Showing posts with label New York City. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New York City. Show all posts

PostHeaderIcon Gov. Paterson against 911 trial in NYC

11/17/2009 | Posted by mesiamd | Edit Post


New York Governor David Paterson who usually supported Pres. Barack Obama on many issues criticized the president for agreeing to hold the trial of the 911 mastermind and 4 other suspects in the courthouse of New York City (NYC.) The democrat governor joined ex-Mayor Rudolf Guiliani and many other New Yorkers in condemning the civilian trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed who was accused of orchestrating the killing of almost 3,000 innocent civilians and destruction of the World Trade Center. They wanted the Muslim militant and four other co-conspirators--- Waleed bin Attash, Ramzi Binalshibh, Mustafa Ahmad al-Hawsawi and Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali 2001 to be tried in the military court.

"Our country was attacked on its own soil on September 11, 2001 and New York was very much the epicenter of that attack. Over 2,700 lives were lost," he said. "It's very painful. We're still having trouble getting over it. We still have been unable to rebuild that site and having those terrorists so close to the attack is gonna be an encumbrance on all New Yorkers." ---wcbstv.com (11/16/09)

But Attorney General Eric Holder wanted to have the suspects in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to stand trial in New York because of certain undisclosed evidence. Since the alleged crimes happened in the United States, Holder, like his supporters, wanted to showcase the workings of America’s “superior” justice system to the world. But even the families of the victims are not pleased with the idea.

Among many objections, critics argued that bringing the terrorists in the Big Apple opens old wounds of the horror of 911. Why not in other venue? War criminals must be tried by military tribunals, not in civilian courts. New York City is likely to spend huge money to put them to trial --- a “circus” the accused terrorists desire. The 911 attack is an act of war against humanity and any concessions given to barbarism will put to waste the effort to arrest and put terrorists to trial.

With the media coverage, the trial will redirect NYC as a terrorist target and distract the public on the controversies of water-boarding and techniques of interrogation which have been useful in protecting the United States. Critics of the Obama administration believe there is a hidden agenda to investigate the Bush Administration’s policies on its war on terror. (Photo Credit: Long Island Business News) =0=

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PostHeaderIcon NYC elects Michael Bloomberg mayor for the third time

11/04/2009 | Posted by mesiamd | Edit Post


When I cast my vote in the 17th precinct near Ditmars Astoria on November 3, 2009, I thought incumbent Mayor Michael (Mike) Bloomberg would win again----his third time after the term limit was lifted to allow him to run again. I was right/

Bloomberg’s campaign fund was an overkill compared to that of comptroller Bill Thompson, his rival in the mayoralty race. His self-funded campaign under Republican/Independent banner is the most expensive. The 108th NYC mayor since 2002 reportedly spent more than $100 million of his own money this time compared to $85 million he spent to defeat his opponent in 2005.

I believe the 67 billionaire who succeeded Rudy Guiliani need not spend his extra millions. His record of remarkable low NY crime and high test scores among students are reasons for his easy win.

For winning the third term with a small margin, he equaled ex-mayor Ed Koch who also served the Big Apple three times in the ‘80s. In the years that Bloomberg has served as mayor, New Yorkers seem satisfied. The mayor of Jewish-American parentage only collects a dollar as token for his job. In spite of his wealth, he uses the public transport---the subway to move around the city. (Photo Credit: mediabistro) =0=

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PostHeaderIcon New York City's dining lesson for GMA: Le Cirque versus Elvie’s Turo-Turo

8/11/2009 | Posted by mesiamd | Edit Post


Elvie (L) is the lady culinary genius behind Elvie's Turo-Turo.

If Pres. Gloria Arroyo or her sponsor Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez didn’t want to spend hefty---$20,000 for a dinner in Le Cirque, they could have learned from Elvie, the owner of the Filipino Turo-Turo near 12th Street in First Avenue. The cooking expert had served New Yorkers for decades. The last time I talked with her, Elvie said her foodhouse was visited by Pres. Fidel Ramos when he came during a US official visit years ago.

I pass by Elvie’s to savor home cooking right at the center of New York City. While many of the Filipino eateries have folded up, this humble eating hole survives with the usual fare----pinakbet, tinola, laing, tocino, lechon kawali, sinigang, daing na bangus, longanisa, itlog na pula, lumpia, turon, ukoy, and lots of steamy white rice. The fragrant barbecue is good and so is gulaman at sago. Passers-by in the Eastside section of Manhattan drop by into the small food palace where every diner's hungry stomach almost always get satisfied.

