The Scrapbook

Bush, Maliki Meet After First Talks Are Canceled (Washington Post)

15 Brigades Would Gradually Stand Down Under Plan (NY Times)

Bush Dismisses Iraq Panel’s Pullback Plan (NY Times)

Study Group to Call for Pullback (Washington Post)

Rice Meets With Olmert and Abbas (NY Times)

12 Sites in U.K. Show Radioactive Traces (NY Times/AP)

Message of H.E. Dr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
President of the Islamic Republic of Iran
To the American People (published in the NY Times)

City Pols Vent Their Race Rage (NY Post)

War On Subway Scratchiti (NY Daily News)

City's Assault On Batteries (NY Post)

Posted by leboheme at 12:28 PM

Bush, Maliki Meet After First Talks Are Canceled (Washington Post)

15 Brigades Would Gradually Stand Down Under Plan (NY Times)

Bush Dismisses Iraq Panel’s Pullback Plan (NY Times)

Study Group to Call for Pullback (Washington Post)

Rice Meets With Olmert and Abbas (NY Times)

12 Sites in U.K. Show Radioactive Traces (NY Times/AP)

Message of H.E. Dr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
President of the Islamic Republic of Iran
To the American People (published in the NY Times)

City Pols Vent Their Race Rage (NY Post)

War On Subway Scratchiti (NY Daily News)

City's Assault On Batteries (NY Post)

Posted by leboheme at 12:28 PM

Louis Guida, co-coordinator of the Save Our Safety Net Campaign, and staff menber of the committee of Interns & Residents, SEIU, outside the WYNC studio after discussing New York's hospital closings with Brian Lehrer. November 29, 2006.

Posted by Seamus at 12:17 PM

Al-Sadr Loyalists Boycott Iraq Government (NY Post/AP)

As Iraq Deteriorates, Iraqis Get More Blame (Washington Post)

Bush Adviser's Memo Cites Doubts About Iraqi Leader (NY Times)

Text of U.S. Security Adviser's Iraq Memo (NY Times)

Controversy over Pentagon's war-spending plan (LA Times)

Pope Backs Turkey's Bid to Join European Union (NY Times)

Posted by leboheme at 09:39 AM

Jim Lehrer, author and host of The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer on PBS, and Brian Lehrer, author and host of The Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC.

Posted by Seamus at 12:36 PM

Brenda Ann Kenneally, photo journalist, Soros Criminal Justice Fellow and author, "Money Power Respect: Pictures of My Neighborhood (Channel Photographics, 2005)

Posted by Seamus at 12:35 PM

Gilberto Vicente (left) and Andrew Velazquez, Bushwick residents featured in the book "Money Power Respect: Pictures of My Neighborhood (Channel Photographics, 2005)

Posted by Seamus at 12:34 PM

Blair Williams, Professor of Industry at Polytechnic University, editor and publisher of various books on Anglo Indians and president of CTR, a charity for Anglo Indians

Posted by Seamus at 12:38 PM

Tim LaHaye, minister and co-author, "John's Story: The Last Eyewitness"

Posted by Seamus at 12:37 PM

Jerry Jenkins, former vice president for publishing and current writer-at-large for the Moody Bible Institute of Chicago and co-author, "John's Story: The Last Eyewitness"

Posted by Seamus at 12:36 PM

Panel to Weigh Overture by U.S. to Iran and Syria (NY Times)

Zoning Laws That Bar Pedophiles Raise Concerns (NY Times)

Chilling Echo for Lebanon, Mirror of Regional Tension (NY Times)

Israeli and Palestinian Leaders Committed to Gaza Cease-Fire (LA Times)

Gorilla Staple Adds Spice to New Drugs (Washington Post)

10 Seconds of Hell in Queens (NY Post)

Cancer Alarm (NY Post)

Overhauling New York’s Health Care: Forces Align, for Now (NY Times)

Congestion Pricing Plan Gains Speed In Toll Poll (NY Daily News)

Posted by leboheme at 12:17 PM

The last Jazz CD for sale at the Tower Records on 66th and Broadway. Tower Records is counting down its final days as the company enters liquidation. November 24, 2006.

