Ed Towns, who represents 600.000 New Yorkers in NY-10th (Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Bedford Stuyvesant, Dumbo, Boerum Hill, East New York and many other areas in the heart of Brooklyn), is a Clinton superdelegate in one of the few districts that voted for Barack Obama in the New York primary. He's been in Congress for over a quarter of a century, has missed more than 1,000 votes in the House of Representatives since the mid-90s, and many of his constituents complain that they don't know what he stands for, or why his voice is never heard on some of the most pressing issues for a district with a progressive majority.

In what is shaping up to be a battle to the death for delegates and superdelegates coming into the home stretch for the Democratic presidential nomination - every advantage counts.  So all the "unofficial" vote counts we have relied on for all of our vote and delegate tallies to this point are being scrutinized for irregularities in every district.

We have all sat here since Super Tuesday thnking Obama lost New York to Hillary by a 57%-40% popular vote margin overall, with local results tabulated to show she would receiver 139 delegates to his 93 (excepting superdelegates).

But now, those further investigations have uncovered some startling irregularities...

More after the jump.

I'll keep it short and sweet:

Obama will carry my district handily. There is no Clinton presence around here.

Hopefully, I'll just write this in the way so that even if the people involved do read this site, late at night, they agree with how I depict them.  I was at the bar tonight, here in Brooklyn.  "This is the white enclave, the place where all the scenesters go," is how it was described to me by Y.- that's correct.  It's been my local bar for two years.  It's on the border between the huge hispanic neighborhood, Bushwick, and the huge black neighborhood, Bedford-Stuyvesant  There's a bar every 15 or so blocks down the main street here, a few years ago, not even that.  It's basically been vacant/residential around here, but it's slowly filling up with people and business, a lot of construction has been going on the last five years.

Although Hillary Clinton is our Senator, many in New York City have never been satisfied with her as a leader. I consider her a good, but not excellent, Senator, who represents me on most issues, but falls flat on some of the most important votes in the Senate. The New York political establishment is naturally sticking with Hillary...it could be political suicide to do otherwise for many of them. But regular citizens of NYC are leaning Obama in my experience.

This last week has been when I personally made up my mind to endorse Obama. Today the Brooklyn Papers have made the same decision.

I first met Norman Siegel in 2005 and was immediately impressed. He is one of the true Civil Liberties heroes in New York City. He is running again for Public Advocate of NYC in 2009, and unlike his previous runs, he is starting early and taking good advice. This could well be his real shot at representing the people of NYC after years of having no real advocate.

What struck me about him when I first met him was his sheer passion for his work, his vision, and his detailed knowlege of the nuts and bolts of the Public Advocate position. So often politicians come off as someone you might vote for because they're better than the next guy, but you don't really like them. I really liked Norm Siegel and like him even more the more I get to know him. I am helping to host a fundraiser January 6th in Brooklyn, NY, for his campaign for Public Advocate.

The Progressive Democrat Newsletter grew out of the frustration of the 2004 election. So I have bene doing this for three years. Having organized protests against the Republican Convention, I found I had a core of activists who needed some encouragement after Bush "won" re-"election". My carefully thought out suggestions as to where we could go from that defeat led to this more-or-less weekly newsletter. Since then I have tried mixing my own rants with national issues and some very local groups and events in an attempt to both help shape debate and to help people find their own ways of getting involved.

This week I discuss Bush's latest slashing of funds for first responders, give some suggestions for holiday shopping to match your values, the irrational Republican hatred for Muslims, and a special thank you for the Oregon Democratic Party. I also discuss the anniversary of the Bhopal disaster. I also do a roundup of local progressive events for places where I have had the most readers over the last couple of weeks. Don't forget to visit an advertiser or two and if you want more, please visit Culture Kitchen.

I went to Texas for the first time ever the weekend before Thanksgiving.  I wouldn't say I'm a well traveled person, but I have seen my share of the country.  I've done most of the Southeast, Vegas/Arizona, Seattle, and of course most of New England.  Every trip usually produced something different for me.  A new perspective on the country.  You could almost understand the culture of that area better by seeing it and experiencing it.

Okay you know I'm lying.  Tourism has actually killed the country.  Living in New York, I think it's safe to say that it's the largest disconnect - Hollywood has managed to build an image of the city that exists in reality only for the super rich (Sex in the City, you know who you are).  But as I see more and more of this great country, I feel as though I'm not seeing anything new.  Homogeny is the name of the game now.  Commercialism and capitalism rule the land.  Large corporations have dominated to the point where there are no more unique experiences, no more unique local products, no more tourist destinations that are any different.

The Progressive Democrat Newsletter grew out of the frustration of the 2004 election. So I have bene doing this almost exactly three years. Having organized protests against the Republican Convention, I found I had a core of activists who needed some encouragement after Bush "won" re-"election". My carefully thought out suggestions as to where we could go from that defeat led to this more-or-less weekly newsletter. Since then I have tried mixing my own rants with national issues and some very local groups and events in an attempt to both help shape debate and to help people find their own ways of getting involved.

This week I discuss Thanksgiving and a neat little way you can help feed people while building vocabulary. I also do a roundup of local progressive events for places where I have the most readers over the last couple of weeks. Don't forget to visit an advertiser or two and if you want more, please visit Culture Kitchen.

