Cheater (Re: Bloomberg.)

I took the union workers' Bloomberg flyers and threw them in the trash next to a pretty Naked juice bottle. And while in the grand scheme of things, I probably didn't do much, I was still able to demonstrate to the union workers that it doesn't take much to disobey orders and make a political statement at the same time.

Also, I was able to take this pretty picture of Bloomberg being in the trash. Immature, obnoxious, annoying? Yeah, maybe. But definitely conscious, which I think above all, is more important.



The image above demonstrate Bloomberg's sneaky tactics to hoard more votes (much like Obama's "working families" and Democrat options). When you have billions of dollars, you can do stuff like that. Thompson and Bloomberg's two name listings were to the farthest left, which, in this country, we read beginning at the left side, while socialist candidates were all to the far right. Perhaps this is the order of voting booths, to stick Democrats and Republicans first, but really? How fair is that? And of course, if you read my earlier post, Frances' name didn't even appear at some voting booths. Please, don't try to convince me that it was just an accident. They wouldn't have made that same mistake with Thompson or Bloomberg.

My vote for Frances!

Frances Villar came in with over 3,500 votes, which is the most any socialist mayoral candidate has gotten since the early 1980s. The work, outreach, political message was well worth it. The working class will awaken and when we become conscious, our movement will be unstoppable, because we are the nuts and bolts of this country. There's just too many of us, and too little of them.

Our bank accounts may have smaller numbers, but our shit doesn't stink any less than Bloomberg's (and with the way he is aging, I'm sure we eat more beautiful-er than him :) ). Our passion for life and living could never be outshined by dollar signs.

Congratulations to the PSL for a job well done, and I am honored to have been a volunteer in your movement.

A Democratic Right.

Frances Villar, 2009 NYC Mayoral Candidate, and the Party for Socialism & Liberation, standing in solidarity with LGBT peeps at this year's PRIDE Parade.

I was a bit behind on my emails, but today when I caught up I found this newsletter from the PSL, who has been working their tails off on Frances Villar's mayoral campaign. Apparently, she didn't show up on the ballot in a few spots.

Here's what the e-newsletter said:

"Don’t let them steal our vote!

Vote Frances Villar!
Socialism and Liberation

In a massive effort, tens of thousands of Frances Villar flyers demanding “Put Poor and Working People First!” are going out across the city. Volunteers across the poorest neighborhoods of the city are reporting a good response with people excited to vote for a candidate who will stand up to the city’s billionaires.

The Frances Villar for Mayor campaign has received several reports of going to the polls and receiving ballots that did not have Frances’s name! If you encounter any difficulty, please send a report with all details, including the polling place, to nyc@VotePSL.org or call 212-694-8762.

A voter from the Bronx reported, "It was around 7:50 am when I went to vote at the 143rd St Community Center and there was a "problem" with the polls: Frances's name wasn't there. After I protested about her name not being on the ballot, they told me, 'she probably didn't make it on.' I knew that was wrong and kept telling them that Frances is supposed to be on the ballot. Finally, they got out the paper ballots -- and her name was there."

“The attempt to try to silence the voice of poor and working people is a crime and a slap in the face of democracy,” charged PSL campaign co-coordinator Yenica Cortes. “We will challenge any attempt to commit fraud against us in the courts and in the streets.”

PSL volunteers collected 14,000 signatures in two weeks in July, more than twice the number required to get on the ballot. The France Villar campaign was the first independent candidate to file petitions, and is supposed to appear on Column F, immediately after the parties registered in New York State.

“The billionaires and ruling elite in this city might try to silence me, but it won’t work,” France Villar said. “This campaign is about fighting back.”

Call the New York City Board of Elections (212) 487-2170 and tell them that we will not allow this fraud to go unchallenged.

There is still time to vote! Don’t let them silence our voice!

Vote Frances Villar * Socialism and Liberation"

Regardless of whether or not you support the socialist cause is aside from the issue. This country is a Democratic Republic, meaning that it is run by a government that is for and by the people. If a legitimate mayoral candidate is shut out of the debates and not showing up on ballots, how can this country be called a democracy? The point is is that it is not. If you want to run as a politician, your bank account, race, class, and gender matter. Hence all the old rich, white men who run for office and win.

