apathy stew

herald square

2012-01-11T22:26:00.000-05:00

friends

2012-01-11T22:14:00.000-05:00

new year's meow

2011-12-31T22:08:00.000-05:00

downtown looking up

2011-12-23T20:44:00.000-05:00

Watching

2011-12-07T11:07:00.001-05:00

Dominican coffee

2011-11-17T10:07:00.000-05:00

infrared franklin

2011-11-08T10:21:00.001-05:00

wondertwins activate

2011-11-01T20:53:00.001-04:00

careful

2011-11-01T11:27:00.001-04:00

happy halloween

2011-10-31T11:07:00.000-04:00

rainbow in the dark

2011-10-26T06:21:00.001-04:00

relaxing

2011-10-26T06:20:00.001-04:00

rapture psa

2011-10-26T06:18:00.000-04:00

power pack

2011-10-26T06:17:00.000-04:00

done dieting

2011-10-21T19:56:00.000-04:00

Calling it a day. Metaphorically

I am the 99%

2011-10-14T12:37:00.003-04:00

A handful of friends and even more strangers have criticized the Occupy Wall Street protesters because of a perceived laziness or their inability to "suck it up and get whatever job they can." More criticism follows the movement, chiding its vague directives and lack of demands. To these critics, I say:

You're missing the point.

Wherever you stand on politics, immigration, taxes or marriage, we must agree on one thing: Our current system is wounded. We're living in a pay-to-play political system, where our elected leaders have a price and the platforms upon which we elected those representatives are forgotten in the interest of corporate lobbyists and big business.

Remember when newspapers weren't all owned by the same company, TV stations didn't promote parallel stories in newspapers and a billionaire octogenarian from Australia wasn't whispering in the ear of our conservative bloc? In the past two decades, the FCC has made every effort to relax the regulations on cross media ownership, monopolies and foreign-owned media. Do you honestly believe those limitations were relaxed for free, out of concern for the American people? This is why we have a government: to protect our interests. Not Rupert Murdoch's.

Remember when we didn't have to pay extra for hormone-free milk? Food should be organic by default. There is no reason why I should worry about eating foods with dangerous pesticides, known carcinogens and wood pulp. Have you ever seen cellulose listed as an ingredient in your food? Food manufacturers use it as a filler to create volume and extend shelf life in their food products. It's wood. From a tree. You’re eating wood and there's no limit on how much cellulose companies are allowed to add. Schools are banning peanut butter because of the growing number of allergies in children, a condition that some scientists argue is caused by the pesticides and not the peanuts. We shouldn't have to worry about listeria, e-Coli and paying $12 a gallon for bottled [tap] water because our own water supply is questionably clean. This is why we have a government: to protect our interests. Not ConAgra's.

Remember when standardized tests were something we took once before college and school policy was guided by a local government, not the federal? These days, kids as young as seven years old are forced to spend their entire school year in preparation for one week of myopic testing that will be the sole measurement of their scholastic achievement. It will also determine the amount of funding a school receives. You know who thinks annual standardized testing is a great idea? The three companies that produce the tests. It's no coincidence that hundreds of thousands of dollars are spent by these companies each year to directly lobby our elected representatives, who then sign off on the notion that one test result is an adequate performance gauge for every student across the country. This is why we have a government: to protect our interests. Not the Educational Testing Service.

Wall Street is a symbol for corporate lack of accountability. Greed isn't good. You know what's good? A strong middle class whose best interests are protected by a transparent government. This is why the Occupy Wall Street movement has not issued demands or directives. Where do we begin?

You've heard the argument: America's democracy isn't perfect, but it's the best we've got. Let it continue to be the best by allowing constitutionally-protected dissent, stopping government corruption, and demanding that our elected representatives protect our interests, not that of their pockets.

#occupywallstreet

relax-o-cat

2011-09-24T09:30:00.001-04:00

reservoir

2011-09-17T14:15:00.000-04:00

The diet continues

2011-09-16T10:14:00.000-04:00

Only five more pounds to go.

Hurricane

2011-08-28T13:37:00.000-04:00

day 44

2011-08-13T10:01:00.002-04:00

of diet. Sixteen pounds down. Fifteen more to go.

be afraid

2011-08-04T08:08:00.001-04:00

lazy drinker

2011-08-04T06:32:00.000-04:00

leaky ceiling

2011-07-20T20:43:00.000-04:00

not it

2011-07-19T07:45:00.000-04:00

Way to avoid blame, Con Ed.

cat on flip flops

2011-07-17T21:37:00.000-04:00

morning, world

2011-07-08T06:59:00.000-04:00

day 2

2011-07-02T11:09:00.002-04:00

Only 88 more days to go.

