A jazz bass player from the Bronx pleaded guilty this week to having the inclination to teach hand-to-hand combat skills to Islamic extremists. Tarik Shah, whose childhood influence was Cannonball Adderly, will be going to prison for 15 years for disclosing his secret desire to help terrorists to an FBI undercover agent after being set up by a prison stool pigeon. [NYT, April 5] Mr. Shah did not actually teach any martial arts skills to any jihadists, nor did he provide any material support for their cause, although he claims to have tried to attend a training camp in Afghanistan. He is simply a jazz musician with an attitude who got caught up in a witch hunt. Since when does anyone listen to what musicians have to say anyway? Is Tarik Shah going into the slammer to keep some US soldier from a potential karate chop or just because, failing to crack the real al-Qaida network, the US Government needs to find someone to investigate and imprison?

The NYPD April 2 defended its surveillance of political activists before the 2004 Republican National Convention (RNC). The NYPD statement admitted "detectives collected information both in-state and out-of-state to learn in advance what was coming our way," but said the intention was to stop terrorists. The New York Times says still-secret NYPD reports show police went undercover sometimes posing as activists themselves, even made friends with protestors. "People are not going to want to go to demonstrate if they know big brother is in there with them, organizing the protest, watching them, whatever it may be," charged Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU).

Sarah Ferguson writes for the Village Voice, March 31:

Friday night's Critical Mass bike ride was played as a First Amendment "showdown" over the NYPD's new parade rule, which requires groups of 50 or more to get a permit to be on the streets.

From the New York Post, Nov. 3:

Ground Zero's "Angel" Nun Dies
An Episcopal nun who spent five months blessing remains at the World Trade Center died this week and has been granted her dying wish - to be autopsied to prove her lung disease was caused by toxins she inhaled.

A small tentative step in the right direction—a little counter-vortex against the general downward spiral of global civilization towards ecological hell, permanent war and petrochemical totalitarianism. From amNewYork, Sept. 13:

City puts forth ambitious bike plan

After a series of high-profile bicycle rider deaths this summer, the city Tuesday unveiled its most ambitious plan ever to improve cyclist safety and access across the five boroughs.

Sarah Ferguson writes for the Village Voice, Sept. 12:

Conspiracy Types Lecture Regular Folks at Ground Zero
The fifth anniversary of 9-11 brought more sorrow and anguish to New York, but also more questioning of the official narrative of the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon.

The latest in Bush's 9-11 exploitation propaganda blitz. This is especially perverse given how the first responders have been shamelessly screwed by the federal government. The trick for New York activists is to find some way to protest this without seeming to disrespect the first responders (and to avoid the egregious errors of some of last Sept. 11's protests). From the Daily News, Sept. 8:

It is a truly appalling spectacle to watch former EPA administrator Christine Todd Whitman and New York City officials pass the buck for the deadly 9-11 health fallout back and forth like a shuttlecock. Whitman said in a "60 Minutes" interview to be aired this weekend that the EPA did not have authority over the Ground Zero site, and claimed she provided an accurate assessment of the air quality following the attacks. She distinguished between the air in lower Manhattan, which was considered safe, and the air at Ground Zero, which was not. "The readings [in lower Manhattan] were showing us that there was nothing that gave us any concern about long-term health implications," she said. "That was different from on the pile itself, at ground zero. There, we always said consistently, 'You've got to wear protective gear.'" (AP, Sept. 8)