/ https://www.dea.gov/familysummit https://www.dea.gov/dea-social-media-... Jodie Sweetin's Links    / jodiesweetin   https://www.tiktok.com/@jodiesweetin?... Amy McCarthy's Links    / amymccarthylicsw   Boston Children's Hospital Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bostonchild... Boston Children's Hospital Addiction Medicine: https://www.childrenshospital.org/dep...   Andrea Thomas's Links    / facingfentanyl   Dr. Kirkilas's Links drgarykirkilas.com    / @drgarykirkilas     / gary.kirkilas.7     / dr_gary_kirkilas    

Welcome to a special concert edition of Live N' Local featuring Curtis Turney's Afro-Caribbean Septet in rare concert performance at Film Works Alfresco at The Hudson in Inwood on June 10, 2024.Band members:Curtis Turney: percussion/ trombone/ bandleaderRoberto Pitre: saxophone/ fluteOzzy Cardona: trumpetChristopher Velazquez: congasTommy Fernandez: timbalesEnrique Haneine: pianoSergio Larios: bassProgram:A Night In Tunisia (D. Gillespie)Bluesette (T. Thielmans, N. Gimble)Killer Joe (B. Golson)Aspects (H. Ramírez)Work Song (N. Adderley, O. Brown, Jr.)Take Five (P. Desmond)Inwood Art Works On Air podcast is a free program produced by Inwood Art Works. Aaron Simms, Founder and Executive Producer. You can support this program by making a tax-deductible donation at www.inwoodartworks.nyc/donate.This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. Inwood Art Works programming is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

When it comes to Short Term Rentals, trying to put the genie back into the bottle has proven elusive for most governments. Initially defended as a property rights play, elected leaders are now grappling with its unintended impact on affordable housing. On this edition of DMOU, we welcome 1000 Island International Tourism Council CEO Corey Fram with a fascinating story of how, after several twists and turns, the New York State Legislature actually passed a bill this session that brings STRs outside of New York City into the Tourism and Community Development eco-system. And, it all came down to framing the issue as not a Tourism or Fairness issue…but as one that cities, towns and villages actually cared about. Plus a Bonus Round question that has me remembering the best moments of “Slap Shot.” Join us.

Welcome to a special concert edition of Live N' Local featuring Crowd Funk in rare concert performance at Film Works Alfresco at The Hudson in Inwood on June 3, 2024.Band members:James Noyes - saxophone & vocalsPeter Holsberg - trumpet & FlügelhornAsher Ben-Or - guitarKeith Burton - keyboards & vocalsCraig Akin - bassDavid Degge - drumsProgram:Average White Band – Pick Up the PiecesPass the Peas -The J.B.'sMeters – Hey Pocky A-Way/Saints Go MarchingBill Withers – Use MeBill Withers – Lovely DayThundercat – Them ChangesJames Noyes – You Slay MeMaceo Parker – Shake Ev'rything You GotThe Weeknd ft. Daft PunkInwood Art Works On Air podcast is a free program produced by Inwood Art Works. Aaron Simms, Founder and Executive Producer. You can support this program by making a tax-deductible donation at www.inwoodartworks.nyc/donate.This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. Inwood Art Works programming is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced June 18 that he wants to restrict students' usage of smartphones during the school day, citing the mental health risks of social media. The announcement, which was first reported by Politico, comes a day after U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy called on Congress to require warning labels on social media platforms and their effects on young people. Newsom said he plans to build on a law he signed in 2019 that authorized school districts to limit or ban the use of smartphones by students while at school or under the supervision of a school employee. “As the Surgeon General affirmed, social media is harming the mental health of our youth,” the Democratic governor said in a statement. “When children and teens are in school, they should be focused on their studies—not their screens.” Newsom's office did not provide further details on the proposal. But the California School Boards Association said any regulations over student smartphone use should be left up to school districts, not the state. Newsom's announcement comes amid growing debate across the country over how to address the impacts of social media and smartphone usage, particularly on young people. Some teens have pledged to stay off social media to improve their mental health and to help them focus on schoolwork and extracurricular activities. In Florida, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis earlier this year signed one of the most restrictive bans in the nation on children's use of social media. The New York State Legislature passed a bill last month that would allow parents to block their kids from getting social media posts suggested to them by the platform's algorithm. In California, a proposal to fine social media platforms for addicting children has failed to become law in recent years. “It's just too hard for every teacher, every school, or every parent to have to figure this out on their own,” Democrat State Sen. Henry Stern said. “There's some times where government just has to step in and make some bigger rules of the road.” This article was provided by The Associated Press.

Melanie D'Arrigo is the Executive Director of the Campaign for New York Health, which aims to win universal single-payer healthcare for all New Yorkers. We discuss the intersection of democracy and healthcare and what is necessary to create better health outcomes.The New York Health Act is a current bill in the New York State Legislature that would implement a single payer healthcare system in New York, similar to Medicare for All. Instead of accessing health insurance, this bill would provide access to health care without the middleman, which is the insurance industry. The United States is the only industrialized country in the world that does not have universal health care. We spend the most amount of money with worse health outcomes. In addition, we allow millions of Americans to go into medical debt. More information on the Campaign for NY Health is here: https://www.nyhcampaign.org/Follow Melanie on X: https://twitter.com/DarrigoMelanieFollow Mila on X: https://x.com/milaatmosAdditional InformationThe Democracy Group listener surveyFuture Hindsight PodcastMore shows from The Democracy Group

rWotD Episode 2628: Denis J. Butler Welcome to Random Wiki of the Day, your journey through Wikipedia’s vast and varied content, one random article at a time.The random article for Sunday, 14 July 2024 is Denis J. Butler.Denis J. Butler (1926 – 2010) was a New York Assemblyman from Queens, New York, who represented the 36th legislative district for a quarter century from 1976 to 2000. At the time, the district encompassed the Astoria neighborhood of Queens. Eight years after Butler's death in 2010, a street in Astoria was named after him to commemorate him and preserve his legacy.In the Assembly, he was preceded by Anthony V. Gazzara who served from 1974 to 1976. Both Butler and Gazzara served as Democrats. He first served in the 181st New York State Legislature and ended in the 193rd.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 00:13 UTC on Sunday, 14 July 2024.For the full current version of the article, see Denis J. Butler on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm neural Olivia.

Melanie D'Arrigo is the Executive Director of the Campaign for New York Health, which aims to win universal single-payer healthcare for all New Yorkers. We discuss the intersection of democracy and healthcare and what is necessary to create better health outcomes.   The New York Health Act is a current bill in the New York State Legislature that would implement a single payer healthcare system in New York, similar to Medicare for All. Instead of accessing health insurance, this bill would provide access to health care without the middleman, which is the insurance industry. The United States is the only industrialized country in the world that does not have universal health care. We spend the most amount of money with worse health outcomes. In addition, we allow millions of Americans to go into medical debt. More information on the Campaign for NY Health is here: https://www.nyhcampaign.org/ Follow Melanie on X:  https://twitter.com/DarrigoMelanie    Follow Mila on X:  https://x.com/milaatmos    Follow Future Hindsight on Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/futurehindsightpod/   Sponsor:  Thanks to Shopify for supporting Future Hindsight! Sign up for a $1/month trial at shopify.com/hopeful. Thanks AURA. Go to AURA.com/PROTECTION for a 14-day trial plus a check of your data to see if your personal information has been leaked online, all for FREE.   Love Future Hindsight? Take our Listener Survey!  http://survey.podtrac.com/start-survey.aspx?pubid=6tI0Zi1e78vq&ver=standard    Take the Democracy Group's Listener Survey! https://www.democracygroup.org/survey   Want to support the show and get it early?  https://patreon.com/futurehindsight    Check out the Future Hindsight website!  www.futurehindsight.com   Read the transcript here:   https://www.futurehindsight.com/episodes/healthcare-for-all-melanie-darrigo  Credits:  Host: Mila Atmos  Guests: Melanie D'Arrigo Executive Producer: Mila Atmos Producer: Zack Travis

Frank Morano discusses some of the hottest topics and gives his opinion. Frank talks about both Houses of the New York State Legislature passing a ban to devocalize a pet and then Frank talks about the NYPD putting in place grooming rules. Frank talks about the MTA crying poverty and then Frank talks about a war between Mayor Adams and Speaker Adams. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

05/31/24: Joel Heitkamp is joined by Jerry Goldfeder, current Special Counsel at Cozen O'Connor in New York. He and Joel have a conversation about Donald Trump's guilty verdict in New York on his hush-money trial.  Jerry currently serves as director of Fordham Law School's Voting Rights and Democracy Project, chairs the New York State Bar Association's Voting Rights and Democracy Task Force, and acts as a special adviser to the American Bar Association's Election Law Committee. His extensive practice involves representing various high-profile candidates and elected officials, including mayors, governors, and several candidates for president of the United States. He has also provided legal counsel to members of the U.S. Congress, the New York State Legislature, New York's City Council, judiciary members, unions, not-for-profits, and various groups on local, state, and federal campaign finance law, lobbying compliance, and governmental procedures.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jessica Scarcella-Spanton was 21 when she first served as executive director of the Democratic Party on Staten Island. Now, she's serving as a freshman senator in the New York State Legislature, representing New York's 23rd District, which covers the North and East Shores of Staten Island and Southern Brooklyn. As a mother of two and wife to a disabled combat veteran, she brings a unique and fresh perspective to the State Senate. On this episode of Policy Outsider, Rockefeller Institute President Bob Megna speaks with Senator Scarcella-Spanton about her road to the senate, how she approaches being a public servant and legislator, and what she's proud of in her first year as an elected official. Guests: Honorable Jessica Scarcella-Spanton, New York State Senator, Senate District 23 Robert Megna, President, Rockefeller Institute

A children's advocacy group criticizes Governor Lamont's proposal on income tax cuts. Democrats in the New York State Legislature rejected new congressional district maps, and want to draw their own. A Nassau County official quits in solidarity with trans-women. And Connecticut has a growing Pagan community.