diabolito

2011-07-02T10:40:00.001-04:00

clean laundry

2011-06-04T13:47:00.000-04:00

city morning

2011-06-03T09:17:00.000-04:00

lasagna

2011-05-31T10:49:00.001-04:00

the kit lurks

2011-05-28T09:21:00.001-04:00

down by the water

2011-05-23T16:04:00.000-04:00

who's the boss

2011-05-17T11:09:00.000-04:00

perspective

2011-05-16T11:19:00.001-04:00

important

2011-05-15T15:04:00.001-04:00

Finally

2011-05-03T21:01:00.000-04:00

America catches on.

test post

2011-04-21T10:11:00.001-04:00

After eight safe years, someone hacked into my blog. What gives, jerks?

hello nasty

2011-04-21T09:58:00.000-04:00

Beastie Boys - Make Some Noise - Free Music Videos - Top Songs

the kit investigates

2011-04-14T06:10:00.001-04:00

men at work

2011-04-09T17:54:00.000-04:00

box cat

2011-04-09T09:01:00.000-04:00

Spring

2011-04-03T12:20:00.000-04:00

Proud

2011-03-24T13:51:00.001-04:00

In the neighborhood

2011-03-20T13:06:00.000-04:00

Manhattan from Queens

2011-03-12T16:46:00.000-05:00

Sunset

2011-03-10T01:30:00.000-05:00

Sustained

2011-02-28T15:44:00.000-05:00

just checking

2011-02-27T16:30:00.000-05:00

Franklin's new pose

2011-02-13T13:01:00.001-05:00

Winter doldrums

2011-02-03T12:55:00.000-05:00

Afternoon cafe

2011-02-03T12:52:00.000-05:00

Resting

2011-01-30T20:16:00.000-05:00

My baby

2010-12-30T20:16:00.000-05:00

Great job

2010-12-03T16:36:00.000-05:00

says the salsa.

Liberty

2010-11-28T17:21:00.001-05:00

Chair in the subway station

2010-11-26T16:35:00.000-05:00

Plotting

2010-11-24T12:44:00.000-05:00

Cappuccino italiano

2010-11-09T19:10:00.001-05:00

Creepy

2010-11-08T16:37:00.000-05:00

Everybody else

2010-11-07T12:05:00.000-05:00

Rabbit runs the marathon

2010-11-07T11:41:00.001-05:00

Marathon supporters

2010-11-07T11:10:00.000-05:00

Japan!

Cuban delight

2010-11-07T05:51:00.000-05:00

Mellow

2010-11-04T21:38:00.000-04:00

Baby the whale

2010-11-02T08:46:00.000-04:00

Halloween in the city

2010-10-16T12:32:00.000-04:00

Dramatic cats

2010-10-09T15:54:00.000-04:00

City horse

2010-10-02T11:15:00.000-04:00

Baby gets told

2010-10-01T19:32:00.000-04:00

Round One

2010-09-30T06:11:00.000-04:00

Shake shack

2010-09-29T15:19:00.000-04:00

Best friends

2010-09-26T15:20:00.000-04:00

Best pizza ever

2010-09-24T10:03:00.003-04:00

San Matteo pizza on the upper east side. Best.

Blood pressure take 2

2010-09-23T18:23:00.000-04:00

My blood pressure

2010-09-23T18:17:00.000-04:00

Fencing

2010-09-22T20:47:00.000-04:00

Upper East Side represent

Bus sign

2010-09-22T13:33:00.000-04:00

Cute lessons

2010-09-14T21:30:00.000-04:00

Compartment cats

2010-09-14T21:26:00.000-04:00

Boutique coffee

2010-09-14T16:47:00.000-04:00

Unwanted

2010-09-10T14:57:00.000-04:00

Leaky hydrant

2010-09-10T14:47:00.000-04:00

Union Square

2010-09-07T15:00:00.000-04:00

Tribeca

2010-09-04T15:11:00.000-04:00

Remote Control Kit

2010-09-02T19:54:00.000-04:00

On the inside

2010-08-30T12:37:00.000-04:00

he misses Baby

Day Four

2010-08-28T17:08:00.000-04:00

Hospital Baby Series continues.

Baby goes to the hospital

2010-08-28T00:05:00.001-04:00

Caravan

2010-08-20T11:51:00.001-04:00

Morning cat

2010-08-18T09:53:00.000-04:00

Mildly alert

Hot summer

2010-08-14T13:46:00.001-04:00

Hola amigo

2010-08-07T12:11:00.001-04:00

Summerstreet

2010-08-07T11:23:00.000-04:00

Confused Kit

2010-07-30T08:14:00.000-04:00

Shell cat

2010-07-27T09:05:00.001-04:00

Franklin concentrates

2010-07-22T12:24:00.000-04:00

Window kit

2010-07-20T09:16:00.000-04:00

Friends

2010-07-14T12:32:00.000-04:00