TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3 POLLS OPEN FROM 6 A.M. TO 9 P.M.
EVERY FOUR YEARS IN NYC there are elections for city offices. This Voter Guide covers the races for mayor, public advocate, comptroller, borough president, and City Council. It provides you with profiles of the candidates running for these offices so you can compare them and make an informed decision when you vote. Other offices not covered by this Voter Guide, such as district attorney and judge, may also be on the ballot on November 3rd. Check the Board of Elections’ website to find out about all the offices that will appear on the ballot. For more information about judicial races read the online judicial voter guide published by the Judicial Campaign Ethics Center of the New York State Unified Court System.
You can find out more about candidates for mayor, public advocate, and comptroller by watching them debate. You can also watch video statements taped by the candidates for all five offices in the city’s Video Voter Guide, which will begin airing on October 26th. You can launch each candidate's video from their profile in this Guide starting October 26 as well.
--or visit www.nyccfb.info/voterguide
-davidsamuels@gmail.com
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Saturday, October 31, 2009
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Obama Girls Get Swine Flu Shots
By Sheryl Gay Stolberg
October 27, 2009, 1:43 pm
The Obama daughters, Malia and Sasha, have gotten their swine flu shots.
The White House has been flooded with questions about whether the First Family has been vaccinated against H1N1, the swine flu virus. The administration posted the answer on its Web site Tuesday: President Obama and his wife Michelle will “wait until the needs of the priority groups” –- including young people under 24, pregnant women and people with underlying illnesses –- have been vaccinated. But Malia, 11, and Sasha, 8, fall within the priority groups, and they received their injections last week from the White House doctor, who applied for the vaccine through the District of Columbia Department of Health “using the same process as every other vaccination site in the District.’’
Dena Iverson, a spokeswoman for the District of Columbia Health Department, says that while there are lines at the District’s vaccination clinics, no one who is in a priority group has been turned away.
The vaccinations are bound to raise questions about whether the Obama girls were given special treatment. The administration is grappling with questions about why the vaccine is not more readily available. Officials, including the secretary of heath and human services, Kathleen Sebelius, say the holdup is with the manufacturers, whose production process has been slower than anticipated.
But at the same time, the White House may be trying to set a positive example amid concerns about the vaccine’s safety. Sharing the news that the president has allowed his own daughters to receive the shots could assuage the fears of ordinary Americans who are wondering whether or not to get vaccinated. nytimes.com
-http://davidsradiotv2000.blogspot.com
October 27, 2009, 1:43 pm
The Obama daughters, Malia and Sasha, have gotten their swine flu shots.
The White House has been flooded with questions about whether the First Family has been vaccinated against H1N1, the swine flu virus. The administration posted the answer on its Web site Tuesday: President Obama and his wife Michelle will “wait until the needs of the priority groups” –- including young people under 24, pregnant women and people with underlying illnesses –- have been vaccinated. But Malia, 11, and Sasha, 8, fall within the priority groups, and they received their injections last week from the White House doctor, who applied for the vaccine through the District of Columbia Department of Health “using the same process as every other vaccination site in the District.’’
Dena Iverson, a spokeswoman for the District of Columbia Health Department, says that while there are lines at the District’s vaccination clinics, no one who is in a priority group has been turned away.
The vaccinations are bound to raise questions about whether the Obama girls were given special treatment. The administration is grappling with questions about why the vaccine is not more readily available. Officials, including the secretary of heath and human services, Kathleen Sebelius, say the holdup is with the manufacturers, whose production process has been slower than anticipated.
But at the same time, the White House may be trying to set a positive example amid concerns about the vaccine’s safety. Sharing the news that the president has allowed his own daughters to receive the shots could assuage the fears of ordinary Americans who are wondering whether or not to get vaccinated. nytimes.com
-http://davidsradiotv2000.blogspot.com
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
U.S. to Order Steep Pay Cuts at Firms That Got Most Aid
By STEPHEN LABATON
Published: October 21, 2009
WASHINGTON — Responding to the growing furor over the paychecks of executives at companies that received billions of dollars in federal bailouts, the Obama administration will order the companies that received the most aid to deeply slash the compensation to their highest paid executives, an official involved in the decision said on Wednesday.