Trump critic Christie drops out. Thirteen conservatives block a procedural vote on Speaker Johnson's spending deal with Democrats and the New York State Legislature could boost voting access and deal with a rise in hate crimes.Podcast from January 11, 2024, on the Heartland Newsfeed Radio Network, online at heartlandnewsfeed.com, Spreaker, the Heartland Newsfeed Alexa radio skill, and other platforms. Now available on Google Assistant speakers!Listen Live: https://www.heartlandnewsfeed.com/listenliveFollow us on social mediaFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/hlnfradionetworkTwitter: https://www.twitter.com/HLNF_BulletinInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/heartlandnewsfeedMastadon: https://liberdon.com/@heartlandnewsfeedDiscord: https://discord.gg/6b6u6DTSupport us with your financial supportStreamlabs: https://streamlabs.com/heartlandmediaPayPal: https://www.paypal.me/heartlandmediaSquare Cash: https://cash.app/$heartlandnewsfeedPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/heartlandnewsfeedCrypto via 1UpCoin: https://1upcoin.com/donate/heartlandmediaBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heartland-newsfeed-radio-network--2904397/support.

Get up and get informed! Here's all the local news you need to start your day: The New York State Legislature returns to Albany to kick off the 2024 legislative session. Also, Columbia University business professor Stijn Van Nieuwerburgh says as much as 30 percent of Manhattan office buildings could be converted into green housing. Plus, New York City's new professional women's hockey team wins their first game of the Professional Women's Hockey League against Toronto.

On today's Hudson Mohawk Magazine special, composer and environmental sound artist Lisa Schonberg presents four new compositions to guest listeners live in the studio. The listeners were asked to respond with feelings, thoughts, and comments while listening. The program feautures the listeners' reactions to the music in real time, and Lisa's explanations of how she wrote these sound works. The four sound works are from a project called Old Growth Playback, which focuses on sounds beyond human hearing in forest environments, and asks us, "What will the old growth forests of the future sound like?". The works originated with an artist residency at HJ Andrews Experimental Forest in Blue River, Oregon, and has also included urban environmental listening workshops and events in Troy, NY, such as this program. Lisa Schonberg lives in Troy, NY. Old Growth Playback is made possible, in part, by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature through the Media Arts Assistance Fund, a regrant partnership of NYSCA and Wave Farm.

In the first hour of "Connections with Evan Dawson" on Friday, December 1, 2023, we discuss a proposed bill in the New York State Legislature that would move some elections from odd-numbered years to even-numbered years. Proponents say consolidating elections would increase voter turnout and save money. Opponents say the move would make it more difficult for local candidates' voices to be heard.

The Lomax Collection reflects a variety of human experience—from the sacred to the profane, from the rural to the urban, and from the public square to the domestic scene. The Lomaxes recorded lullabies all over the world, creating a record of the universality of these particularly intimate moments between parents and children. This episode gathers some of our favorite lullabies from the archive, and is part of a larger project on the subject, which includes an exhibit on the Lomax Digital Archive and a compilation pairing archival recordings with new interpretations by contemporary artists. For information on the performers, old and new, and the songs, visit the accompanying exhibit on the Lomax Digital Archive: archive.culturalequity.org/go-to-sleepy. The compilation is available via our Bandcamp page: https://alanlomaxarchive.bandcamp.com/album/hush-the-waves-are-rolling-in-lullabies-from-the-alan-lomax-collection. This project was made possible with support from the Mid-Atlantic Arts Council and by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.Show Notes:1) Elizabeth Cronin - Dance To Your Daddy (The home of Elizabeth Cronin, Ballymakeery, County Cork, Ireland, January 24, 1951)2) Jean Ritchie - Dance To Your Daddy/Hush Little Baby (Alan Lomax's apartment, 3rd street, New York City, May 14, 1949)3) Carmen Martínez - Durme meu filliño (Soutoxuste, Pontevedra, Galicia, Spain, November 23, 1952)4) María Escrihuela - Nana Nanita (Tavernes de Valldigna, Valencia, Valencia, Spain, August 5, 1952)5) Unidentified women - Iavnana (Republic of Georga, August 1, 1964)6) Vera Ward Hall - Come Up, Horsey (Alan Lomax's apartment, 3rd St, New York City, New York, May 1, 1948)7) Bessie Jones - Go To Sleepy Little Baby (Saint Simons, Glynn County, Georgia, October 12, 1959)8) Bruna Bazil - Night, Night, Night (Massacre, Saint Paul Parish, Dominica, June 24, 1962)9) Bruna Bazil - Little Baby I Want You to Sleep (Massacre, Saint Paul Parish, Dominica, June 24, 1962)10) Unidentified women - Cântec De Leagan (I) (Drăguș, Brașov, Transylvania, Romania, August 1, 1964)11) Unidentified women - Cântec De Leagan (II) (Drăguș, Brașov, Transylvania, Romania, August 1, 1964)12) Unidentified woman - Ninna Nanna (Baiardo, Imperia, October 9. 1954)13) Natale Rotella - Ninna Nanna (Feroleto Antico, Calabria, August 5, 1954)14) Francesca Chilona - Che Bera Sta Figghiola (Cardeto, Calabria, July 27, 1954)15) Sidney Hemphill Carter - Didn't Leave Nobody But The Baby (Probably the home of Sidney Hemphill Carter, Senatobia, Tate County, Mississippi, September 26, 1959)Bed Music: K.B. Singh, Harry Naran, Bully Naran, Mrs. Afrose Mohammed - Lullaby (Pasea Village, Tunapuna/Piarco, Trinidad and Tobago, May 7, 1962)Niña de la Puebla - Alborada de villancicos (Andalucía, Spain, September 20, 1952)W.D. Stewart (Bama), Robert Sanders (Yancey) - Bye Bye Baby (Lambert Camp, Parchman Farm (Mississippi State Penitentiary) Sunflower County, Mississippi, November 1, 1947)

Yemi Adewunmi is the Co-Founder and COO of Plural, part of the Higher Ground Labs portfolio of companies.  Plural has recognized the opportunity to apply AI to track the discovery, creation, and iterations of legislation at the congressional and state level to inform a number of different stakeholders.  Based on her experience working at the New York State Legislature, Yemi and her team provide tools to change how policy data can be viewed to identify trends and opportunities and aid collaboration. We talk about: Opportunities to unlock the power of legislative intelligence when the legislative process is more transparent The value of real-time information and alerts about the progress of legislation for those in the opposition Learning from the mistakes and successes of other state legislatures Value of their free offering to become acquainted with the AI tool The future of AI in influencing public policy #PluralPolicy #Legislation #LegislativeTracking #PublicPolicy #AI #AILegislativeTracking #AIAlerts #Activism PluralPolicy.com

Frank Morano discusses some of the hottest topics and gives his opinion. Frank speaks on Eric Adams going to Staten Island for a town hall meeting, a large percentage of New Yorkers feeling like they are going to be a victim of a crime, the New York State Legislature potentially becoming more split between parties in the next election and the status of Pete Davidson and Colin Jost's new ferry.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Robert Riggs is a Peabody Award-winning investigative reporter and digital media entrepreneur. He has also received three coveted Alfred I. duPont Columbia University Journalism Awards for Investigative Reporting. The Peabody and duPont are respectively considered the broadcast TV equivalent of the Oscar and the Pulitzer.Texas A&M University named Robert an Outstanding Alumnus from the College of Architecture in recognition of his journalistic accomplishments. It is a distinction received by fewer than 1% of the College's graduates.Today, Riggs is the host and creator of the True Crime Reporter™ Podcast.During his journalism career, Riggs established a reputation for fairness, accuracy, credibility, and toughness in his reporting for the CBS Television Station Group - CBS 11 News, WFAA-TV (ABC) in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, and CBS Viacom reporting from the New York State Legislature. His investigative reports garnered a reputation for helping to send corrupt politicians and government officials to federal prison and were the catalyst for landmark changes in public policy.Riggs was an embedded reporter with the Army unit that led the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and he also covered Gulf War I. His assignments have included covering the White House, Congress, Pentagon, and State Department during the administrations of President Ronald Reagan and President George H.W. Bush.He appeared as a guest correspondent on ABC Nightline with Ted Koppel, CNN, and ESPN. CBS 60 Minutes and CBS News Online featured his investigative reports from Iraq. He reported from the “eye of the storm” of major breaking news stories including the mass murder at Luby's Cafeteria in Texas; the Branch Davidian siege in Waco; the Oklahoma City bombing; the standoff with the Republic of Texas separatists, and numerous natural disasters.Riggs' enterprise reporting primarily focused on the criminal justice system and national security with an emphasis on terrorism. In this connection, The University of Virginia Critical Incident Analysis Group and FBI selected Riggs in 2000 as an expert member of a multi-disciplinary panel that examined the architecture of terrorism and the symbolism of its targets. Meeting near the birthplace of Thomas Jefferson, the panel produced a landmark report entitled “Threats to Symbols of American Democracy” that prophetically identified vulnerabilities that would later tragically unfold during the 9-11 attacks.The Dallas Crime Commission awarded its first-ever Excellence in Crime Reporting Award to Riggs for his reporting on identity theft and Mexican Drug Cartels. The American Bar Association awarded him its Silver Gavel award for his investigative series Free To Kill which uncovered systemic corruption inside the Texas parole and prison systems.Prior to his journalism career, Riggs served as an investigator for the late Congressman Wright Patman of Texas who was Chairman of the House Banking Committee, Joint Economic Committee, and Joint Committee on Defense Production.As the Chief Investigator for the Joint Committee on Defense Production, Riggs spearheaded inquiries that touched on Watergate and Pentagon bribery scandals. He reported to the joint leadership of Representative Patman and Senator William Proxmire.In this role, Riggs held a Top Secret security clearance from the Department of Defense and received training from both the GAO and U.S. Army. The Committee's investigation of a defense contractor's bribery scheme contributed to the passage of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.Riggs currently belongs to the FBI's North Texas Chapter of InfraGard which was formed in response to the 9/11 terror attacks. He is also a longtime member of the Investigative Reporters & Editors (IRE).www.truecrimereporter.com