Posted by Seamus at 09:37 AM

A lone Miles Davis CD is left in the Tower Records Jazz section. They will soon be closing their doors forever after filing for bankruptcy. November 24, 2006.

Posted by Seamus at 09:25 AM

Esther Perel, therapist and author, discusses "Mating in Captivity", her book on sustaining a healthy marriage. November 22, 2006.

Posted by Seamus at 12:26 PM

Dean Obeidallah, November 17th, 2006

Posted by Seamus at 03:25 PM

We rented a rehearsal space for my band in Manhattan. One January the heater broke and after a month of begging for it to be fixed, the owner said: "It will be Spring soon."
-J.F.

It's time to move when your roommate:
-starts a feral cat rescue program that terrorizes you and your fellow highly allergic roommate.
- is found passed out IN the fridge, with all YOUR food on the floor around her.
- cuts internet and cable wires to your room, and then calls the police when you try to retrieve the cable box (billed in YOUR NAME) from her room
- is found sleeping off the effects of too much Special K in the basement, wrapped in a carpet
- is found in lounging in your bedroom, in your clothes, reading your journal
- saves a frozen cockroach in the fridge for a school project
- starts throwing out (YOUR) dishes rather than wash them.
- not realizing you are home sick, locks you IN your bedroom because she is afraid someone will enter the apt. via your fire escape window, and rape her.
- gets her real estate license and sells enough coke to afford the down payment, buys your building and KICKS YOU OUT!!!!
I may now live in the ghetto, but at least I live alone...
-J.

In addition to the normal gamut of horrendous apartment issues (cockroaches, mice, peeling paint, etc), I think I had a unique experience that put my old East Village apt on a whole new level of horror. Towards the end of my lease, the management company began to show my apartment to prospective tenants as I had decided not to renew my lease. Not only did they not hold to those specified hours, often resulting in the super opening my door while I was standing in the kitchen in a bath towel, but I came home more than once to find the super's unstable Albanian cousin watching television on my couch! His explanation? "I didn't think you would be home." Talk about creepy.
-G.D.

I had an artist friend who once lived above Max's Kansas City and below a dance group. He had no trouble with Max's since his own schedule meant that they were closed when he was sleeping, but he and his wife had to move when the dance group toured Spain and returned with a Flamenco dancer. The dancers all started studying Flamenco and the thumping on the ceiling became intolerable.
-J.K.

When living in Hoboken years ago, we lived on the top floor of a huge old mansion it was part owned by one of the city tax lawyers. The heat and hot water were always failing because of years of jerry-rigged systems and old pipes. One winter the oil line to the hot water heater froze. So, the owners, rather than unfreezing the line, placed a 55 gallon drum of fuel oil in the alley outside the basement window and ran a copper pipe in and down to the hot water heater. Oil dripped down via capillary action, feeding the flame. However, it didn't all combust and thus sent fumes and smoke up through the old elevator shaft and set off the all the hallway smoke alarms at 5AM. The fire dept. came and they went down into the basement and were stunned to find the rig on the hot water heater. When told who owned the building, they looked at each other and gave a sigh, and quietly left. We moved out to Hunterdon County a couple years later. Hoboken...
-D.G.

We moved into a great apartment in Hudson Heights. On our first night, we heard rather pleasant piano playing from upstairs. At first we were relieved: the player was talented and at least it wasn't a loud stereo. But then he played for hours and hours, every day, hours and hours. We lived with constant piano music in the background. We tried to negotiate a number of hours and at first he agreed. Then he said he hired a lawyer that said he could play as long as he wanted. We complained to the landlord who actually supported us. They required him to put down carpeting (required by his lease) but it didn't make a difference. The whole situation escalated and finally the landlord let us out of the lease, I think to get rid of us (we were complaining so much). We moved in with family for the suburbs and decided not to return to NYC. We also vowed never to live underneath someone again and have only lived on the top floor of apartments in the suburbs. It has been much better!
-D.H.

I used to cat and house sit for a woman who lived in an illegal sublet. Her neighbors were being paid by the landlord to terrorize her to get her out. The whole thing went so far that the police were called in and eventually sorted it out.
-N.D.K.