Kenneth R. Feinberg, the Treasury Department's special appointee for executive compensation, spoke yesterday in Washington.
Under the plan, which will be announced in the next few days by the Treasury Department, the seven companies that received the most assistance will have to cut the cash payouts to their 25 best-paid executives by an average of about 90 percent from last year. For many of the executives, the cash they would have received will be replaced by stock that they will be restricted from selling immediately.
And for all executives the total compensation, which includes bonuses, will drop, on average, by about 50 percent.
The companies are Citigroup, Bank of America, the American International Group, General Motors, Chrysler and the financing arms of the two automakers.
At the financial products division of A.I.G., the locus of problems that plagued the large insurer and forced its rescue with more than $180 billion in taxpayer assistance, no top executive will receive more than $200,000 in total compensation, a stunning decline from previous years in which the unit produced many wealthy executives and traders.
In contrast to previous years, an official said, executives in the financial products division will receive no other compensation, like stocks or stock options.
And at all of the companies, any executive seeking more than $25,000 in special perks — like country club memberships, private planes, limousines or company issued cars — will have to apply to the government for permission. The administration will also warn A.I.G. that it must fulfill a commitment it made to significantly reduce the $198 million in bonuses promised to employees in the financial products division.
The pay restrictions illustrate the humbling downfall of the once-proud giants, now wards of the state whose leaders’ compensation is being set by a Washington paymaster. They also show how Washington in the last year has become increasingly powerful in setting corporate policies as more companies turned to the government for money to survive.
The compensation schedules set by Kenneth R. Feinberg, the special master at Treasury handling compensation issues, comes as many other banks that received smaller but significant taxpayer assistance in the last year have been reporting huge year-end bonuses, setting off a new round of recrimination in Washington about the bailout of Wall Street.
Since his appointment last June by Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner, Mr. Feinberg has spent months in negotiations with the companies as he seeks to balance compensation concerns against fears at the companies that any huge restrictions in pay could prompt an exodus of executives. Under a law adopted earlier this year, the Treasury Department was instructed to examine the salaries and bonuses for the five most-senior executives and their 20 most highly paid employees at companies that have received extraordinary assistance.
Mr. Feinberg has already achieved significant results at several companies. As a result of his discussions, Kenneth D. Lewis, the head of Bank of America who recently resigned, agreed to forgo his salary and bonus for 2009. (He will still receive a pension of $53.2 million, although Mr. Feinberg can issue an advisory opinion challenging it that would carry political weight.) And fearful of a political backlash over the pay of Andrew J. Hall, a successful energy trader who received nearly $100 million last year, Citigroup agreed two weeks ago to sell its Phibro unit that Mr. Hall heads to Occidental Petroleum.---N.Y.Times-
Published: October 21, 2009
WASHINGTON — Responding to the growing furor over the paychecks of executives at companies that received billions of dollars in federal bailouts, the Obama administration will order the companies that received the most aid to deeply slash the compensation to their highest paid executives, an official involved in the decision said on Wednesday.
Kenneth R. Feinberg, the Treasury Department's special appointee for executive compensation, spoke yesterday in Washington.
Under the plan, which will be announced in the next few days by the Treasury Department, the seven companies that received the most assistance will have to cut the cash payouts to their 25 best-paid executives by an average of about 90 percent from last year. For many of the executives, the cash they would have received will be replaced by stock that they will be restricted from selling immediately.
And for all executives the total compensation, which includes bonuses, will drop, on average, by about 50 percent.
The companies are Citigroup, Bank of America, the American International Group, General Motors, Chrysler and the financing arms of the two automakers.
