The Large Struggles Now

We stand with our all our neighbors and with the Constitution of the United States. Always will.

 

Turning Madness into Flowers – Alice Walker

It is my thought that the ugliness of war, of gratuitous violence in all its hideous forms, will cease very soon to appeal to even the most insulated of human beings. It will be seen by all for what it is: a threat to our well-being, to our survival as a species, and to our happiness. The brutal murder of our common mother, while we look on like frightened children, will become an unbearable visceral suffering that we will refuse to bear. We will abandon the way of the saw, the jackhammer and the drill.

Of bombs, too.

As religious philosophies that espouse or excuse violence reveal their true poverty of hope for humankind, there will be a great awakening, already begun, about what is of value in life.

We will turn our madness into flowers as a way of moving completely beyond all previous and current programming of how we must toe the familiar line of submission and fear, following orders given us by miserable souls who, somehow have managed to almost completely control us. We will discover something wonderful: that the world really does not enjoy following psychopaths, those who treat the earth our mother, as if she is wrong, and must be corrected, in as sadistic and domineering a way as that of a drunken husband who kills his wife.

The world – the animals, including us humans – wants to be engaged in something entirely other, seeing, and delighting in, the stark wonder of where we are: This place. This gift. This paradise.

We want to follow joy.

And we shall.

The madness, of course, for each one of us, will have to be sorted out.

Standing Statues made after 9/11 by Marte Valle Students (along with an exchange of dolls with a school in Afghanistan)

 

 

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Editing Reading/Viewing List on Rivington House and the Fight for Its Return

Easiest overview (though a bit dated) is a video put together by the Real Deal:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXrWxOUtyK0

Timeline for Rivington House re: Money trail:

http://www.thelodownny.com/leslog/2016/03/follow-the-money-mayor-struggles-to-explain-rivington-house-debacle.html 

Attorney General Schneiderman vs The Allure Group (purchasers of Riv. House):

Politico: http://www.politico.com/states/new-york/albany/story/2016/06/schneiderman-blocks-sale-of-two-nursing-homes-to-allure-group-102531 

Mayor and probe into Rivington House:

https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20160428/civic-center/heres-what-we-know-about-probe-into-mayor-bill-de-blasios-fundraising Edited compilation of the issues for the 

NYC Comptroller Stringer’s report:

NYT Editorial https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/02/opinion/how-did-a-nursing-home-become-a-luxury-condo.html?_r=0    

Comptroller’s Report: https://issuu.com/thelodown/docs/rivington_report_8-1-16 

City Council Hearing with Admin. officials 

WSJ https://www.wsj.com/articles/at-city-council-answers-elusive-on-rivington-house-deed-deal-1463184469  

CBS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0wuFQp3NDg

DOI investigation:

WSJ  https://www.wsj.com/articles/mayors-office-provides-rivington-documents-1469581660

Politico: http://www.politico.com/states/new-york/city-hall/story/2016/07/new-report-slams-de-blasio-administration-over-nursing-home-deal-103847

False Claims Act:

Squadron Quizzes Mayor About City’s Unwillingness to Sue Former Rivington House Owner Most recent challenge presented by Sen. Squadron on using the False Claims Act.

If Facebook, Neighbors2Save Rivington House has a page that will give you all the articles since they began posting (more than you’d ever want!).

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NY State Senator Squadron Fighting for Rivington House

Squadron Quizzes Mayor About City’s Unwillingness to Sue Former Rivington House Owner

“The mayor has personally blamed the real estate developers at the center of the scandal — accusing them of hoodwinking the city administration into dropping deed restrictions on the former nursing home. Based on the mayor’s public statements, Squadron said the former owner, the Allure Group, should be sued under the False Claims Act.”

Squadron said, “Frankly it leads to questions when (officials) at the highest levels of the administration (are) accusing (the developers) of misleading (the city). “To just be told, ‘we agree but we can’t,’ is not sufficient for a community that is still smarting from the loss of a healthcare facility.”

Appreciations to the Lo-Down for their original, breaking, and full coverage of Rivington House.

“Appreciations to Senator Squadron who had the guts to call out the mayor on the lack of forceful push back on Rivington House by this Administration. He did it respectfully and with (correct) appreciations for what the Mayor has done to benefit our communities. Squadron is looking for a way to make a statement loud and clear that we don’t just turn tail and say we failed when someone has deliberately hurt and misled the public for private gain. Especially when that public may literally have no voice to fight on their own behalf. We must fight with and for them. We push back. We make common cause for the right reasons and we call our own ‘side’ to account. Sometimes you just have to say no, no further. Or we get what we are seeing now with policies that would undermine our foundational purpose in creating this (imperfect) attempt at real democracy. Again, our thanks to the Senator.” Neighbors to Save Rivington House

 

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