The People Upstairs by Ogden Nash
The people upstairs all practice ballet, Their living room is a bowling alley
In order to get their parties to mix, they supply their guests with pogo sticks,
And when at last the party abates, they go to the bathroom on roller skates.
I would love the people upstairs wondrous if instead of over us they just lived und'rus
-submitted by P.B.C.

I lived with two Italian girls who basically came as the guests of the person I was subletting from, were supposed to leave after one month, and obstinately stayed, hoping I'd leave and they'd take over -- they'd lock the door all weekend (their bedroom unfortunately led to the only kitchen), so I'd have to eat out. Even worse, they watched Sex and the City all day and all night whenever they were home! They brought cockroaches with their filth, so I had to hire an exterminator on top of the building's exterminator. I had photocopied their passports, and found out who their (illegal) employers were, and was on the verge of denouncing them to the INS (I had the number and the website for anonymous reports) -- that's how evil they made me feel!!! Finally, I think they saw I was up to something, and left.
-C.J.

For the first two and half years in our new co-op, we had an upstairs neighbor who was a housebound invalid with a walker and a chronic insomniac. Every night in the wee hours I'd be awakened by the thump, thump, thumping sound. Problem was, she was also the sweetest, kindest person with whom it was impossible to be angry. We could do nothing but live with it until she finally moved out into assisted living.
-J.G.

We had a series of disasters as a result of renovations on our neighboring apartment. They cracked our living room walls sending debris onto our dog and knocking over our CD rack shattering many of the cases. They punched two holes into our kitchen wall, constantly turned our water off with no warning, and cracked all of our walls in the kitchen sending debris onto our dishes, pots and pans. We tried talking to the workers, but none of them spoke English. After photos and video of the encroaching demolition and weeks worth of complaints we did manage to secure a half-month rent reduction from management, so in the end it was ok... although I asked for a full month since that was the duration of the problems.
-J.D.H.

A woman in our building constantly allowed her old dog to urinate in the entrance hall or just outside the front door. Despite constant requests, including from the building management, she refused to do anything about it. After two years the problem was finally solved: the dog died !!
-J.P.

Posted by leboheme at 03:01 PM

Dame Diggz, Yonkers rapper, discusses his involvement in the Westchester State Senate campaign controversy between Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Nicholas Spano. November 16, 2006.

Posted by Seamus at 01:32 PM

Bush, in Asia, Makes Appeal on N. Korea (NY Times)

With Politics as Subtext, Senators Clash on Iraq (NY Times)

General Warns of Risks in Iraq if G.I.'s Are Cut (NY Times)

The 'Stay or Leave' Debate in the U.S. Finds a Mirror in Baghdad (NY Times)

Democratic Leadership Hopefuls Marked By Ethical Questions (LA Times)

Black Lawmakers in Line for Key Posts (Washington Post)

In Murder Case, New Evidence but Same Cell (NY Times)

Comptroller Looks Into $5.4B Met Life Property Sale (NY Sun)

In Certain Circles, Two Is a Crowd (NY Times)

Your Bra Is Ringing: Students Defy Ban (NY Daily News)

He Hacks His Way To Court (NY Daily News)

Sweet! Chocolate Helps the Heart, Study Says (LA Times)

Posted by leboheme at 10:30 AM

Author of "Girls WIth Glasses"

Posted by Seamus at 12:13 PM

Up to 150 People Kidnapped in Baghdad (Washington Post/AP)

Pakistan Link Seen in Afghan Suicide Attacks (NY Times)

For Evangelicals, Supporting Israel Is 'God's Foreign Policy' (NY Times)

Rangel & Pelosi Slug It Out (NY Post)

As Math Scores Lag, a New Push for the Basics (NY Times)

Opponents of City Subsidies Fret Over Deal With MetLife (NY Times)

Eliot's Weapon Vs. Silver & Bruno: You (NY Post)

Breast Cancer Risk Linked To Red Meat, Study Finds (Washington Post)

'Heart' Attack On Ban (NY Post)