BREAKING NEWS! Neonicotinoids banned in New York State The New York State Legislature has passed the Birds and Bees Protection Act, which limits the use of neonicotinoid pesticides, commonly referred to as neonics. This bill is the first of its kind in the United States and aims to reduce the use of neonic coatings on corn, soybean, and wheat seeds, as well as lawn and garden uses. Neonics are known to have a devastating impact on pollinators such as bees and birds, and have been linked to negative impacts on human health and the environment. The pesticides are believed to have caused massive bee and bird losses, contaminated water and soil, and created human health concerns. The new bill eliminates 80-90% of neonics entering New York's environment on a yearly basis and has gained support from a wide range of environmental, health, garden, social justice, and farm groups. The bill still permits the use of neonics for invasive species treatments, but this is expected to eliminate 80-90% of neonics entering New York's environment each year. While the Birds & Bees Protection Act does not go as far as Europe's total outdoor neonic ban, and Canada has largely phased out neonic-coated corn and soybean seeds, it is the first law to address neonic seed coatings in the U.S. New York farmers will still be able to grow their staple crops while limiting the damage done to the environment, water quality, and pollinators by neonic pesticides. Supporters of the bill hope it will help protect New York's environment, food security, and agricultural economy. The New York State Legislature's decision to regulate neonic pesticides is a significant move forward in promoting sustainable agriculture and protecting the environment. If you have any questions about this issue, tune in to my podcast where I will interview a lawyer. For more information, please check the press release: https://www.nrdc.org/press-releases/new-york-protects-birds-and-bees-nation-leading-legislation Or Listen to our Podcast Episode where I interview Dan Raichel one of the lawyers behind this important bill. or Watch the interview on YouTube.

A panel of Black thinkers (a Broadway playwright, a spoken word poet, a Columbia professor, and an activist) try to define Freedom in the year ???? in this dark comedy about ancestors and artists. Written by Dave Harris Directed by Taylor Reynolds Sound Design by Ben Scheff Sound Editing by Dylan Carrow Production Stage Manager -- Hanako Rodriguez CAST: Walter Mixon Riley -- JEROME PRESTON BATES LaToya Beasley -- BRITTANY BRADFORD Jake Dillers / Sponsors / Announcer -- YONATAN GEBEYEHU Jones Joseph -- DAVE HARRIS Jerome Barker Thomas -- BEETHOVEN ODEN Season 2 of Soundstage was made possible with the generous support of the Scherman Foundation's Katharine S. and Axel G. Rosin Fund and the National Endowment for the Arts.   Playwrights Horizons is supported in part by public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. In addition, Playwrights Horizons receives major support from the Howard Gilman Foundation, the J. L. Greene Arts Access Fund in The New York Community Trust, and The Shubert Foundation.

Allie Bohm of the New York Civil Liberties Union joined Elizabeth Press (EP) to talk about protecting access to gender-affirming care in New York State. In related news, The Hospital Transparency Act passed in the New York State Senate, and the Assembly will have the opportunity to move it forward if they come back for special session. This bill will allow people to know where they can receive gender-affirming care in New York.

The New York State Legislature is set to adjourn for the year on Thursday, though it is expected that it will push over at least to Friday. As usual, there are far more bills and issues that die than win in the closing hours of this mad scramble before the six month break, at least for legislation. Hudson Mohawk Magazine has aired many segments on issues such as tenants' rights, climate, compassionate care, criminal justice reform, immigrant rights, and many other social, economic and environmental justice issues. To get a quick update on some key issues I turn to our news bucket headliner, Mark Dunlea.

