Save the Pine Bush urges everyone who cares about the Pine Bush, clean water, clean air and a sensible approach to solid waste, to attend the DEC hearing at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 3, at the Polish Community Center on Rapp Road and Washington Avenue Extension. Save the Pine Bush believes it is an outrage for DEC to give citizens less than 30 days notice of the hearing.

Several Capital District residents traveled down to the annual protest in Columus Georgia at the gates of tge School of Americas where our government trains soldiers from South America how to torture. This weekend, as thousands are gathered at the gates of Fort Benning, we are changing the climate and we are creating a culture of justice, peace and understanding. We have the power to hold the Obama administration to its promises of a new direction in U.S.-Latin America relations and we are calling for the closing of the SOA/WHINSEC as a first step in the right direction.

In $aving Green: Addressing New York’s Fiscal Crisis & Protecting the Environment, Environmental Advocates identifies ineffective programs and projects that, if cut, would generate hundreds of millions of dollars in much-needed revenue to plug the state’s budget hole while protecting the health of New York’s families and natural resources. The report documents tax breaks for dirty Bunker Fuel that cost New York almost $40 million last year; the Power for Jobs program, a corporate welfare program that trades New York jobs for low-cost power and is coming up short on jobs; an unnecessary “clean coal” experiment in Jamestown, NY, that has cost the state $8.4 million, and counting; and a poorly planned semiconductor nanotechnology site in Marcy, NY, that will destroy more than 10 acres of wetlands and has already cost the state $51.5 million.

Hundreds gathered Sunday to honor the memory of Peter Camejo, champion of the Green Party, at the university from which he was expelled years ago. "Peter was expelled from Berkeley for unauthorized use of a bullhorn," Camejo's former running mate Ralph Nader said.

Kalman Stein, CEO of the environmental organization EarthShare, said Camejo played a crucial role in making the green movement more diverse."And he was so amused when Ronald Reagan named him one of the 10 most dangerous people in California," Stein said. Martin Sanchez, a spokesman from Camejo's native country of Venezuela, apologized for the absence of the Venezuelan ambassador, Bernardo Alvarez Herrera, who was expelled from the United States in September. He read a statement from Herrera.

Anti-hunger advocates today said that strong government action was needed to respond to the rapidly increasing incidence of hunger in New York State. The groups called for a hike in welfare benefits after 18 years. The head of the Council of Churches said that the unholy trinity at the Capitol had blocked action on poverty for at least 20 years

1500 protestors came to Albany this Tuesday to urge lawmakers to reject Gov. Paterson's proposed $2 billion in budget cuts. Prudent spending cuts in state spending are a necessity. But so far, the governor is asking working families to shoulder the entire burden of the budget deficit alone, while taking any income tax increase on New York's many millionaires off the table. That is not acceptable. Not after the richest New Yorkers have seen billions in tax cuts that have slashed their income tax burden in half over the last 40 years. Read op ed by the head of the Working Families Party.

It is beyond overdue for the Legislature and Governor to truly repeal the 36-year failed experiment in racism, injustice and government waste that the Rockefeller Drug Laws have foisted upon the people and taxpayers of New York. It is also time for these lawmakers to reconcile the chaotic discrepancies made in the specious photo-op revisions represented by the 2004-05 legislative "reforms."

Governor Paterson today released his list of proposed $2 billion cuts in this year's state budget ahead of the special session of the state legislature next Tuesday. Meanwhile a broad coalition of labor, human service, education and faith groups help news conferences in eight cities across the state. They plan a major rally in Albany on the 18th. The Working Families Party renewed their call for the Millionaires Tax.

The director of Israel's domestic security agency—the Shin Bet—expressed his deep concern in a cabinet meeting on November 2 that Israeli leaders who seek peace with the Palestinians may be assassination targets for Jewish extremists. The extremists have repeatedly attacked Palestinian schoolchildren, and farmers attempting to harvest their olive crop this season. In the rare instances when Israeli soldiers intervene, they too have been attacked by the colonists.

President elect Obama promised change. To do this, he will need to get the ground troops mobilized, in key states and Congressional districts, to put pressure on members who might otherwise sit on the fence. Obama can learn valuable lessons from FDR, who recognized that his ability to push New Deal legislation through Congress depended on the pressure generated by protestors and organizers. He once told a group of activists who sought his support for legislation, "You've convinced me. Now go out and make me do it."

Photographer Brenda Ann Kenneally, author of Money, Power, Respect, documents the permanently poor in Troy, N.Y., once a proud industrial boomtown with a rich labor history. As the U.S. economy falls further into recession, politicians continue to focus on the endangered middle class while the 40 million Americans living below the poverty line have disappeared from the discussion.

Historic change swept across America and NY last night, sweeping aside the legacy of the Bush administration. Sen. Barack Obama, with his theme of hope and change, became the first African-America elected President. In New York, for the first time in decades, the Senate went Democrat, with a number of surprising upsets in Buffalo along with a strong Democratic showing on Long Island and NYC. While at least one race remains too close to call, it is anticipated that two of the eldest Senate Republicans may resign, prompting special elections. The question now of course is will the Democrats deliver on the promises of change that their supporters embraced or will as normal the powers of special interest prevail even in defeat. The other big winner in NYS was the Working Families Party, who demonstrated that they have the most potent get out the vote operation, leading the Senate Democrats to victory.