Here's my fax to Pelosi re: impeachment, sent Friday 11/15/07

This is a followup/reminder to a diary I posted yesterday. My main goal is to get  people VOTING in an important primary election. Too fre people vote in primary elections. Then they complain if the Democrats aren't representing them. The time to focus on which Democrats represent you is during a primary, for goodness sake. Particularly in a place where there are few seriously contested general elections and most elections are decided in the primary. And some elections go almost completely under the radar despite their importance. People complain about the judicial system, then they don't bother to vote in judicial elections.

Well, WE choose our judges and WE choose our Democratic candidates. If we vote. Today, TUESDAY SEPT. 18th is a PRIMARY ELECTION in NYC. I want to highlight some endorsements for the judicial elections today since. The expected voter turnout is abyssmal. Realize this: in such a low voter turnout election, every single vote counts. If you live in Brooklyn and are a Democrat, vote Tuesday or shut up about not liking the judicial system.

Too many people don't vote in primary elections. Then they complain if the Democrats aren't representing them. The time to focus on which Democrats represent you is during a primary, for goodness sake. Don't wait for the general. And some elections go almost completely under the radar despite their importance. People complain about the judicial system, then they don't bother to vote in judicial elections.

Well, WE choose our judges and WE choose our Democratic candidates. If we vote. TUESDAY SEPT. 18th is a PRIMARY ELECTION in NYC. What follows is a rundown of the three judicial races I know about with links to more info. The expected voter turnout is abyssmal. Realize this: in such a low voter turnout election, every single vote counts. If you live in Brooklyn and are a Democrat, vote Tuesday or shut up about not liking the judicial system. Read on for more info.

In an attempt to boost its ever growing and obscene amount of profits, Allstate is dropping like flies its Brooklyn customers who’ve faithfully paid their homeowner’s insurance premiums.

Are you kidding me?! Brooklyn as in . . . New York?!

Damian Young got the news last fall by mail: Allstate was dropping him, and he’d have to find another insurance company to get coverage for his brownstone. "[The letter] alluded to Hurricane Katrina and said they’re unable to carry the risk of living in coastal areas," says the actor. "I live in Park Slope. I was like, What? This doesn’t make sense!"  [Emphasis added.]
The Storm Before the Storm
New York Magazine

Park Slope is in Brooklyn, New York.  Dropping insurance coverage in Brooklyn because Katrina hit the Gulf Coast is only about dollars and cents.  The only sense this makes to me is nonsense.  

Cross-Posted from Take A Stand - My Home Blog - Please feel free to comment or bookmark over at my home blog, it's new.

There's only one thing better than seeing Barack Obama speak: Seeing him speak twice.  So yesterday I took off work and passed up a day's pay, grabbed my little white button, and headed out to New York city for a decidedly good day.

Barack spoke in NYC at the SEIU local union hall in Manhattan at 2pm, and then later at the Marriot in NYC at 5pm to a standing room only crowd of thousands at $25 a ticket.  I volunteered, and it was a wonderful experience.

More Details beneath the fold...

One day, sometime after the Iraq invasion, I was coming back into New York City on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, one of the major routes into the city if you want to go to Brooklyn or downtown Manhattan, and I saw facing the road a large billboard reading "Worst President Ever."  It was immediately a fixture in my life.  I went down to the street where it was in Williamsburg soon after and looked up at it.  It was actually pretty hard to see from the street- but it was perfect for the in-bound traffic on the highway.  No logo, no bla bla.com.  Just the words.  In the dark days of 2003 and 2004 it was like the new statue of liberty to me.  She'd always had her back to the city anyways, and then, after 9/11, you weren't even allowed to visit her anymore.  

The Progressive Democrat Newsletter grew out of the frustration of the 2004 election. After much pressure from readers, this email newsletter is now going the blog route. I update the blog once a week focusing on both national issues and issues of interest to particular regions or states. In general, NYC, California, New Jersey, Virginia and the Midwest get special attention simply because those are the areas where I seem to have the most readers.

This week I discuss the Democratic fumble in Congress, yet another example of Republican Corruption (in Kentucky), discuss American Muslims (something to shit our pants over or well-integrated and hard-working Americans) and present some interesting aspects of unemployment figures. If you visit my blog, PLEASE don't forget to click on an advertiser or two since that helps me keep the blog going. It really makes a difference! As usual I also highlight local events and organizations for several states. And, if you want more political and social discussions, please check out our offerings on Culture Kitchen.

Welcome to the Overnight News Digest.

A big thanks to Sidof79 who edited last night's digest and best wishes to him on his graduation day.

Top Stories

• A half-mile wide tornado destroyed Greensburg, Kansas, killed 9 people, and injured dozens of its residents. At least 90 percent of Greensburg was either destroyed or heavily damaged. Governor Kathleen Sebelius declared Kiowa County a disaster area.

• George W. Bush hit all-time approval low of 28 percent in a new Newsweek poll. "A majority of Americans believe Bush is not politically courageous: 55 percent vs. 40 percent. And nearly two out of three Americans (62 percent) believe his recent actions in Iraq show he is 'stubborn and unwilling to admit his mistakes'".

• Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson obliterated Sean Hannity at a University of Utah Debate on Impeachment.

It appears that the Dubai Ports deal is coming back to the forefront again, as described in Kangro X's front page story.  This whole thing shook me up last year as I had just moved into an apartment literally across the street from the ports in New York that were up for sale, namely the Brooklyn Shipping Dock along the Red Hook/Cobble Hill/Brooklyn Heights waterfront.  I live approximately here for those of you who are super curious.

This year, I'm not so worried.  Why?  Because something has happened since then that has pretty much guaranteed that this deal will not affect Brooklyn over the long period - within one to two years this deal will be moot.

Let me explain.