At the financial products division of A.I.G., the locus of problems that plagued the large insurer and forced its rescue with more than $180 billion in taxpayer assistance, no top executive will receive more than $200,000 in total compensation, a stunning decline from previous years in which the unit produced many wealthy executives and traders.
In contrast to previous years, an official said, executives in the financial products division will receive no other compensation, like stocks or stock options.
And at all of the companies, any executive seeking more than $25,000 in special perks — like country club memberships, private planes, limousines or company issued cars — will have to apply to the government for permission. The administration will also warn A.I.G. that it must fulfill a commitment it made to significantly reduce the $198 million in bonuses promised to employees in the financial products division.
The pay restrictions illustrate the humbling downfall of the once-proud giants, now wards of the state whose leaders’ compensation is being set by a Washington paymaster. They also show how Washington in the last year has become increasingly powerful in setting corporate policies as more companies turned to the government for money to survive.
The compensation schedules set by Kenneth R. Feinberg, the special master at Treasury handling compensation issues, comes as many other banks that received smaller but significant taxpayer assistance in the last year have been reporting huge year-end bonuses, setting off a new round of recrimination in Washington about the bailout of Wall Street.
Since his appointment last June by Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner, Mr. Feinberg has spent months in negotiations with the companies as he seeks to balance compensation concerns against fears at the companies that any huge restrictions in pay could prompt an exodus of executives. Under a law adopted earlier this year, the Treasury Department was instructed to examine the salaries and bonuses for the five most-senior executives and their 20 most highly paid employees at companies that have received extraordinary assistance.
Mr. Feinberg has already achieved significant results at several companies. As a result of his discussions, Kenneth D. Lewis, the head of Bank of America who recently resigned, agreed to forgo his salary and bonus for 2009. (He will still receive a pension of $53.2 million, although Mr. Feinberg can issue an advisory opinion challenging it that would carry political weight.) And fearful of a political backlash over the pay of Andrew J. Hall, a successful energy trader who received nearly $100 million last year, Citigroup agreed two weeks ago to sell its Phibro unit that Mr. Hall heads to Occidental Petroleum.---N.Y.Times-
Thursday, October 15, 2009
6 construction companies accused of using race-based pay scale: whites at top, Latinos rock bottom
By Brian Kates
Updated Thursday, October 15th 2009, 2:05 PM
Six construction companies are accused in a new state lawsuit of paying their employees according to their race - with whites at the top and Latinos at the bottom.
The suit filed by state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo on Thursday says the companies cheated lower-paid minority workers out of $4 million in wages and overtime.
All six firms are controlled by Michael Mahoney, a contractor exposed by the Daily News last year after workers said his companies provided them with black market federal safety certificates.
Mahoney's companies paid white workers an average hourly rate of $25, while paying African-Americans $18 and Latinos and Brazilians only $15 an hour for the same work, the suit charges.
Since 2002, the companies short-changed dozens of employes at at least 10 construction sites, Cuomo charged.
Some workers were cheated of as much as $600 a month, according to Cuomo.
The companies named in the suit include: EMC of New York Inc.; FSC Construction LLC FSC General Construction LLC; BMC Construction Contractors Corp.; Eastlake Industries, Inc., and Rigid Concrete Construction.
They all worked on New York City jobs, Cuomo said.
"To discriminate against workers based on race or ethnicity and to deny them wages...is a gross violation of the law and a disgraceful abuse of power," Cuomo said.
He said the lawsuit "should send a message to in New York - you play by the rules or face legal consequences."
Mahoney could not be reached immediately for comment. Last year, workers at several Mahoney sites told the News that they had been provided with false Occupational Safety and Health Administration certificates indicating that they had received safety training when they had not.
The workers said they received the cards, required in the city for high-rise construction, from supervisors on the job, including Mahoney's brother, Timmy Mahoney.
Both brothers denied any involvement in the issuing of black market OSHA cards.