This week, guest host Julie Fishman Rayman, AJC's Senior Director of Policy and Political Affairs, had the honor of connecting with Hakeem Jeffries, the leader of the House Democratic Caucus, after he led a congressional delegation to Israel and Ghana. As we approach the AJC Global Forum 2023 in Tel Aviv, we have the opportunity to listen to the Democratic leader's insights on the trip, the crucial nature of the U.S.-Israel relationship, and the historical and contemporary significance of Black-Jewish relations. *The views and opinions expressed by guests do not necessarily reflect the views or position of AJC.  ____ Episode Lineup:  (0:40) Hakeem Jeffries ____ Show Notes: Learn more about AJC Global Forum 2023 in Tel Aviv: AJC.org/GlobalForum Listen: 8 of the Best Jewish Podcasts Right Now From Roots to Harmony: Nefesh Mountain's Fusion of Jewish American Culture and Bluegrass Follow People of the Pod on your favorite podcast app, and learn more at AJC.org/PeopleofthePod You can reach us at: peopleofthepod@ajc.org If you've enjoyed this episode, please be sure to tell your friends, tag us on social media with #PeopleofthePod, and hop onto Apple Podcasts to rate us and write a review, to help more listeners find us. __ Transcript of interview with Hakeem Jeffries:  Manya Brachear Pashman: This week, Julie Fishman Rayman, AJC's Senior Director of Policy and Political Affairs, had the honor of connecting with leader of the House Democratic Caucus, Hakeem Jeffries, after he led a group of lawmakers on a recent trip to Israel. Julie, the mic is yours. Julie Fishman Rayman: Thanks, Manya. It's my pleasure to introduce Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, who represents the very diverse 8th congressional district of New York, in Brooklyn, and also serves as the Democratic Leader. He was unanimously elected to that position in November 2022, and in that capacity he is the highest ranking democrat in the US house. He is also the former chair of the democratic caucus, the whip of the congressional black caucus, and previously co-chaired the  Democratic Policy and Communications committee. Also, a great friend of AJC and the Jewish community. Leader Jeffries, welcome to People of the Pod. Hakeem Jeffries:     Wonderful to be on. Thanks so much for having me. Julie Fishman Rayman: I want to get started by asking you about Jewish American Heritage Month, which as you know, we celebrate in May. Many listeners may not realize that members in congressional leadership cosponsor very few bills – meaning cosign or add their name to endorse them . In this Congress–correct me if I'm wrong–you've cosponsored fewer than a dozen bills and only one resolution–the resolution commemorating Jewish American Heritage Month. Can you speak about this effort and why it was important to you to help lead it? Hakeem Jeffries:   Well, thank you so much. And that is absolutely correct. The tradition has been that members and leadership sponsor very few bills and even fewer resolutions, just because the enormity of the request is large. And you want to make sure that you're being very discerning in terms of what you want to elevate as a priority. And for me, it was incredibly important to make sure that I co sponsored the resolution that commemorated Jewish American Heritage Month for a variety of reasons, including the fact that I'm privileged to represent a district that has one of the largest Jewish communities in the country. In fact, I represent the ninth most African American district in the country, and the 16th most Jewish. And so I represent. As a good friend of mine, Leon Goldenberg, once and I quote, you've got the best of both worlds. It's an honor, though, to represent the reformed Jewish community, the conservative Jewish community, the Orthodox Jewish community, the modern Orthodox Jewish community, the ultra orthodox Jewish community, and more Russian speaking Jewish immigrants from the former Soviet Union than any other member of Congress in the country. I mean, Hakeem Jeffries, who knew only in America, but that's Brooklyn, that's New York City and the Jewish community has meant so much to the country, which is why we honor and celebrate and elevate Jewish American Heritage month but particularly has meant so much to the district that I'm privileged to represent to Brooklyn and to the great city of New York. Julie Fishman Rayman: The United States has many heritage months that celebrate the various communities that form the mosaic of our country, including Black History Month, Women's History Month, Hispanic Heritage Month, and more. By celebrating heritage months, we learn about one another, we honor the richness of our diverse nation, and we strengthen the fabric of American society. Some have described JAHM as going on the offensive against rising antisemitism, do you think that's an appropriate description? Amidst rising antisemitism and hate of all forms, does this change how we think about commemorative months?  Hakeem Jeffries:    Yes, it's a great question. I do think AJC's leadership and certainly the leadership of my former colleague, and good friend, Ted Deutsch has been phenomenally important in this area. And your leadership, Julie, of course, and this podcast and communicating information to the American people will continue to be critical. And the fact that the Jewish community is facing a shocking rise in anti semitism and hate crimes is a cause for alarm for all of us. And it does, I think, lead to the important conclusion that we need to rethink how we lean into the celebrations and acknowledgments, such as Jewish American Heritage Month. That is not just simply an opportunity to be able to communicate to the American people about the many accomplishments, the many ways in every field of human endeavor that Jewish Americans have contributed to the growth and development of America as we know it. And that is important, and that is appropriate. And that is a central part of what celebrating Jewish American Heritage Month should be all about.  But it also provides a vehicle to make sure that the appropriate narrative is in the public domain in a compelling way, as a vehicle to push back against the rise in antisemitism and hate crimes. Because it's an all hands on deck approach. And it is going to require using every tool available to us. The rise in sort of hatred and extremism, and divisive, generally should trouble us all throughout America over the last several years, and particularly, the sharp and dramatic rise, particularly given the history of the Jewish community, over 1000s of years of persecutions, and pogroms and pain and suffering, should alarm us all. And it is exactly the reason why thinking about this month as one of the tools that we can use to push back aggressively against the rise and hatred is an important and appropriate approach. Julie Fishman Rayman: In April, during your first congressional delegation trip as Leader, you traveled to Israel. You have been a great supporter, supporting Israel's right to defense and speaking out against anti-Israel sentiment time and time again. What were your biggest takeaways from this mission? What are the major challenges and opportunities for the U.S.-Israel relationship? Hakeem Jeffries:   Well, that was my sixth time traveling to Israel, fifth time as a member of Congress. And the first time that I traveled to Israel, I actually was a freshman member of the New York State Legislature as part of a trip sponsored by the JCRC of New York, a wonderful opportunity. Someone said to me recently, Julie, wait, wait. You've been to Israel six times. I said, Yes. That's more than any other country you've been to in the world. I said, That would be correct. Is it isn't that a lot? I said, No, not at all. First of all, I'm from New York City, where we consider Jerusalem to be the sixth borough. And I'm just trying to catch up to my constituents. Every time I go to Israel, it's a wonderful eye opening experience. This particular trip was meaningful to me in that I was able to actually lead a delegation for the first time in this position and choose where I would go to in the world as part of my first congressional trip on foreign soil, as the House Democratic Leader. And I chose to go to Israel and to Ghana, to incredibly meaningful countries to meet personally, to the people that I represent, and, of course, to the relationship that exists between the United States and Israel. And I wanted to do it so that it was timed to the anniversary of the 75th founding of the State of Israel, because I thought that will be meaningful for the members that agreed to travel with me and certainly meaningful to me to say to the world, that we're going to continue, as we've transitioned leadership in the House of Representatives, to stand behind the special relationship between the United States and Israel. And to make it clear that that's a special relationship that we as House Democrats believe, is anchored in our shared values and our shared strategic interests. And it was incredible because of the timing of we were there, both on the day of remembrance was incredibly moving. And I was able to participate in one of the ceremonies that we're held to acknowledge those who have been lost, both to acts of terror, and in the conflicts that Israel has been made to endure throughout the 75 year history. And then, of course, on the eve of the celebration connected to the 75th anniversary, and we had a very diverse group of members, several prominent Jewish American members of Congress, of course, like Josh Gottheimer and Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Dean Phillips, Sarah Jacobs, who was a new and emerging leader, but also the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. Steve Horsford, the chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Nanette Barragan, the first vice chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, Yvette Clarke, as well as the top Democrat on the foreign affairs committee, Greg Meeks. And so it was a wonderful experience. We had important public policy discussions with Prime Minister Netanyahu, President Herzog, with the Speaker of the Knesset, as well as the opposition leader, Lapid, they were open, they were honest, there were candid discussions about the challenges that our two countries face. But it was all anchored in our clear affirmation of Israel's right to exist as a Jewish and democratic state, and our commitment as House Democrats to continue to lift up and elevate the special relationship between our two countries. Julie Fishman Rayman: So important. How's Israel doing at 75? Hakeem Jeffries:    I think Israel, it's a miracle, as has been described, that we've gotten to 75 years. And it's a testament to the strength, and the resilience and the ability, the heart, the soul, the love the intellect, of the Jewish people, and the people of the State of Israel. And I'm confident that through the challenges that we all face in Israel, the best is yet to come. You had an interesting discussion, because of the judicial reform, issues that are underway. And we've got challenges that we're working through here in the United States of America, certainly, as it relates to the Supreme Court, and what is the right, you know, balance in terms of our three branches of government. And we've got to work through that here. Many of us have been troubled by recent developments coming out of the Supreme Court, and Israel's working through trying to figure out what that right balance is, in terms of the rule of law, and the independence of the judiciary, and how that works together. I think what has been clear to me, in terms of Israel as a robust democracy, that will continue to be a robust democracy is not the challenge is that it's working through to find common ground. And those talks are being led, of course, by President Herzog. But most significantly, the fact that hundreds of 1000s of Israelis have been in the streets, exercising their right, their freedom of expression, their freedom of speech, their freedom of assembly, the right to peaceably gather and petition your government that is at the hallmark of a democratic society. And that's what we've seen, and not a single shot fired, probably nowhere else in the Middle East, would that have occurred other than in Israel, and it's an affirmation of Israel's democratic character. Julie Fishman Rayman: In just a few weeks, AJC will hold our annual Global Forum in Tel Aviv. What is one piece of advice you'd give the 1000 or so people coming from around the world to Israel at this time? Hakeem Jeffries:   Well, I do think that every time I've gone to Israel, what has been a wonderful aspect of the trip was talking to the full range of people in Israeli society, to get the perspectives on the ground in terms of their views related to the challenges that Israel confront, and the opportunities that exists to continue to thrive into the future. And those are particularly relevant conversations to have now that Israel has hit this incredible milestone of 75 years in what still remains one of the toughest, if not the toughest neighborhoods in the world. And one of the reasons why sustained dialogue, sustained opportunity to engage in wonderful that AJC is hosting this forum in the next month, is that the challenges are always unique whenever one arrives in Israel. You know, it could be Hamas, it could be Hezbollah, it could be uncertainty in terms of the Iranian malign activity in Syria. It's always, you know, Iran's efforts to try to secure a nuclear weapon and we're gonna make sure that Iran never becomes nuclear capable in Gaza. There are different moments in time, where particular concern meets a level of urgency, but it's always consistently within the frame of Israel living in a very tough neighborhood, which is what I, you know, we reiterated as House Democrats directly to Prime Minister Netanyahu, our commitment to ensuring Israel maintains its qualitative military edge. My view on this thing has always been, and I grew up in central Brooklyn, came of age in the mid to late 80s, early 90s. I kind of know from tough neighborhoods. That was a tough neighborhood. I grew up in Israel, Hamas, Hezbollah, Gaza, chaos in Syria, in Iraq, Iran with nuclear aspirations, dangerous situation in the Sinai. That's a tough neighborhood. And in a tough neighborhood. The one constant, as I've consistently said, is strength. You can achieve peace, you can achieve stability, but you can only achieve it through the lens of strength. And I think, part of the dialogue that we all should continue to have and will be important for AJC to continue to have is, you know, what are the severe threats that Israel currently confronts? And how can we continue to ensure that Israel has the strength to defend itself and to provide a foundation for lasting peace moving forward building upon things like the Abraham accords? Julie Fishman Rayman:  Prior to Israel, you and the members of congress who traveled with you to Israel went to Ghana, one of America's closest allies in West Africa and a nation that still bears the painful scars of the transatlantic slave trade. At AJC's 2019 Global Forum, you became the first member of the congressional Caucus on Black-Jewish Relations, I think less than an hour after it was officially launched. Did your back to back trips to Ghana and then Israel spark any insights as we continue–collectively–to try to bring Blacks and Jews closer together? Especially because Blacks and Jews were really strongly represented in your delegation? Hakeem Jeffries:   Yes, you know, AJC's effort in terms of forming the black Jewish caucus was a wonderful thing, a great foundation. And in many ways, the trip to Ghana and to Israel is in that same tradition. And as you pointed out, Julie, there were a lot of African American members of Congress who on the trip and a lot of Jewish men from the members of Congress who were on the trip who visited both countries. And, you know, we were able to involve Ghana, and in Israel and Ghana, visit the Cape Coast slave castles, which were central to the horrific transatlantic slave trade. And we also were able to visit Yad Vashem and I was able to lay a wreath and make it clear that we would never forget and never again, allow the Horus of what was seen during the Holocaust to occur. And it was important that in addition to, in Ghana, for instance, meeting with President Akufo Addo, to visit the site, for a lot of the activity of the transatlantic slave trade, and, of course, the ties that then connect to the African American community in the United States of America, and to visit the door of no return. But also to make sure that, in the time that we were in Israel, almost every time that I've been there, we've always made it a point to make sure that we visited Yad Vashem, it's always a very powerful, moving experience. And it was the same and to be able to do it together with black members of Congress and Jewish members of Congress, and leaders, who were not black and Jewish, but were on the trip with us, was really a powerful experience, I think, for everyone involved. And I think it's important for us to continue to try to lean in to strengthening the relationships between the black and Jewish community. It's something that because of the district that I represent, has always been central to my time and public service. And I do you know, I am moved by the fact that at least part of the district that I represent, and that told this story during the Democratic caucus celebration of Jewish American Heritage Month, but I tried to tell it whenever I get the opportunity that I do represent a district that was once represented in part by a manual seller. And a manual seller was the longest certain Congress person in the history of the country. He served for 50 years, first elected in 1922. And served through 1972.  He was a staunch ally and advocate for the special relationship between the United States and Israel from the very beginning. He was there, I believe, with Truman, when the United States first recognized Israel, and was there to support the special relationship every step of the way throughout the time that he was in Congress. But what also is little known about Manny seller, as he was affectionately known in Brooklyn, is that during the 1960s, he was also the chair of the House Judiciary Committee, which meant that he played an important role, legislatively, and making sure that the 1964 Civil Rights Act, and the 1965 Voting Rights Act, became the law of the land, to crush Jim Crow, and crushed the effort to oppress the ability of African Americans, particularly in the south to participate fully in our democracy. And then you go to civil rights museums across the country, and whenever there have been exhibits, even here in the Library of Congress, usually always an acknowledgement of the role that Manny Celler played. And I'm proud of the fact that I can represent a district that someone who was such an important link between the black and Jewish community and actually played a meaningful role in helping to advance legislation to change the course of America, in supporting the efforts and leadership of Dr. King and others, is an important thing.  That's a tradition that I look forward to continuing to build upon and at the same time, to be able to represent a district as I mentioned earlier, where I serve more Russian speaking Jewish immigrants from the former Soviet Union than anyone else. And to know that Dr. King took time out from his days of leading the civil rights movement, to speak to Jewish leaders and rabbinical leaders across the country famously anchored in his guiding principle, that injustice anywhere is a justice everywhere, and it was great injustice, being directed at the Jewish community that was behind the Iron Curtain during the days of the Soviet Union, and to use his voice to speak up on behalf of what he appropriately viewed as his Jewish brothers and sisters who are facing oppression. That example that was set by Dr. King, that example that was set by Congressman Judiciary Committee Chair Manny Celler, who wasn't just focused on strengthening the relationship between the United States and Israel, but also dealt with the injustices directed at African Americans throughout the United States. That's a powerful heritage for us in Congress, or us as leaders, as AJC has promoted, to continue to build upon. Julie Fishman Rayman: Thank you so much, you've provided us with such a sweeping understanding not just of the history-everything from Manny Celler to Dr. King to Yad Vashem. But also a vision for where we can all go collectively. Whether it's in May, during Jewish American Heritage Month, or Black History Month, or every day, trying to honor the legacy of Americans from all facets who lift up our great nation and make it what it is today. Leader Jeffries, thank you for your leadership and thank you for being with us. Hakeem Jeffries:   Thank you so much, what an honor Julie to be on and all the best to you and look forward to continuing to work closely with Ted, with AJC, on behalf of the issues that we all care about, particularly as it relates to the well being of the Jewish community here in the United States of America and throughout the world. Manya Brachear Pashman: If you missed last week's episode, be sure to tune in for my conversation with the Jewish bluegrass duo Nefesh Mountain, featuring not one but two live musical performances, a wonderful way to wrap up our month-long series of shows honoring Jewish American Heritage.  

