Today during my daily commute to Newark, NJ, my mom and I listened to radio station WBAI's segment on the recent HIV/AIDS budget cut in the state of New York. Accompanying the discussion were two positively diagnosed HIV/AIDS community activists to share their stories and answer questions.

Hello Global Peace Festival Team,

This
is program manager, Andrew Kaen. I meant to send this email before
tonight, I was mentioned on the radio tonight with WBAI pacifica radio
for a special program on peace related events happening in 100 days --
11 days of global unity.

I will be planning a
New York City event for 11 days on Friday Sept 12. I am looking for a
team, to help me prepare this. It will be produced with a very low
budget, comparatively to the festival. Ideally, I would love to do
central park. I do not have a venue. I will be putting together the
entertainment and speakers. Please let me know, if you would like to
participate, in helping me produce this peace event on sept 12. Please

My Day

"We were at a picnic table outside of The Timberland Company talking about how to change the world. High energy.  Lots of ideas thrown around.  That kinda' convo.

What stuck was the thought that music is a powerful force in people's lives - just as much as our desire to live on a cleaner, more humane planet.  So why not combine them?  

Certainly we aren't the only music lovers who want to make the world a better place.  Why not start an organization dedicated to mobilizing the desire of fans to make a positive difference?  So we did.

Good things start from simple conversations.  Great things happen when thoughtful, committed citizens decide that they're going to change the world.  We're lucky to be surrounded by fans, artists, and organizations committed to changing the world.  We are honored to serve alongside them and we invite YOU to join us!"

That's the story of the Concert Corps.  Founded by AmeriCorps members serving with City Year New Hampshire, the Concert Corps unites good music and good people to produce great change.  

Consider yourself invited to the Big Apple Day of Service on July 14 (THIS SATURDAY). Serve at one of nine different projects all over the city, as part of a sold out three-show event at Madison Square Garden to benefit the Dispatch Foundation for Zimbabwe with the college jam-band turned legend: DISPATCH.

This is a somewhat older story but it is surprising that it still hasn't made it onto headline news as much as one shock jock's comments have.

In case you haven't seen the story a 17 year old student was attacked on a MTA (New York City) bus last month. She was beat by 10 kids for "looking Chinese" until a outsider stepped in an pulled her away. The 'bullies' (or racists as I believe is a better term) beat her even as she begged for them to stop and mocked her accent. After the incident she was told to "Go talk to a priest" by the MTA bus driver.

The real question is why has this not raised a media sensation the same way the infamous Imus comments have?

ACT UP, a social justice organization and political protest group originally formed around the issue of AIDS, has risen from the ashes. In NYC the phoenix burns bright, rekindled by a powerful speech by LGBT rights activist Larry Kramer some weeks ago.

The organization kicked off its revival with a protest of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs comments about homosexuality being "immoral".

The protests continued recently with a powerful move in Manhattan.

[read on]

So New York isn't usually a haven for right-wingers. The political hegemony of the liberals was put on display last November when Democrats turned three congressional seats, and swept the statewide elections.

New York seems to be about as blue a state as they come but despite the recent statewide sweep, Republicans still control the New York State Senate. This does not make sense. Fortunately the tides of Republican control in the senate may be turning. In New York's 7th Senate District, there is a special election to fill a vacated seat by Republican Michael Balboni who was appointed Governor Eliot Spitzer's top homeland security advisor.