There’s so much good stuff happening out there, today, I hardly know where to begin with the linking!  Commenting on some of these probably require their own posts, but for now, I wanted to highlight some of the great goings-on out there in the New York blogspace.

The Albany Project has been hitting as hard as Eliot Spitzer on the Reform Albany project.  Lipris was actually onsite in Albany for the event, returning bearing pictures and all.  But it’s clear that Senate Majority Leader Bruno has found himself in a crouching defensive position, on the wrong side of history, it begins to appear:

Spitzer Quotes Bruno: “We cannot survive without LLC money.” || The Albany Project

Here’s another question for my dear friend, Joe Bruno: Do you really want to make your stand here? Do you really want to got to the voters net year and defend your heroic defense of the right of the super rich to manufacture endless subsidiaries and LLCs to blatantly circumvent New York’s already insane contribution limits? Really?

Exile at RT points out an excellent guest essay by James Allen of the NY Apple Association on a proposed solution to the Republican-made controversy over immigration:

Democrat & Chronicle: Farms need help; pass proposal to open gate to migrant workers

We need immigration reform in Washington, and we need it now. That is the message we are again trying to convey to Congress as we approach another growing season in western New York.

The AgJOBS bill, introduced in January, would greatly expand the opportunities for our farmers to employ migrant labor. The bill has two parts:

Allen highlights the importance of this legislation to Upstate, but I would hasten to point out, as a graduate of Sodus Central Schools, that too tight a restriction on immigration would positively cripple Wayne County’s primary source of summertime income. Not just Cadbury-Motts (though they do employ roughly 400 temporary and direct-hire workers there), but every single convenience store and restaurant in the area would lose a significant portion of their seasonal income.  To the detriment of an already hard-bitten, poverty-stricken county.

Also at RT, STLO7 has done yeoman’s work distilling the recent public hearing on Brighton Properties LLC:

rochesterturning.com: turning the tide upstate

There is more but chew on that for now but it is tied to video clips. So what do we have? tax allocation without representation, dependence on a government hand-out to conclude a private deal, lack of accountability and the political appointees of COMIDA making decisions that override decisions by elected officials.

And for what? A hotel next to MCC? Jesus, who the hell is staying there? You want to spread the wealth, why don’t you give Brighton some extra money to fix that piece of shit stretch of pothole-ridden pseudo-road called “East Henrietta Road,” that runs past the hotel?

Elsewhere, the DMIBlog has an outstanding post on the changing nature of employment and the struggling unions that are trying to keep up:

While Steeworkers Scramble to Adapt, a New Unionism Grows | DMI Blog

Unions in America began in the model of medieval craft guilds. From bricklayers to blacksmiths, people got together with others in the same profession. . .

. . . Clearly, that paradigm is crumbling. As the ties between workers and employers weaken, America needs to reweave its social safety net. For freelancers and independent contractors, especially, a New Unionism is emerging. Instead of collective bargaining for wages, they negotiate group rates for health insurance.

Do check out the Freelancer’s Union, while you’re at it. I argued quite a while ago that this sort of paradigm shift needed to happen for unions to keep their relevancy in the face of a growing IT and freelance market.

Elsewhere, the four retired generals (including John Batiste of Klein Steel, Inc) are still hot on the tail of the White House, writing statements in support of the Democratic funding bill that drags the war to a conclusion.  The Gavel has the story.

Finally, sad news for all of us who love music in Rochester: Meghan Taylor of Bee Eater is leaving town to make a run at NYC:

Rocker leaves the ROC: Bee Eater’s Meghan Taylor heads to NYC - Music - Rochester City Newspaper

For a band to go from good to great somebody’s gotta bust out and rise above. Somebody’s gotta make with the charisma and the balls. Bee Eater’s presence comes from singer Meghan Taylor, a petite powerhouse with Kool-Aid-colored hair and two different colored eyes. She shimmies. She shakes. And she sings in a big voice that belies her slight frame. Taylor gives the band its sizzle.

Meghan has been a big part of the Rochester music scene since her first band, White Cotton Panties.  I remember seeing them open for some show or another (can’t remember what, which means it was probably a good show) at the Water Street Music Hall and playing “Detroit Rock City.”  Sure, as she says in the article, everybody comes out to see girls play.  But really: it’s not enough to be girls, you’ve gotta have something special, and Meghan has it.

Best of luck to Meghan Taylor.  We hope to see your name in lights soon!

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