This is Garrison Hardie with your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief for Thursday, March 16th, 2023. Before we get to the news… CBS NCAA March Madness Theme (2021)- Play 0:00-0:11 March Madness is upon us today! Today is also the last day you can sign up and fill out a bracket! Go fill out your March Madness Brackets in our Fight Laugh Feasters bracket group. Here’s the deal. You don’t have to know a darn thing about basketball. That’s why they call it March Madness. So if you’d like to compete, you can find our group on social media, or here in the show notes. It’s ESPN’s tournament challenge, and our bracket group is Fight Laugh Feasters 2023. You only get one entry, so make it good! Whoever wins gets a prize from Rowdy Christian Merch! https://fantasy.espn.com/tournament-challenge-bracket/2023/en/group?redirect=tcmen%3A%2F%2Fx-callback-url%2FshowGroup%3FgroupID%3D5538514&ex_cid=tcmen2023_clipboard&groupID=5538514&groupp=ZmlnaHRsYXVnaGZlYXN0&inviteuser=ezQ1N0NBOUYyLTc0MjAtNDFCOC1BN0I2LTE3Q0UxRjMxODYxN30%3D&invitesource=clipboard Today we begin with world news… https://www.cbsnews.com/news/russia-jet-us-drone-collide-black-sea/ Russian jet collides with American drone over Black Sea, U.S. military says A Russian Su-27 fighter jet collided with an American military drone over the Black Sea on Tuesday, the U.S. said. The collision made the drone "unflyable" and officials crashed it into the sea, the Pentagon said. The White House called the Russian plane's intercept of the unmanned aircraft "reckless." "Our MQ-9 aircraft was conducting routine operations in international airspace when it was intercepted and hit by a Russian aircraft, resulting in a crash and complete loss of the MQ-9," U.S. Air Force General James Hecker, commander of U.S. Air Forces Europe and Air Forces Africa, said in a statement. Two Russian fighter jets were involved in the incident, U.S. European Command said. At approximately 2:03 a.m. EDT Tuesday, one of the Russian jets struck the drone's propeller. Before the collision, the jets dumped fuel on the drone and flew in front of it "in a reckless, environmentally unsound and unprofessional manner," European Command said. The Russian jet was likely damaged in the incident but it did land afterward, said Ryder, a Pentagon spokesman. He wouldn't say where the jet landed. Ryder, who wouldn't say whether the drone was armed, referred to the unmanned aircraft as a MQ-9, but not a Reaper. The U.S. uses MQ-9 Reapers for both surveillance and strikes and has operated the drones in a variety of locations, including in the Middle East and Africa. Other countries, including Britain and France, also fly Reapers. Reapers can be armed with Hellfire missiles as well as laser-guided bombs and can fly for more than 1,100 miles at altitudes of up to 50,000 feet, according to the Air Force. The drone in Tuesday's incident was conducting an intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance mission, Ryder said, adding that he didn't have any details to provide at the time on a possible operation to recover the drone. "To my knowledge at this point in time, the Russians have not recovered that aircraft," Ryder said. He also said officials were reviewing imagery from the incident to determine if any can be released. Moscow, for its part, denied causing the drone to crash. Speaking of Russia… https://www.dailyfetched.com/russia-teams-up-with-china-and-iran-for-joint-military-drills-as-war-tensions-rise/ Russia Teams Up With China And Iran For Joint Military Drills as War Tensions Rise The three U.S. adversaries are preparing to team their offensives n a series of exercises dubbed “Security Bond-2023.” The initiative will run through March 19, demonstrating their naval capacity in a coordinated effort against their enemies. China’s Defense Ministry said the exercises would “help deepen practical cooperation between the participating countries’ navies … and inject positive energy into regional peace and stability,” The Guardian reported. However, the White House has not expressed any concerns that Russia, China and Iran might using the military drills to escalate conflicts with the United States. U.S. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said the U.S. would continue monitoring the situation. Tensions have been rising between the West recently due to provocative postures taken over Covid-19, the war in Ukraine and human rights abuses. The U.S. continues to sanction Iran for its Government’s use of live ammunition on peaceful protests. Meanwhile, Russia continues to face unprecedented sanctions and economic pressure from the U.S. The three countries stages similar military exercises in 2019 and 2022, as China has sought to strengthen its ties to nations against the U.S and expand its influence throughout the Middle East On Friday, China brokered a deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia to end years of hostility and enter into new diplomatic relations. https://www.foxnews.com/media/court-rules-against-employee-fired-refusing-attend-lgbtq-training-session Court rules against employee fired for refusing to attend LGBTQ training session A federal appellate court rejected the appeal of a former account clerk in western New York who was fired from his job for refusing to attend a mandatory LGBTQ training in 2018. Raymond Zdunski was employed at Erie 2-Chautauqua-Cattaraugus BOCES for seven years before his termination, which he likened to "unlawful religious discrimination." He sued the organization seeking reinstatement, back pay and $10 million in damages. The Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) is a public organization that was created by the New York State Legislature in 1948 to provide shared educational programs and services to school districts within the state. The plaintiff had argued that the LGBTQ training and makeup session were "aimed at changing his religious beliefs about gender and sexuality," and that attending the training "would have caused him to violate the religious teachings to which he adheres," according to the lawsuit. BOCES denied his request for a religious accommodation. District Court Judge Geoffrey W. Crawford dismissed Zdunski's lawsuit in 2022, concluding that his claims were "unsupported" and agreeing with BOCES that he was fired for refusing to attend the trainings, which BOCES had maintained were intended to help prevent discrimination in the workplace. "Plaintiff's unsupported assumption that Defendants believe him to be ‘bigoted’ due to his religious beliefs is insufficient to support an inference of discrimination," Crawford said in his ruling. "In sum, no facts in the record support a finding that Mr. Zdunski was terminated because of his religion; rather, the evidence in the record supports Defendants' position that his termination was due to repeatedly refusing to attend a mandatory employee training." Zdunski's lawyer Kristina S. Heuser, meanwhile, maintained that her client's rights were violated "for no other reason than his refusal to be indoctrinated with anti-biblical teaching." "Though the lower courts did not find in his favor, we are not deterred and will seek redress from the U.S. Supreme Court," she added, according to The Buffalo News. "Mr. Zdunski was an account clerk," Heuser continued. "He worked on spreadsheets in a cubicle. The training was not even remotely related to the requirements of his job. The Left will stop at nothing to force their ideology upon everyone, including stripping people of their livelihood if they do not submit to their beliefs. Mr. Zdunski refused to violate his sincerely held religious beliefs by submitting to teaching that contradicts what Scripture teaches, which is his absolute right under prevailing federal law. The Court's ruling was clearly erroneous and we intend to petition the United States Supreme Court to hear Mr. Zdunski's case." U.S. workplaces have in recent years experienced more of a push toward diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). But a recent study found that companies are slashing DEI jobs while workers were leaving these fields at a higher rate than non-DEI positions. The study by Revelio Labs said last year companies who had layoffs cut DEI positions at a 33% rate versus a 21% cut for other roles. https://thepostmillennial.com/breaking-james-okeefe-launches-okeefe-media-group-after-ouster-project-veritas?utm_campaign=64487 James O'Keefe launches O'Keefe Media Group after ouster from Project Veritas James O'Keefe appeared on the Charlie Kirk Show to promote his newest project since being ousted from Project Veritas, the O'Keefe Media Group, or OMG. O'Keefe launched the website on Wednesday and urged viewers to sign up, as did Kirk. O'Keefe said that he's received thousands of emails asking how they can join the cause and how they can help. O'Keefe said that viewers can subscribe to the website, and they can sponsor and pay for a camera that they can use to do their own undercover reporting. https://twitter.com/i/status/1636037876679860227 - Play Video "It's not going to be a tiny group. It's going to be thousands that we train and equip on this website. We have stories that we're about to break, but the story today is the existence of this website." O'Keefe said that he will host classes and seminars on journalism around the country. https://twitter.com/i/status/1636040105172299779 - Play Video https://townhall.com/tipsheet/madelineleesman/2023/03/14/vermont-high-school-banned-from-playing-after-forfeiting-against-trans-player-n2620576’ Girls Basketball Team That Refused to Play Against a Transgender Athlete Banned From Sporting Events A private Christian school in Vermont that forfeited a girls’ basketball game against a team with a biological male “transgender” player has been banned from participating in upcoming sporting events. The Vermont Principals’ Association, which oversees school sporting events, announced on Monday that Mid Vermont Christian School would be ineligible to participate in sporting events and other activities done through the organization. “The VPA again reiterates its ongoing support of transgender student-athletes as not only a part of building an inclusive community for each student to grow and thrive, but also as a clear expectation by Vermont state law(s) in the Agency of Education Best Practices, and in VPA Policy regarding transgender student athletes,” the announcement said. Furthermore, the announcement included the VPA policy on “gender identity,” which is when a person feels like their gender does not align with their biological sex. “The VPA is committed to providing all students with the opportunity to participate in VPA activities in a manner consistent with their gender identity as is outlined in the Vermont Agency of Education Best Practices For Schools For Transgender And Gender Nonconforming Students,” the policy said. “The prohibition against discrimination includes discrimination based on a student’s actual or perceived sex and gender.” In a letter to MVCS, the VPA said that it violated the organization’s 1st and 2nd policies, which are “commitment to racial, gender-fair and disability awareness” and “policy on gender identity.” Townhall covered March 3 how MVCS was scheduled to compete against Long Trail School on Feb. 21, but pulled out once it learned that the opposing team included a male-bodied athlete. “We withdrew from the tournament because we believe playing against an opponent with a biological male jeopardizes the fairness of the game and the safety of our players,” Vicky Fogg, the head of MVCS, said in a statement at the time. “Allowing biological males to participate in women’s sports sets a bad precedent for the future of women’s sports in general,” Fogg added. The issue of male athletes who believe that they are transgender infiltrating women’s sports has made international headlines. Last month, world-renowned surfer Bethany Hamilton, who the movie “Soul Surfer” is based on, said that she would no longer be competing in professional surfing if the World Surf League moved forward with its inclusive transgender policy. Last month, Townhall interviewed Riley Gaines, a former swimmer at the University of Kentucky who competed against Will “Lia” Thomas, the biological male swimmer who began identifying as transgender and competing on the women’s swim team at the University of Pennsylvania. At last year’s NCAA championships, Gaines and Thomas tied in a race, but Thomas got to take the trophy home. “Within the past year, in terms of progress, there has not been a clear solution to the problem [of transgender athletes] at hand. There has still been an influx of biological men competing in women’s sports,” Gaines, who is a spokeswoman at the Independent Women’s Forum, told Townhall. "I think the Lia Thomas situation, bringing this to the national stage, opened a door. People see an opportunity when they see this, and they’re willing to take advantage of it. At the expense of, of course, female athletes,” she added. “If this continues, it’s a slippery slope. It’s truly only a matter of time before one transgender athlete winning a national title in the women’s category becomes three and five and 10 and so on,” Gaines concluded. “I think truthfully…the integrity of women’s sports will be lost.”