At one point, Michael Mahoney tried to rip a camera from a News photogrpher covering the story.
One of the workers who said he was issued a bogus OSHA certificate, told the News that he and other Brazilian workers were bussed daily to Mahoney job sites from the Ironbound section of Newark and were paid less than non-minority workers.
Union investigators had been investigating wage irregularities in Manhoney's companies for several years.
Several of Mahoney's job sites have been picketed by members of the District Council of Carpenters, who erected a giant inflatible rat at some of them to protest the use of non-union labor. Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2009/10/15/2009-10-15_6_constructions_companies_accused_of_paying.html#ixzz0U0Jj1ZX9
Updated Thursday, October 15th 2009, 2:05 PM
Six construction companies are accused in a new state lawsuit of paying their employees according to their race - with whites at the top and Latinos at the bottom.
The suit filed by state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo on Thursday says the companies cheated lower-paid minority workers out of $4 million in wages and overtime.
All six firms are controlled by Michael Mahoney, a contractor exposed by the Daily News last year after workers said his companies provided them with black market federal safety certificates.
Mahoney's companies paid white workers an average hourly rate of $25, while paying African-Americans $18 and Latinos and Brazilians only $15 an hour for the same work, the suit charges.
Since 2002, the companies short-changed dozens of employes at at least 10 construction sites, Cuomo charged.
Some workers were cheated of as much as $600 a month, according to Cuomo.
The companies named in the suit include: EMC of New York Inc.; FSC Construction LLC FSC General Construction LLC; BMC Construction Contractors Corp.; Eastlake Industries, Inc., and Rigid Concrete Construction.
They all worked on New York City jobs, Cuomo said.
"To discriminate against workers based on race or ethnicity and to deny them wages...is a gross violation of the law and a disgraceful abuse of power," Cuomo said.
He said the lawsuit "should send a message to in New York - you play by the rules or face legal consequences."
Mahoney could not be reached immediately for comment. Last year, workers at several Mahoney sites told the News that they had been provided with false Occupational Safety and Health Administration certificates indicating that they had received safety training when they had not.
The workers said they received the cards, required in the city for high-rise construction, from supervisors on the job, including Mahoney's brother, Timmy Mahoney.
Both brothers denied any involvement in the issuing of black market OSHA cards.
At one point, Michael Mahoney tried to rip a camera from a News photogrpher covering the story.
One of the workers who said he was issued a bogus OSHA certificate, told the News that he and other Brazilian workers were bussed daily to Mahoney job sites from the Ironbound section of Newark and were paid less than non-minority workers.
Union investigators had been investigating wage irregularities in Manhoney's companies for several years.
Several of Mahoney's job sites have been picketed by members of the District Council of Carpenters, who erected a giant inflatible rat at some of them to protest the use of non-union labor. Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2009/10/15/2009-10-15_6_constructions_companies_accused_of_paying.html#ixzz0U0Jj1ZX9
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Senate Panel Clears Health Bill With One G.O.P. Vote
By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN and ROBERT PEAR
Published: October 13, 2009
WASHINGTON — The Senate Finance Committee voted on Tuesday to approve legislation that would reshape the American health care system and provide subsidies to help millions of people buy insurance, as Senator Olympia J. Snowe, Republican of Maine, joined all 13 Democrats on the panel in support of the landmark bill.
The vote was 14 to 9, with all of the other Republicans opposed.
Democrats, including President Obama, had courted Ms. Snowe’s vote, hoping that she would break with the Republican Party leadership and provide at least a veneer of bipartisanship to the bill, which Mr. Obama has declared his top domestic priority. Ms. Snowe was a main author of the bill but she had never committed to voting for it.
But shortly after 1 p.m., she announced that she was on board, in a speech that silenced the packed committee room and riveted colleagues on both sides of the dais.