Last night I bumped into more Union workers (it was a wood-worker's union) who were handing out Bloomberg flyers even though they definitely did not support him. Again, I took their flyers for them and threw them in the trash. I'm seeing more and more of a "cool" callousness and carelessness in our community that is widespread and dangerous - if you are only concerned with your everyday life and not much outside that circle, what role will you play in society? Some people say, "Oh, I don't vote." Whether they realize it or not, their inaction becomes a part of a mass movement of inaction across the country. If we can only extend our consciousness to what is in our world and with only the people who we care about in it, and we don't recognize and respect the existence and quality of life of others, then who will stand up for us when a crisis reaches our front door?

I am proud that I pulled the lever for Frances. It feels good on my conscience that I voted for an alternative who will stand up to bankers and billionaires and represent the true working class of New York City. When people ask me why I voted for Frances, I know exactly what to tell them, and it won't be, "Oh well, I voted for the lesser of two evils."

Here are a few slideshows from the mayoral campaign:
Frances Villar for Mayor, at Grand Concourse, Bronx:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/vanissa/sets/72157619413761866/show

Frances Villar for Mayor, at Fulton Street Mall, Brooklyn:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/vanissa/sets/72157620805377370/show

Frances Villar for Mayor, at the PRIDE Parade, slideshow: http://www.flickr.com/photos/vanissa/sets/72157620677609581/show

Frances Villar for NYC Mayor!

Frances' two adorable babies, Justin and Jana.

Jana posing with my keffiyah.

Danny ripping up an LGBT supports Bloomberg sign, because we know conscious LGBT peeps know Bloomberg's a wormy little bastard.

Frances posing with Danny at NYC PRIDE, 2009.

Frances speaking at a PSL Socialism Conference in DC.

To counter my Bloomberg post, I thought I'd go ahead and talk about PSL (Party for Socialism & Liberation)'s mayoral candidate, Frances Villar. Frances is an Afro-Latina from the Bronx who is a young, single mother of two beautiful children, a student, and a community activist who stands up against Obama's wars, stands in solidarity with Palestine, Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia, Honduras, and the rest of the international working class. She rejects capitalism, colonial-type wars, zionism, and evil private corporations that like to suck dry natural resources of our country and others while profiting off of them. Basically, she kicks ass.

You can read/find out more about Frances at: http://www.votepsl.org.

I had the honorable opportunity to photograph her over the summer and help collect signatures for the campaign, so I'll post a few photos that I took. Also, when you go into vote on November 3rd, be sure to check the ballot for her name, and if you're a supporter, go ahead and vote for her. NYC Councilman Charles Baron (who I have also had the privilege of photographing) supports Frances, and so do I!

Bloomberg in Bay Ridge

So a few weeks ago, Bloomberg appeared in my neighborhood. I was literally in the middle of doing my laundry when I noticed that we had a street fair here in Bay Ridge.

So, I was like, "Eh, whatever..we have street fairs all the time," and then I saw like a swarm of people around one person, and then I saw his face, and literally, my stomach turned.

He had a distasteful yellow shirt on, and a dinosaur for a face..yes, it was indeed, our billionaire of a mayor who has nothing in common with the people of NYC, who continues to serve the interests of the rich, and the Zionists, who went to fxxking Israel after the attacks on Gaza a year ago to defend Israel, whose mayoral control of the public schools has suffocated both students and teachers, forcing our hands to prep kids for culturally-specific exams, and setting us all up for failure..but oh look, what great colors he chose for his campaign...Let me, the responsible American, go vote for him because his team put together such great color schemes and not at all be aware of what he really does for NYC and it's people...Yes, I'm a bit angry and bitter.

So, when I saw him, I had mixed feelings..should I grab my camera or not? I figured I'd take the opportunity, so I went back home and grabbed my camera.

I held onto these photos because I wasn't sure what to do with them, because it's pretty obvious how much I hate Bloomberg.

So, I thought I'd just attach my opinion to them, just to make sure people know how I feel.

Bloomberg = Asshole (Zionist Pig)

View set: http://www.flickr.com/photos/vanissa/sets/72157622523506917/