This is Garrison Hardie with your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief for Thursday, March 16th, 2023. Before we get to the news… CBS NCAA March Madness Theme (2021)- Play 0:00-0:11 March Madness is upon us today! Today is also the last day you can sign up and fill out a bracket! Go fill out your March Madness Brackets in our Fight Laugh Feasters bracket group. Here’s the deal. You don’t have to know a darn thing about basketball. That’s why they call it March Madness. So if you’d like to compete, you can find our group on social media, or here in the show notes. It’s ESPN’s tournament challenge, and our bracket group is Fight Laugh Feasters 2023. You only get one entry, so make it good! Whoever wins gets a prize from Rowdy Christian Merch! https://fantasy.espn.com/tournament-challenge-bracket/2023/en/group?redirect=tcmen%3A%2F%2Fx-callback-url%2FshowGroup%3FgroupID%3D5538514&ex_cid=tcmen2023_clipboard&groupID=5538514&groupp=ZmlnaHRsYXVnaGZlYXN0&inviteuser=ezQ1N0NBOUYyLTc0MjAtNDFCOC1BN0I2LTE3Q0UxRjMxODYxN30%3D&invitesource=clipboard Today we begin with world news… https://www.cbsnews.com/news/russia-jet-us-drone-collide-black-sea/ Russian jet collides with American drone over Black Sea, U.S. military says A Russian Su-27 fighter jet collided with an American military drone over the Black Sea on Tuesday, the U.S. said. The collision made the drone "unflyable" and officials crashed it into the sea, the Pentagon said. The White House called the Russian plane's intercept of the unmanned aircraft "reckless." "Our MQ-9 aircraft was conducting routine operations in international airspace when it was intercepted and hit by a Russian aircraft, resulting in a crash and complete loss of the MQ-9," U.S. Air Force General James Hecker, commander of U.S. Air Forces Europe and Air Forces Africa, said in a statement. Two Russian fighter jets were involved in the incident, U.S. European Command said. At approximately 2:03 a.m. EDT Tuesday, one of the Russian jets struck the drone's propeller. Before the collision, the jets dumped fuel on the drone and flew in front of it "in a reckless, environmentally unsound and unprofessional manner," European Command said. The Russian jet was likely damaged in the incident but it did land afterward, said Ryder, a Pentagon spokesman. He wouldn't say where the jet landed. Ryder, who wouldn't say whether the drone was armed, referred to the unmanned aircraft as a MQ-9, but not a Reaper. The U.S. uses MQ-9 Reapers for both surveillance and strikes and has operated the drones in a variety of locations, including in the Middle East and Africa. Other countries, including Britain and France, also fly Reapers. Reapers can be armed with Hellfire missiles as well as laser-guided bombs and can fly for more than 1,100 miles at altitudes of up to 50,000 feet, according to the Air Force. The drone in Tuesday's incident was conducting an intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance mission, Ryder said, adding that he didn't have any details to provide at the time on a possible operation to recover the drone. "To my knowledge at this point in time, the Russians have not recovered that aircraft," Ryder said. He also said officials were reviewing imagery from the incident to determine if any can be released. Moscow, for its part, denied causing the drone to crash. Speaking of Russia… https://www.dailyfetched.com/russia-teams-up-with-china-and-iran-for-joint-military-drills-as-war-tensions-rise/ Russia Teams Up With China And Iran For Joint Military Drills as War Tensions Rise The three U.S. adversaries are preparing to team their offensives n a series of exercises dubbed “Security Bond-2023.” The initiative will run through March 19, demonstrating their naval capacity in a coordinated effort against their enemies. China’s Defense Ministry said the exercises would “help deepen practical cooperation between the participating countries’ navies … and inject positive energy into regional peace and stability,” The Guardian reported. However, the White House has not expressed any concerns that Russia, China and Iran might using the military drills to escalate conflicts with the United States. U.S. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said the U.S. would continue monitoring the situation. Tensions have been rising between the West recently due to provocative postures taken over Covid-19, the war in Ukraine and human rights abuses. The U.S. continues to sanction Iran for its Government’s use of live ammunition on peaceful protests. Meanwhile, Russia continues to face unprecedented sanctions and economic pressure from the U.S. The three countries stages similar military exercises in 2019 and 2022, as China has sought to strengthen its ties to nations against the U.S and expand its influence throughout the Middle East On Friday, China brokered a deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia to end years of hostility and enter into new diplomatic relations. https://www.foxnews.com/media/court-rules-against-employee-fired-refusing-attend-lgbtq-training-session Court rules against employee fired for refusing to attend LGBTQ training session A federal appellate court rejected the appeal of a former account clerk in western New York who was fired from his job for refusing to attend a mandatory LGBTQ training in 2018. Raymond Zdunski was employed at Erie 2-Chautauqua-Cattaraugus BOCES for seven years before his termination, which he likened to "unlawful religious discrimination." He sued the organization seeking reinstatement, back pay and $10 million in damages. The Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) is a public organization that was created by the New York State Legislature in 1948 to provide shared educational programs and services to school districts within the state. The plaintiff had argued that the LGBTQ training and makeup session were "aimed at changing his religious beliefs about gender and sexuality," and that attending the training "would have caused him to violate the religious teachings to which he adheres," according to the lawsuit. BOCES denied his request for a religious accommodation. District Court Judge Geoffrey W. Crawford dismissed Zdunski's lawsuit in 2022, concluding that his claims were "unsupported" and agreeing with BOCES that he was fired for refusing to attend the trainings, which BOCES had maintained were intended to help prevent discrimination in the workplace. "Plaintiff's unsupported assumption that Defendants believe him to be ‘bigoted’ due to his religious beliefs is insufficient to support an inference of discrimination," Crawford said in his ruling. "In sum, no facts in the record support a finding that Mr. Zdunski was terminated because of his religion; rather, the evidence in the record supports Defendants' position that his termination was due to repeatedly refusing to attend a mandatory employee training." Zdunski's lawyer Kristina S. Heuser, meanwhile, maintained that her client's rights were violated "for no other reason than his refusal to be indoctrinated with anti-biblical teaching." "Though the lower courts did not find in his favor, we are not deterred and will seek redress from the U.S. Supreme Court," she added, according to The Buffalo News. "Mr. Zdunski was an account clerk," Heuser continued. "He worked on spreadsheets in a cubicle. The training was not even remotely related to the requirements of his job. The Left will stop at nothing to force their ideology upon everyone, including stripping people of their livelihood if they do not submit to their beliefs. Mr. Zdunski refused to violate his sincerely held religious beliefs by submitting to teaching that contradicts what Scripture teaches, which is his absolute right under prevailing federal law. The Court's ruling was clearly erroneous and we intend to petition the United States Supreme Court to hear Mr. Zdunski's case." U.S. workplaces have in recent years experienced more of a push toward diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). But a recent study found that companies are slashing DEI jobs while workers were leaving these fields at a higher rate than non-DEI positions. The study by Revelio Labs said last year companies who had layoffs cut DEI positions at a 33% rate versus a 21% cut for other roles. https://thepostmillennial.com/breaking-james-okeefe-launches-okeefe-media-group-after-ouster-project-veritas?utm_campaign=64487 James O'Keefe launches O'Keefe Media Group after ouster from Project Veritas James O'Keefe appeared on the Charlie Kirk Show to promote his newest project since being ousted from Project Veritas, the O'Keefe Media Group, or OMG. O'Keefe launched the website on Wednesday and urged viewers to sign up, as did Kirk. O'Keefe said that he's received thousands of emails asking how they can join the cause and how they can help. O'Keefe said that viewers can subscribe to the website, and they can sponsor and pay for a camera that they can use to do their own undercover reporting. https://twitter.com/i/status/1636037876679860227 - Play Video "It's not going to be a tiny group. It's going to be thousands that we train and equip on this website. We have stories that we're about to break, but the story today is the existence of this website." O'Keefe said that he will host classes and seminars on journalism around the country. https://twitter.com/i/status/1636040105172299779 - Play Video https://townhall.com/tipsheet/madelineleesman/2023/03/14/vermont-high-school-banned-from-playing-after-forfeiting-against-trans-player-n2620576’ Girls Basketball Team That Refused to Play Against a Transgender Athlete Banned From Sporting Events A private Christian school in Vermont that forfeited a girls’ basketball game against a team with a biological male “transgender” player has been banned from participating in upcoming sporting events. The Vermont Principals’ Association, which oversees school sporting events, announced on Monday that Mid Vermont Christian School would be ineligible to participate in sporting events and other activities done through the organization. “The VPA again reiterates its ongoing support of transgender student-athletes as not only a part of building an inclusive community for each student to grow and thrive, but also as a clear expectation by Vermont state law(s) in the Agency of Education Best Practices, and in VPA Policy regarding transgender student athletes,” the announcement said. Furthermore, the announcement included the VPA policy on “gender identity,” which is when a person feels like their gender does not align with their biological sex. “The VPA is committed to providing all students with the opportunity to participate in VPA activities in a manner consistent with their gender identity as is outlined in the Vermont Agency of Education Best Practices For Schools For Transgender And Gender Nonconforming Students,” the policy said. “The prohibition against discrimination includes discrimination based on a student’s actual or perceived sex and gender.” In a letter to MVCS, the VPA said that it violated the organization’s 1st and 2nd policies, which are “commitment to racial, gender-fair and disability awareness” and “policy on gender identity.” Townhall covered March 3 how MVCS was scheduled to compete against Long Trail School on Feb. 21, but pulled out once it learned that the opposing team included a male-bodied athlete. “We withdrew from the tournament because we believe playing against an opponent with a biological male jeopardizes the fairness of the game and the safety of our players,” Vicky Fogg, the head of MVCS, said in a statement at the time. “Allowing biological males to participate in women’s sports sets a bad precedent for the future of women’s sports in general,” Fogg added. The issue of male athletes who believe that they are transgender infiltrating women’s sports has made international headlines. Last month, world-renowned surfer Bethany Hamilton, who the movie “Soul Surfer” is based on, said that she would no longer be competing in professional surfing if the World Surf League moved forward with its inclusive transgender policy. Last month, Townhall interviewed Riley Gaines, a former swimmer at the University of Kentucky who competed against Will “Lia” Thomas, the biological male swimmer who began identifying as transgender and competing on the women’s swim team at the University of Pennsylvania. At last year’s NCAA championships, Gaines and Thomas tied in a race, but Thomas got to take the trophy home. “Within the past year, in terms of progress, there has not been a clear solution to the problem [of transgender athletes] at hand. There has still been an influx of biological men competing in women’s sports,” Gaines, who is a spokeswoman at the Independent Women’s Forum, told Townhall. "I think the Lia Thomas situation, bringing this to the national stage, opened a door. People see an opportunity when they see this, and they’re willing to take advantage of it. At the expense of, of course, female athletes,” she added. “If this continues, it’s a slippery slope. It’s truly only a matter of time before one transgender athlete winning a national title in the women’s category becomes three and five and 10 and so on,” Gaines concluded. “I think truthfully…the integrity of women’s sports will be lost.”