ELVIE'S DELECTABLE FILIPINO FOOD















Sen. Miriam D. Santiago was right to say Le Cirque---the French restaurant where Arroyo dined in her last NY sojourn was “outlandish” for the Filipino budget. The classy food house was not just valued for the gastronomic delights it served, but for the people who patronized the place.

So, if one is a hungry visitor of the Big Apple with a huge entourage, in a late night dinner--- Le Cirque could not be as good as Elvie's Turo-Turo.

Not all will agree. There are those who worry about the protocols of dignitaries. But GMA and friends might have liked to be with the Pinoy restaurant proprietor and her team who serve hot delicious food promptly. Without pretenses, affable Elvie entertains with a wide engaging smile. In a mix of Tagalog, Bicol, and Visayan, she stands behind a steel enclosure teeming with Pinoy food, making her customers happy.

Elvie hails from a small village between Bicol and Leyte, bringing with her traditional Filipino hospitality to the dinner table. The Bayan Muna protesters who are averse to pomp and excesses will not complain if they eat in her plebeian enclave. The food she serves is basic and nutritious---at low price of less than $20 for two including soda.

If our Filipino guests from Manila demand to be classy, let them be. They can dine in a restaurant better than Elvie’s---like the Le Cirque. But then, look at the censure they receive when they go back home. A dinner price tag of $20,000 (P 1,000,000) from New York creates an uproar against over-spending and sparks accusations of "insensitivity" --- a source of embarrassment and national shame. (Photo Credit: gianuy; buddhadrinksfanta; chldrevolt; dennis and luba x4 )AFM) =0=

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PostHeaderIcon 9 dead in aircraft midair smash-up in Hudson

8/09/2009 | Posted by mesiamd | Edit Post


They were not as lucky as the 155 passengers of US Airways who survived a crash landing in January 25, 2009 in Hudson River soon after take-off from nearby La Guardia airport in Astoria, New York.

New York mayor Michael Bloomberg announced on Saturday, August 8, 2009 that 9 people perished in a midair collision of a helicopter operated by Liberty Helicopter Sightseeing Tours and a light plane, a single-engine Piper PA-32 Saratoga in New York City. The fatal incident over the Hudson river claimed the lives of five tourists from Bologna, Italy.

“Helicopter wreckage was found in about 30 feet of water, while the plane is believed to be near the midchannel point of the Hudson in deeper water. A scanning sonar is being used to pinpoint the plane and has identified a possible third debris."---CNN.com (08/08/09, Candiottti, S et al.)

So far, only three bodies, two adults and one child, have been recovered down the river. Some witnesses said the plane trailed the helicopter from behind before they collided with a loud bang, scattering debris in midair before the aircrafts fell near the Hoboken shore. Authorities are investigating the cause of the deadly crash. (Photo Credit: PMarella) =0=

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PostHeaderIcon St. Lorenzo Ruiz Mass in New York

7/29/2009 | Posted by mesiamd | Edit Post


Our Lady of Penafrancia Devotees Association (OLPDA) is sponsoring the 6:30 pm mass @ the Chapel of San Lorenzo Ruiz this coming Saturday, August 1. The group is inviting everyone to join the celebration at the chapel located in Chinatown at 378 Broome St., New York, New York (between Mulberry & Mott Streets) Tel No. 212-966-1019. Website: www.chapelofsanlorenzoruiz.org.

Please advise if you're coming so we can prepare enough refreshments for everyoone. Hoping to see you there. =0=

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PostHeaderIcon In the hospital

7/14/2009 | Posted by mesiamd | Edit Post


On Tuesday, July 7, 2009, I was to join my New York visitors to a trip to
West Point in Upstate New York. Poppa Lossiette Oracion from California was a Philippine Military Academy (PMA) professor in the Philippines and I knew it would be a treat to have him and his family see the sprawling American military academy near Hudson, a nostalgic recall of the stretch of attractive land of similar beauty in Baguio City, Philippines where he used to teach.

Yet the day before our trip, I realized I wasn’t feeling well. Before I slept that night, I said to Lossiette I might not join them to see the rustic wooded camp less than 2 hours by car north of New York city. I thought it wise to rest as my body was telling me.

When I woke up the next day, they were gone. I was left at home feeling weak with high fever, an indicator that I need to go to the emergency room alone. In a background of a chronic immuno-suppression, I had to do it. I must be having an infection.

It happened to me before. I developed a rapidly progressive sepsis---something that is understandably dangerous. My quick decision to go to the ER saved my life back then, in time before shock from overwhelming infection destroyed my body. That was a learning experience, a real brush with death that I couldn't forget.