Dominican Dominance At Bustlin' Bodegas (NY Daily News)

Latinos On The Rise In The City (NY Daily News)

Parents Decry Proposal To Add Older Students to Mix (NY Sun)

Mets break ground on Citi Field (Newsday)

For Montauk, It's Lighthouse vs. Surf's Up! (NY Times)

Posted by leboheme at 10:34 AM

Carl Hiassen, Miami Herald columnist and author, "Nature Girl"

Posted by Seamus at 01:26 PM

Freddy Rodriguez, Dominican sculptor who designed the Flight 587 memorial

Posted by Seamus at 01:25 PM

Tina Cassidy, journalist and author, "Birth: The Surprising History of How We Are Born

Posted by Seamus at 01:22 PM

Democrats Gain Senate and New Influence (NY Times)

Democrats Are Set To Subpoena (LA Times)

After 2 Decades in Ascent, A Stunning Breakdown (Washington Post)

Gates' Views Not Easy To Discern (LA Times)

Removal of Rumsfeld Dates Back to Summer (NY Times)

Her Next Job: First Lady of New York (NY Times)

Vilsack Throws His Hat Into the Ring - Or at Least Into Iowa's Cornfields (NY Sun)

Washington Head Stolen From Cathedral (NY Daily News)

It's Prime Time in Piscataway (Newsday)

Ed Bradley: A Journalist's Legacy (Poynter Online)

Posted by leboheme at 11:26 AM

They have to get us out of Iraq, fix the economy, and restore our frayed Constitution. But before they do any of that, they need to pledge themselves to a higher level of honesty and accountability than we have seen, on both sides, for a long time.
-J.A.

I think the first thing the Democrats should do is to work with Bush on immigration reform. The Democrat needs to show that they can get things done and this is the smallest gap between them and the White House.
-C.W.

I would like to see approval of negotiating with drug companies for lower drug costs for seniors. My in-laws are on a very low fixed income and too proud to let us help, but their drug costs are ridiculous and I want to see that law changed from banning negotiation to demanding competitive pricing.
-M.M.

1. Fix the deficit. We are in a very ominous and precarious position. Our entire future hinges on this. It is under reported and no one seems to understand what would happen should our economy collapse. 2. Global Warming.
3. Healthcare!
4. Bring jobs back to America by offering incentives to companies that employ Americans and stop giving tax breaks to companies that outsource.
5. Iraq war
-J.S.

Set a "progress-table" in Iraq. A very specific list of items, such as training X number of Iraqi police/military, so we can pull out when these criteria are met.
-M.K.

1. Confront corrupting influence of lobbyists in government
2. Develop bipartisan approach to Iraq
3. Health care reform
-J.C.

EDUCATION, EDUCATION, EDUCATION (ie science spending, Pell grants, pre-K to high school).
-H.S.

1. Double the minimum wage: eliminate poverty.
2. Affordable housing amendment to the constitution.
-P.W.

It seems that many evangelical Christians voted Democratic because they were fed up with the corruption of special interests and money within the Republican Party. Democrats should seize on this and continue to reach out to the evangelicals' moral sensibilities by framing their commitments to "change business as usual", reach out to the disadvantaged in this country and the world, whom evangelicals seem to care about but the Republican establishment ignores.
-D.H.

I really wish someone would come forward and take on special interests. Only then can we make progress on healthcare, private pensions and personal finance in this country.
-D.C.

1. Re-establish a sense of governing bipartisanship and civility
2. Start working towards resolving our involvement in Iraq.
-P.H.