Why is New York trying to kill off cigars?! Unfortunately, even though cigars make such a small portion of tobacco sales overall. Cigars still get lumped into cigarettes, vape etc.  New York State Legislature is introducing another tobacco bill that could increase the tax on cigars in New York state to a minimum of 95% of the wholesale price!!! Currently, cigars are taxed at 75% in New York, already amongst the highest in the nation!!

In the first hour of "Connections with Evan Dawson" on Thursday, February 9, 2023, our guests discuss the possible impact of the proposed "Birds and Bees Protection Act" in the New York State Legislature.

Thank you for joining another episode of the Albany Update. In today's program, we'll look at how media basis toward the pro-life movement cripples the conversation. Then, we'll note Republican gains in the last election, and postulate as to how it might affect future elections. Next up, President Joe Biden maddingly signed the [Dis]Respect for Marriage Act into law. Continuing with the Biden Administration we'll discuss the departure of one of his non-binary deputy assistants and what some pro-life organizations are doing to push back against federally funded abortions at Veterans' health facilities. Finally, as unbelievable as it sounds, the New York State Legislature may go into a lame duck session to give itself a pay raise. Let's get started. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/albanyupdate/support

On November 30, 2022 a rally in Albany's Capital Park was held in support of New York's Clean Slate Act, Hudson Mohawk Magazine's Andrea Cunliffe was there to report. The Act NY State Senate Bill S1553D will automatically clear and seal a New Yorker's criminal record once they become eligible. However, it has stalled in the New York State Legislature for the second time in two years.