I therefore called a limousine to pick me up from home to NYU Medical Center. Not for long, I was given a bed in the busy ER after a brief triage in the crowded action spot. Before the afternoon ended, I was settled at Room 1654 in Tisch Hospital building. My gut instinct was right. I was started on IV antibiotics for what turned out to be a lung infection.

It was only later that I was able to tell with certainty my airway was a bit irritated with a developing cold. I was coughing like crazy. At home, my visitors returned and read my short note telling them where I went. They quickly understood.

Poppa Lossiette and wife Tita Celi were able to tour the West Point without me. They embarked on an exciting discover adventure with newcomer Tita Meding in the bowels of Manhattan while I recuperated in the hospital. I had to direct their moves as they visited tourist spots, rode subways and buses. My hospital bed turned as the command center that made their tour of the city quite happy and meaningful. (Photo Credit: Pidgeons at Times Square) =0=

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PostHeaderIcon Ibalon friends in New York

7/04/2009 | Posted by mesiamd | Edit Post



Among recent visitors of New York City, Ibalon friends Mrs. Modesta Wilson and Mr. and Mrs. Lossiete and Arceli Oracion of Carson, CA and Harbor City, California respectively breezed trough the big Apple for the Independence day weekend.

Mrs. Wilson, the widow of Fred B. Wilson is from Indianola, Iowa. Mr. and Mrs. Oracion, originally from Fairview, Quezon City are the loving parents of Dr. Renato M. Oracion, a well-known dermatologist in Odessa, Texas. They are house guests of Dr. Marietta F. Mesia. (Photo Credit: AFM) =0=

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PostHeaderIcon Ibalonian Dr. Vines N. Reis in the Big Apple

7/03/2009 | Posted by mesiamd | Edit Post


Ibalonian Dr. Vines Nolasco-Reis, from Goshen, Indiana and a toxicologist of Michigan State Environmental Quality Department visits her pals Dr. Franz (Punch) Evangelista-Daquilag and affable hubby Ed of Bloomfield, New Jersey and Dr. Augusto F. Mesia, of Astoria New York.

With Dr. Reis is youngest son Vergel who travels with her to Pittsburg, PA for a quiet family reunion in the July 4th weekend. =0=

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PostHeaderIcon Foursome kinky sex: Calvin Klein’s raunchy ad stirs protests

6/19/2009 | Posted by mesiamd | Edit Post


In New York’s Soho district where thousands pass by everyday, Calvin Klein compnay has put up a 50-foot billboard advertising. Two young men, a woman and another man are in explicit pose with strong sexual undertones illumined high above the street.

Semi-nude man and woman are shown kissing. Another man is embracing. With navel exposed and a flat abdomen heaving, a confused guy undresses to the verge of the mon pubis----something that corporate business brings to sell blue jeans fast.

But many people aren’t happy. Parents are bothered by the racy poster which shows the disturbing unnatural sexual message to children. Even if others justify the risqué billboard claiming that “obscenity is on the eyes of the beholder,” Randy Sharp, the director of special projects for the American Family Association, vehemently protests with many others:

"Not only the billboard, but a company -- a corporate giant in America -- feels it appropriate to put a semi-nude photograph in a major billboard in a high-traffic area where tens of thousands of children see this kind of activity going on... If it were going on in the back of a parking lot with steamed windows, they would be arrested, and yet they broadcast it to a whole city."----ABC News (06/17/09, Donaldson James, S)

With liberalism all around, this is the kind of lewd advertising people get. There are reasons to be concerned and concerned citizens are justified to voice their displeasure.

That’s why members of the organization who find the ad disgusting have flooded the Calvin Klein Co. with thousands of email complaints against the sexualized billboard. It’s something the jean company wants---- Perhaps, to foment cultural and moral discord in pursuit of that attention which brings sales in the cash register. Photo Credit: stylelist/ Maggie Coughlan/ AOL) =0=

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PostHeaderIcon Northeast Visit

5/05/2009 | Posted by mesiamd | Edit Post




In their recent vacation, UP Ibalon friends Gisbert and Jean Beringuela of Mandaluyong and Naga City visited the Big Apple with their affable children Loren Jane, Nina and Eric. The loving family got to enjoy New York’s springtime wonders, one among the many memorable places they visited. They were feted by Leon C. Pilar and Mel Tapang of New Jersey and Totie Mesia, M.D. of New York. =0=

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PostHeaderIcon Frigid weather persists

2/04/2009 | Posted by mesiamd | Edit Post


Snowy cold weather still persists in states of New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Maine. Gusty frigid weather dominated New York with an accumulation of about 3 inches in the neighborhoods of the city today. Scattered snow showers which bring chills to commuters are expected tomorrow Wednesday, February 4, 2009. (Photo Credit: AFM)
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