“Is this bill all that I would want?” Ms. Snowe asked. “Far from it. Is it all that it can be? No. But when history calls, history calls. And I happen to think that the consequences of inaction dictate the urgency of Congress to take every opportunity to demonstrate its capacity to solve the monumental issues of our time.”
--Related Story at---http://harlemvoiceblogs.blogspot.com
Published: October 13, 2009
WASHINGTON — The Senate Finance Committee voted on Tuesday to approve legislation that would reshape the American health care system and provide subsidies to help millions of people buy insurance, as Senator Olympia J. Snowe, Republican of Maine, joined all 13 Democrats on the panel in support of the landmark bill.
The vote was 14 to 9, with all of the other Republicans opposed.
Democrats, including President Obama, had courted Ms. Snowe’s vote, hoping that she would break with the Republican Party leadership and provide at least a veneer of bipartisanship to the bill, which Mr. Obama has declared his top domestic priority. Ms. Snowe was a main author of the bill but she had never committed to voting for it.
But shortly after 1 p.m., she announced that she was on board, in a speech that silenced the packed committee room and riveted colleagues on both sides of the dais.
“Is this bill all that I would want?” Ms. Snowe asked. “Far from it. Is it all that it can be? No. But when history calls, history calls. And I happen to think that the consequences of inaction dictate the urgency of Congress to take every opportunity to demonstrate its capacity to solve the monumental issues of our time.”
--Related Story at---http://harlemvoiceblogs.blogspot.com
Friday, October 02, 2009
Diabetes and the Flu: 6 Things You Should Know
By January W. Payne
Posted October 2, 2009
If you have diabetes, it's wise to take steps to protect yourself from both regular flu and H1N1, or swine flu, experts say, since you're more at risk for complications of the flu than people in other groups. Simply being sick at all, with a cold or the flu, can increase your blood glucose, and it may keep you from eating regularly, which also affects your blood sugar, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
If you're diagnosed with flu, it's very important to check blood sugar readings several times a day, says Debby Johnson, a diabetes educator and nutrition coach with Fit4D, an online personalized fitness and nutritional coaching service for people with diabetes. "Feeling tired from the flu can mask symptoms of low blood glucose and high blood glucose," she warns.
Diabetics' immune systems are more susceptible to severe cases of the flu, so you may get very sick or even have to be hospitalized, reports the CDC. The agency recommends that all diabetics get a seasonal flu shot between October and mid-November. As for the H1N1 vaccine, expected to be available soon, everyone between the ages of 6 months and 24 years—regardless of pre-existing medical conditions—should get the shot. People ages 25 through 64 who have diabetes or other medical conditions tied to a higher risk of complications from the flu also should be vaccinated, health officials say.
Since you can still get sick even if you do get vaccinated—albeit usually with a milder form of the illness—here are five other things diabetics should keep in mind if they get the seasonal flu or H1N1:
Check the label before taking any over-the-counter medication. Some OTC medicines, particularly cough syrups, contain sugar, which can affect blood glucose level
. "It's okay that a diabetic takes OTC medications, but whether they're sick or not, they should always be aware of the sugar content," says Marc Wolf, a pharmacist and CEO of Diabetic Care Services Inc., a Cleveland-based company that sells diabetes testing supplies. "The pharmacist can recommend medicine that has low sugar content or none at all."
Stay hydrated and eat regularly. When you're sick, it's important to drink extra calorie-free liquids and to try to eat regularly, according to the CDC. If your stomach is upset, try to consume soft foods or drinks that contain similar carbohydrate levels as you'd normally take in. And if you're not able to do this, talk to your doctor about adjusting your diabetes medication. If you have the flu and can't keep food down, that can affect the amount of medication that you should take; too much or too little can send blood sugar levels spiraling too high or too low, Johnson says.