Frank Morano brings you the issues that matter the most with style and wit in the Other Side of Midnight Local Spotlight. Frank discusses where he thinks they should build one of the three new casinos approved by the New York State Legislature, a Ring camera system story that happened in his community, New York State instating a two year moratorium on new fossil fuel powered crypto currency mining operations, and the upcoming fifth Indiana Jones film. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Collage artist and sculptor, Natalie Beall, joined me to chat about her work this week. We spoke about both her paper collage series "Utility Suite" and her painted wood and clay sculptures that tweak 2-D and 3-D space through a quiet visual flattening. Her mysterious images seem to represent game boards, domestic storage racks or display shelves that have long-lost their instructions and vital functions. Her palette is based on the muted tones of domestic interior paint chips and Canson Mi Teintes papers, and features soft oranges, browns, blues, greens, creams, grays and black. Please visit the @peptalksforartists Instagram to see images of Natalie's work! Natalie's website: www.nataliebeall.com Natalie on IG: @natalie_beall Glue Talk™: Natalie uses Lineco Neutral PH Adhesive Specific works mentioned: Utility Suite Series: "Rack" and "Rocker;" Sculptures: "Twisting Board," "Course," "Dormer," "Storage Solution (Tender Sling)," "Lacing Post" and "Pith-Peg (A Pastime)" Mentions: Joseph Cornell's "Soap Bubble Set" 1942, Jim Gaylord, Canson Mi Teintes papers, The Shaker communities of Upstate NY, Saltonstall Artist-Writer Residency for artist-parents of NY state, Interlude Residency for artist-parents, Real Nifty Vintage youtube channel. Natalie Beall's collage project, Utility Suite, is made possible with funds from the Statewide Community Regrants Program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature and administered by Arts Mid-Hudson. ---------------------------- Pep Talks on IG: @peptalksforartists Amy's website: https://www.amytalluto.com/ Amy on IG: @talluts Donate to the Peps: Buy Me a Coffee or https://anchor.fm/peptalksforartistspod/support. All music tracks and SFX are licensed from Soundstripe. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/peptalksforartistspod/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/peptalksforartistspod/support

Through the use of sound, video and AI in a 360 immersive projection-and-sound environment, "Possible Worlds" uses technology to deconstruct identity and gaze. This immersive dance performance will be performed this Friday, November 18th, 2022 @ 3 pm at CRAIVE LAB (Center for Cognition, Communication & Culture). HMM's Sina Basila Hickey spoke with Mercedes Searer, Direction, Choreography and Performance; Bibiana Med, Video Installation and Film; and Lara de Bruijn, Costume and Fabric Design to find out more. Not in the studio: Michael Kammers, Musical Composition, Sound Engineer; and david allen, Ai Development. Possible Worlds is fiscally sponsored by NYFA and made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, City Artist Corps, CRAIVE LAB Center for Cognition, Communication & Culture and Samuel Vincent.

This week, James Prendamano sits down with Celia Iervasi, John Orlando and Peter Arbeeny to talk about the upcoming elections. All of them are part of the Executive Board of the New Era Democrats, An Independent Political Association (NED) and they had all been part of the organization since 1992. Get to know more about the organisation: http://www.newerademocrats.org/ https://www.facebook.com/neweradems/ https://twitter.com/an_political John Orlando is the President of NED. He has worked as a political consultant and served many different roles on City Council, Congressional, Mayoral and Presidential campaigns. He endorsed and supported both democratic and republican candidates. He can speak to our decision to endorse Lee Zeldin for Governor as well as Nicole Malliotakis for Congress and Tom DiNapoli for State Comptroller. John is a strong advocate of a balance of power especially here in New York and how the races are tightening and left wing/progressive movement hurting New York City and State. Peter Arbeeny is the Vice President of NED. He's a small business owner for 30 years serving 5 boroughs and surrounding counties. He lost his father Norman Arbeeny during COVID he contracted while in a Nursing Home. Peter has been a staunch critic of Governor Cuomo and New York's response to COVID 19 and Nursing Homes. He helds a funeral for Governor Cuomo's book on leadership, met with Governor Hochul, Tom Dinapoli, Leticia James and other elected officials as well. He's still fighting for a NY Covid 19 Nursing Home investigation and accounting is still not complete. Celia Iervasi, is an associate broker at Prendamano Real Estate. Mrs. Iervasi is well recognized and regarded for her professionalism, dedication and integrity in the real estate industry. Celia was inducted into the Staten Island Board of Realtors' prestigious Hall of Fame. Over the last ten years, Celia has facilitated real estate sales of over $100 million dollars, earning her SIBOR's Gold Top Producer award for each of the last ten years. Celia Iervasi's extensive history of volunteer service has been recognized by both the New York City Council and New York State Legislature. Celia was awarded the Joseph Criselli Award for Community Service. She was honored as a Hero for her Sandy Relief Efforts. Celia currently holds the seat of Chairperson of the Staten Island YMCA Counsel Center. Celia also currently holds a seat on the YMCA Board of managers. V.President of The Ralph Sansone Foundation : Community Service Organization . Serves on Community Bd 3, Land Use Committee. Verrazano Kiwanis Club. Although born in Brooklyn, New York, Celia currently resides in the town of Ellitingville located in Staten Island, NY with her husband Dominick. To add to her list of accomplishments she has three children; Lisa, Frank and Lauren; two sons in law; Edward and Anthony, as well as four grandchildren. Quotes….. F-E-A-R has two meanings: Forget everything and run OR Face everything and rise. The choice is yours. – Zig Ziglar #Tips #PreReal For informational purposes only. Always consult with professionals. This is not meant to be used as legal or tax advice or otherwise. Any projections, opinions, assumptions, or estimates used are for example only. All information should be independently verified and is subject to errors and omissions. Prendamano Real Estate of staten island, NY is a real estate marketing firm that is focused on lead generation for all its properties for sale. More leads equals bigger pockets in the end for everyone. If you are house hunting and looking for a house for sale don't hesitate to give us a call (718)200-7799. If you think it is time to sell your house, we can get you top dollar for your property. Visit us at www.prereal.com Follow us on: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PrendamanoRealEstate Instagram: @prerealpodcast @prerealestate TikTok: @prerealestate Twitter: @prereal

In the first hour of "Connections with Evan Dawson" on Tuesday, November 1, 2022, guests discuss the "Solutions Not Suspensions" bill in the New York State Legislature, and what research shows about how students are impacted by suspensions.

Skye Ostreicher's role is elevating the work of our elected officials in a nonpartisan way. Skye says, "We pay taxes for them to help us. Let's get to know them better, behind-the-scenes." Follow Skye on Instagram @thepoliticalpersonality and on Twitter @SkyeStats. Skye is the host of Political Personalities with Skye, a podcast show under the news publication City & State, an online and print destination for coverage and analysis of the New York State Legislature, New York's Executive Chamber, New York City Government, and Federal Government in New York. Skye received a full academic scholarship to University of Miami... two master's degrees... wanted a fun internship, so she spent the summer at News 12 Long Island... met Tom Suozzi who was running for local office... he brought her onto his campaign... got hired by a political consulting firm... then another one... built community relationships along the way... served as regional director for the Mike Bloomberg presidential campaign in 2020... COVID happened... started an Instagram TV show... parlayed it into a community news platform... worked with one media company, then another, then another. Hope you enjoy the conversation!

In the first hour of "Connections with Evan Dawson" on Thursday, September 8, 2022, New York State Assembly candidate Joe Chenelly discusses his platform and priorities for office.

On this day in 1853, the New York State Legislature approved the establishment of Central Park. At that time, the land was home to a dairy, a number of farms, several cemeteries, two bone boiling factories, a couple of gunpowder storage sites -- and about a thousand people. Sara Cedar Miller joins us to talk about this history. She is the historian emerita of the Central Park Conservancy, and the author of Before Central Park.   Sara Cedar Miller is giving a virtual talk about Central Park on Tuesday, July 26 at 6pm. For details, go here. 

L. Joy is happy! Why? Because she's been civically engaged, along with community partners, around voting rights. Those civic actions have resulted in both houses of the New York State Legislature passing the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act of New York State. This legislation is how New York is stepping up in the absence of federal protections. Then L. Joy brings Alicia Garza to the front of the class to discuss the work that Black Futures Lab is doing and taking the Black Census. 

John talks about the Cronin siblings getting together for ANOTHER birthday celebration. Mark discusses their visit to Albany where the New York State Legislature passed a resolution celebrating John and John's Crazy Socks. John practices his versions of the “Good morning Vietnam” call-out on the opening of the show AND at a conference for accountants (don't ask). The boys talk about some more businesses with impact: Brittany's Baskets of Hope and Prospector Theater! Check out the links below. More chatting on the weight loss journey, the love life and of course bad jokes/good news as always.  Check out Brittany's Baskets of Hope here: https://www.brittanysbasketsofhope.org/ Check out Prospector Theater here: https://www.prospectortheater.org/ Hosted by John & Mark Cronin, co-founders of John's Crazy Socks. Visit John's Crazy Socks here: https://johnscrazysocks.com Follow @johnscrazysocks on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok. The Spreading Happiness Podcast is produced by Launchpad 516 Studios. For show ideas, guest inquiries, general feedback, sponsorships and media inquiries, drop an email: thespreadinghapinesspodcast@lp516.com Subscribe to The Spreading Happiness Podcast on Apple Podcasts and get notified of new episodes, every Tuesday! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-spreading-happiness-podcast/id1611218712