Posted by leboheme at 01:35 PM

Guide For The Last Minute Voter, 2006 General Election (Gotham Gazette)

China to Pass U.S. in 2009 in Emissions (NY Times)

57 Iraqis Charged In Abuse at Prison (Washington Post)

Saddam Back In Court For Genocide Trial (USA Today/AP)

New York Plans to Make Gender Personal Choice (NY Times)

Killer Staged Her 'Suicide' (NY Daily News)

TA Probes Doors-Open Hell Ride On Brooklyn A Train (NY Daily News)

Teachers' Salaries Could Rise 7.1% Under New Deal (NY Sun)

Ray Sounds Lust Alarm (NY Post)

Posted by leboheme at 10:01 AM

Hussein Sentenced To Death By Hanging (Washington Post)

Hussein Trial Was Flawed but Reasonably Fair, and Verdict Was Justified, Legal Experts Say (NY Times)

New Telemarketing Ploy Steers Voters on Republican Path (NY Times)

Once Safe, Public Pensions Are Now Facing Cuts (NY Times)

Rarity in New York Politics: Tight Assembly Race in City (NY Times)

The Package May Say Healthy, but This Grocer Begs to Differ (NY Times)

Church Tries to Cope After Minister's Dismissal (NY Times)

Need to Reach Mark Plotkin? Make Sure the Right One's on Speed Dial (Washington Post)

City Seeks Road$ide Assistance (NY Post)

USS Intrepid Sail Stalled As Vessel Gets Stuck In Mud (Newsday/AP)

'Monkey Meat' Ma Charged (NY Post)

Posted by leboheme at 11:42 AM

Congress Tells Auditor in Iraq to Close Office (NY Times)

China Dangles Trade, Aid Before Africa (Washington Post)

Failed '04 Presidential Run Hardened Lieberman's Independent Ways (NY Times)

Study Sees "Global Collapse" of Fish Species (NY Times)

Foreign Lobbies Took the Guise Of Nonprofits (Washington Post)

Unemployment Rate Falls, Payrolls Grow (Washington Post)

Democrats Predict Voter ID Problems (Washington Post)

Delays Loom In Counting Ballots (USA Today)

Judge OKs GE Cleanup of Hudson (NY Post/AP)

Minority Report: Fdny Recruiting Adds Color (NY Post)

Don't Weed Me Out (NY Daily News)

Timers Installed at 5 NYC Intersections (AMNY)

Tattoos Could Protect Immigrants from Deportation (NY Sun)

Posted by leboheme at 09:35 AM

For Colombians, A Growing Peril From Land Mines (Washington Post)

U.S. Reports Plot to Topple Beirut Leaders (NY Times)

Iran Is Offering Bounty to Agents Who Can Entice Western Tourists (NY Times)

On Election Night, Networks Plan to Proceed With Caution (Washington Post)

The Hevesi Skid: Who Belts in for Chauffeurgate? (NY Observer)

Halloween Turns Ugly and Racist In Queens Riot (NY Sun)

The Man Who Wanted to Know Too Much (Village Voice)

Sweeney: Cop Came But Report Is A Fake (NY Daily News)

School Bigs Eyed In S.I. Kid-Test 'Cheat' (NY Post)

Both Sides Bark In Off-Leash Dog Fight (AM NY)

Posted by leboheme at 01:20 PM

Seth Kugel, freelance journalist and co-author of "Nueva York: the Complete Guide to Latino Life in the Five Boroughs", tells us about various Latino hotspots around New York. November 1, 2006.

Posted by Seamus at 01:10 PM

Carolina Gonzalez, freelance journalist and co-author of "Nueva York: the Complete Guide to Latino Life in the Five Boroughs", discusses the highlights of Latino culture here in New York. November 1, 2006.

Posted by Seamus at 01:09 PM

Iraq Tells U.S. to Quit Checkpoints (Washington Post)

As Vote Nears, Stances on War Set Off Sparks (NY Times)

Spy Agencies Now Share The Wikipedia Way (LA Times)

Former S African President PW Botha Dies (Financial Times)

Researchers Link Brain Defect With Infant Death Syndrome (NY Times)

Local Agent Faces Charges (LA Times)

City Boost For A 'Glitzy' Coney (NY Post)

Upstate Rep Beat Wife Rap (NY Daily News)

Price of Illegal Guns Soaring Here In Wake of Anti-Gun Campaign (NY Sun)

Hardhats Have City's Most Dangerous Job (NY Daily News)

Click Us A Cab! Web Site Helps Riders Share Fares (NY Daily News)

Blog: It's a Family Affair (Newsday)
Note the addendum.

Posted by leboheme at 11:17 AM