Know when it's time to call the doctor. Diabetics who are too sick to eat or keep food down for more than six hours should call the doctor or go to the emergency room, the CDC advises. The same goes for those who are having trouble breathing or who have severe diarrhea, lose 5 pounds or more, have a temperature over 101 degrees, or have a blood glucose level lower than 60 mg/dL or over 300 mg/dL. And any signs of confusion or excessive sleepiness should prompt an immediate visit to a doctor's office or emergency room, Wolf says.
Weigh yourself daily. Weight loss without effort can be a sign of blood sugar that is too high.
Don't forget about the routine recommendations to reduce the spread of illness. Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you sneeze or cough and throw the tissue away. Wash your hands with soap and water; keep hand sanitizer close (and use it); and try not to touch your nose, eyes, or mouth to reduce the spread of germs. Finally, if you do get sick, stay home to avoid spreading germs to others.
--From U.S.News&world report-Health
-http://davidsradiotv2000.blogspot.com/
Posted October 2, 2009
If you have diabetes, it's wise to take steps to protect yourself from both regular flu and H1N1, or swine flu, experts say, since you're more at risk for complications of the flu than people in other groups. Simply being sick at all, with a cold or the flu, can increase your blood glucose, and it may keep you from eating regularly, which also affects your blood sugar, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
If you're diagnosed with flu, it's very important to check blood sugar readings several times a day, says Debby Johnson, a diabetes educator and nutrition coach with Fit4D, an online personalized fitness and nutritional coaching service for people with diabetes. "Feeling tired from the flu can mask symptoms of low blood glucose and high blood glucose," she warns.
Diabetics' immune systems are more susceptible to severe cases of the flu, so you may get very sick or even have to be hospitalized, reports the CDC. The agency recommends that all diabetics get a seasonal flu shot between October and mid-November. As for the H1N1 vaccine, expected to be available soon, everyone between the ages of 6 months and 24 years—regardless of pre-existing medical conditions—should get the shot. People ages 25 through 64 who have diabetes or other medical conditions tied to a higher risk of complications from the flu also should be vaccinated, health officials say.
Since you can still get sick even if you do get vaccinated—albeit usually with a milder form of the illness—here are five other things diabetics should keep in mind if they get the seasonal flu or H1N1:
Check the label before taking any over-the-counter medication. Some OTC medicines, particularly cough syrups, contain sugar, which can affect blood glucose level
. "It's okay that a diabetic takes OTC medications, but whether they're sick or not, they should always be aware of the sugar content," says Marc Wolf, a pharmacist and CEO of Diabetic Care Services Inc., a Cleveland-based company that sells diabetes testing supplies. "The pharmacist can recommend medicine that has low sugar content or none at all."
Stay hydrated and eat regularly. When you're sick, it's important to drink extra calorie-free liquids and to try to eat regularly, according to the CDC. If your stomach is upset, try to consume soft foods or drinks that contain similar carbohydrate levels as you'd normally take in. And if you're not able to do this, talk to your doctor about adjusting your diabetes medication. If you have the flu and can't keep food down, that can affect the amount of medication that you should take; too much or too little can send blood sugar levels spiraling too high or too low, Johnson says.
Know when it's time to call the doctor. Diabetics who are too sick to eat or keep food down for more than six hours should call the doctor or go to the emergency room, the CDC advises. The same goes for those who are having trouble breathing or who have severe diarrhea, lose 5 pounds or more, have a temperature over 101 degrees, or have a blood glucose level lower than 60 mg/dL or over 300 mg/dL. And any signs of confusion or excessive sleepiness should prompt an immediate visit to a doctor's office or emergency room, Wolf says.
Weigh yourself daily. Weight loss without effort can be a sign of blood sugar that is too high.
Don't forget about the routine recommendations to reduce the spread of illness. Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you sneeze or cough and throw the tissue away. Wash your hands with soap and water; keep hand sanitizer close (and use it); and try not to touch your nose, eyes, or mouth to reduce the spread of germs. Finally, if you do get sick, stay home to avoid spreading germs to others.
--From U.S.News&world report-Health
-http://davidsradiotv2000.blogspot.com/
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