A weblog about the politics and affairs of the old
and glorious City of Albany, New York, USA. Articles written and
disseminated from Albany's beautiful and historic South End by Daniel
Van Riper. If you wish to make a response, have anything to add
or would like to make an empty threat, please contact
me.
Mastering The Pine Bush Triathlon - Watching The Wife continue her transformation from a sorry weakling into a healthy athlete, 7/20/08
The Right To Bear Arms In Albany - While concerned citizens confront escalating gun violence,
irresponsible activist judges undermine gun control legislation and
clueless local politicians deny there is any problem at all, 7/7/08
Throwing Money Into The Albany “Landfill” - Reality finally arrives while Jerry Jennings continues to dream of bigger dumps and more revenue
Ending The Freihofer’s Boycott - Despite what Weston did to Troy, The Wife ran this year in the Freihofer’s Run For Women and made good time, 5/31/08
A Positive Political Shift - State Senator Neil Breslin may face a primary challenge from a newcomer worth considering, 5/17/08
Swiftboating Barack Obama - The smearing of H. Carl McCall may show how the
corporate media plans to undermine the probable
Democratic candidate for president, 5/8/08
The Bogus “Security” At City Hall - Down the road no one puts up with checkpoints, but here in
Albany everyone submits and no one asks why, 4/27/08
Dr. King's Early Spring Afternoon - A hastily arranged commemoration of Martin Luther King’s day of death is a success that may happen again, 4/13/08
Diva de Loayza’s Ghost Bike - After a year and two deaths, the City of Albany refuses to remove the staggered stoplight or provide warnings at the corner where Diva was trapped and cut down, 4/6/08
Declining Buildings Next To My Neighborhood - A close look at how apartment buildings in Albany
unnecessarily go vacant and die, 3/22/08
The Virtual Assassination Of Governor Spitzer - The White House probed for a weakness and the corporations destroyed one of their most effective enemies, 3/16/08
An Interview With Phil Steck - The first declared candidate for our 21st Congressional seat gives a detailed conversation about the issues in this Albanyweblog exclusive report. Listen to the four part audio interview in mp3 format at the bottom of the page, 3/3/08
What America Needs To Do - Yassin Aref still admires the country that falsely declared him a “terrorist” and offers some excellent advice, 2/16/08
Demolition City - Despite his claims to the contrary, Jerry Jennings is working feverishly to tear down the City he claims to care about, 2/10/08
Alcohol And A Big Gun - A triple gun murder in our neighborhood flashes through the media and disappears, a story neither glamorous enough or white enough to remember, 2/3/08
Property Taxes And Sprawl - The Governor dances around the only solution to
New York’s fiscal crisis, 1/26/08
Martin Luther King From Another Perspective - Instead of waiting for the marchers, the blogger sits through blather and strolls through the park, 1/21/08
Sorting Out The Presidential Primary - The electronic machines are crooked and so are most of the candidates, but it’s all about the act of voting, 1/14/08
Democratizing The Planning Process - At long last a Common Council member wants to bring
decision making out of the toilet and into the sunshine, 1/6/08
A Rant Against Christmas - In which the blogger reveals that he is an antisocial bitter crank who frowns upon other people’s joy and happiness, 12/30/07
Twelve Questions For Congressional Candidates - If we the people don’t set the standards for our candidates, there are certain others who are more than willing, 12/19/07
The Windows Of Howe Library - The Facilities Plan contractors try to
sucker the community without much success, 12/9/07
Jerry Jenning’s Exit Strategy - The Mayor chooses his successor and lets him tackle the vacant building crisis, 11/30/07
Turkeys Trotting In Troy - It’s a modern parade, the annual Thanksgiving Day road race in Troy, 11/22/07
Neil Breslin Looks To Washington - Our State Senator will announce his run for the 21st Congressional District - an Albanyweblog exclusive report , 11/5/07
Critical Mass Does Halloween - Radical bicyclists in costume make Albany drivers take them seriously, 10/29/07
Slandering Governor Spitzer - Once again, an unholy alliance attempts to undermine good government in New York State, 10/23/07
Dead Life In A Political Prison - At great risk to himself, Yassin Aref describes the interior of his federal cage... an Albanyweblog exclusive report.
Censoring The Majority - A massive antiwar protest is kept secret while the bodies pile up, 9/28/07
The Bombing Of Alexander Street -Albany makes a profit by encouraging the
abandonment of 19th century buildings, 9/14/07
Vermont Nuke Plant Collapse - The corporate media suppresses a story vital to our health and well being, 9/2/07
The House At 48 Hudson - Thanks to one of Albany’s best citizens, the Van Ostrande House survives in an asphalt wasteland, 8/4/07
Where’s My Dung Beetle? - An
ancient production teaches us what we need to know today, 7/29/07
A
Letter From Yassin Aref - The
celebrated victim of government terrorism struggles with his
fate, 7/21/07
Michael
McNulty And Dick Cheney - Our
congressional representative from the 21st District has been
reinventing himself, but still hasn’t
arrived, 7/14/07
Inside
The Politician - Since
hardly anyone reads blogs during high summer, the blogger offers
his unfounded opinions on the behavior of elected officials,
7/8/07
The
Mayor’s Iraq - There
are better ways to spend $300 million dollars than to waste it
on a convention center, 7/1/07
The
Response To Diva’s Killing - The
class A bicyclists have
much to say to the blogger, and so do others, 6/21/07
Who
Killed Diva de Loayza? - A
bicyclist run down on Western Avenue pays the
ultimate price for bad traffic planning, 6/10/07
The
Blogger Hits The Big Time - Talking
about Truth and Power at a regional youth conference, 6/4/07
Blind
Shots At A Moving Target - A
call for talk but no solutions to gun violence in Albany, 5/27/07
The
Tulip Queen And Joan Jett - Some
pretty good photos of the Tulip Festival, 2007, 5/17/07
Holding The Judge Accountable - Justice Teresi is not behaving like an unopposed incumbent . . .
for good reason
Albany
Needs Bike Lanes Now -Time
for the politicians and planners to wake up and
smell the bicycle grease, 4/22/07
Outsourcing
The Democratic Picnic - Apparently,
Albany County is not good enough for the Albany County Democrats,
4/17/07
Rotary
Death For Pedestrians And Bicyclists -
The Mayor finds a new and creative way to destroy our neighborhoods,
4/2/07
The
Real Editorial Page - How
the daily rags handle political news that they don’t like,
3/11/07
David
Soares And The Old Boys -
The DA upsets the apple cart by following the law to the letter,
3/4/07
A Plague Upon The Hearst Rag - How dare the
Colonie-based “Albany” Times
Union
attack and insult the South End, 2/27/07
Snow
As A Weapon Of War - The City
uses the Valentine's Day Blizzard for political harassment, 2/18/07
Same
As The Old Boss - New Governor Spitzer embraces
failure by
promoting “charter” schools, 2/11/07
Martin
Gets Ignored - Freezing
rain scares off the politicians this year, 2/3/07
Tear
Down 787 - A “crazy
notion” has
suddenly become a
respectable and necessary idea, 1/28/07
Fried
Tree Rat In The Sky - An unfortunate
squirrel demonstrates the danger of suspended power lines in Albany,
1/11/07
Wasting
Gas For Christmas - Celebrating
that nominally Christian pagan holiday by driving in the suburbs,
12/31/06
Losing
The Only Radio Station - WRPI
is being destroyed by bad management with a misguided agenda, 12/17/06
Return Of The Burn Monster - For
some ridiculous reason involving money, garbage incinerators
are making a comeback, 12/7/06
Neighborhoods
Work, Part Two - 11/29/06
Neighborhoods Work, Part One - 11/22/06
Buying Books at The Armory -
Oh, do not ask, “What is it?” Let us
go and make our visit, 11/17/06
So I Was Wrong - But the
problems with fraudulent electronic voting machines remain, 11/8/06
Election Prediction: Expect Disappointment - Electronic
voting machines will make a mockery of our electoral system, 11/2/06
Good
And Bad Citizens - The
establishment of two-tiered security at Albany International
Airport is a prelude to bad times ahead, 10/28/06
Please
Bring Us Your Garbage - A corporate trash
hauler dictates City policy to Mayor Jennings, 10/22/06
The Terrorists Are Coming for You -
The bogus convictions of a Muslim cleric and a businessman are
a serious defeat for all patriotic Americans, 10/19/06
News Updates: Sorta Like A
Real Blog - Art on a moonlit
night, subsidizing corporate schools with roadwork and internecine
party politics, 10/8/06
Party
Chairman Commisso - A powerful backroom politician
comes out of the shadows, 9/30/06
A Walk In The
Rain - Inspecting the South End with
the out of town consultants, 9/22/06
Albany Should
Generate Power - We have the means,
let’s
create power while we still can, 9/16/06
Three Short Items - A terrible tragedy, a political
dismemberment, and a terrorist at large, 4/3/06
Where
The Dump Grows: The Common Council votes to condemn
part of the Pine Bush, 3/26/06
Throwing
Our Kids In The Dump - “Charter” schools,
corporate government and efficient robbery, 3/12/06
An Unprovoked
Attack By The Corporate Media
How television “news” is manufactured from thin
air, 3/5/06
Revitalization
Out Of Spilled Blood - The City changes South End
policy for the better, 2/26/06
Cavaleri's
Is No Longer There - We're running out of good
Italian restaurants, 2/12/06
More
Than Zoning - Walgreens, the corporate enemy we
don’t need, 2/6/06
A Long
Rumination On The City Of Albany “Landfill” - Wherein
The Mayor gets desperate, the wife cavorts in her underwear,
and the garbage hits the fan, 1/30/06
The
Mystery Of Holland Avenue - So, why’d they
do it? 1/22/06
Shivering
For Dr. King - Where politicians meet The People,
briefly, 1/17/06
Where’s
The Art?, No Trains, No Galleries, No Firlefanz,
1/15/06
Trying
To Cow The Next Governor, 1/12/06
Michael
McNulty And Impeachment, 1/7/06
A Great
Day For Terrorism (A description of the swearing-in
ceremony for the Common Council members.) 1/1/06