Category: Activism

Neil Garvey Foundation for the Arts: Fundraiser Tonight

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Neil Garvey was an attorney, but much better known as a local theater icon – he frequented the footlights of the Kavinoky, Irish Classical, and Shakespeare in the Park, and was a firm believer that the arts were a critical component of our society.  He passed away earlier this year, and his friends and family have devoted themselves to keep his memory alive. 

Established in 2012 by the family and friends of Neil Garvey as an independent organization to foster artistic endeavors throughout Buffalo and its surrounding communities, the mission of the Neil E. Garvey Foundation for the Arts is to empower and financially assist artists across all disciplines and, thereby, to promote the betterment and cultural growth of Western New York.

Tonight, just before the premiere of Shakespeare in the Park’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, an inaugural fundraiser for the Garvey Foundation will take place. 

When: July 26, 2012, 5pm until the show opens

Where: the Marcy Casino in Delaware Park

Info: Your ticket will settle your hunger, quench your thirst and keep you laughing! There will be raffles and a 50/50 and food will be prepared by Rich’s Catering.  Tickets are $50 and can be purchased by calling the Shakespeare in Delaware Park offices at (716) 856-4533 or by filling out the form, here!

A Big Fuss: TONIGHT

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Tonight at Artisan Kitchen & Baths at 200 Amherst Street from 6 – 8:30pm, a fundraiser will be held to support a local farm that finds itself down on its luck. $30 gets you in. There will be an auction to raise money, a gaggle of chefs will prepare comestibles for your enjoyment, there’ll be music and a roomful of foodies with whom to mingle. 

Brought to you by the people behind Nickel City Chef, “A Big Fuss” is intended to be an annual event to benefit a local farm or farmer who finds himself down on his luck (or hers, as the case may be). The identity of the event’s largesse won’t be identified, as it would only do further harm to an already precarious situation. 

 

Occupy Buffalo Evicted

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Occupy Buffalo II

Occupy Buffalo, by Flickr user Nykino 2011

Last night, the Buffalo police moved in to evict Occupy Buffalo. The group’s permit to remain in Niagara Square had expired, and the city decided not to renew it. One is tempted to wonder why they were evicted, considering that they weren’t really bothering anyone.

Then again, “not bothering anyone” may not be the best strategy for demonstrating against the plutonomy and crony corporatist corruption. The Occupy movement can be thanked for bringing the patent unfairness of the U.S. tax code to light, and how it is especially designed to benefit the wealthiest 1% at the rest of our expense.

Were it not for the Occupy movement, the very serious problem that Mitt Romney has with respect to his very limited, very curious tax disclosure would not be a “thing”. Now, it’s not only a “thing”, but a thing that is the very embodiment of what Occupy was all about, and the American middle class is pissed.

First Presbyterian Church of Buffalo and Lloyd to Feed #Occupy Buffalo

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On Thursday, December 22, 2011 at 5:00 PM, the Lloyd Taco Truck will pull into Niagara Square to give 75 burritos and beverages to the Occupy Buffalo protesters on behalf of First Presbyterian Church of Buffalo. This goodwill activity is being funded as a mission project by the church.

“The Occupy movement is a peaceful movement. This holiday season we aim to share the peace of Christ with all,” said Rev. Dr. Philip S. Gittings, the Interim Pastor at First Presbyterian Church of Buffalo.

Formed in 1812, First Presbyterian Church is the city’s oldest congregation, and will celebrate its bicentennial during the next year. First Presbyterian Church is part of the Presbyterian Church (USA) and the Presbytery of Western New York. The congregation consists of approximately 300 active and inactive members. The church’s architecturally significant building on Symphony Circle features Tiffany-designed stained glass windows, two impressive pipe organs, and a 168-foot tall tower which stands as a beacon of hope on the west side of the city.

Lloyd Taco Trucks, Inc. hit the city streets in 2010 as the region’s first taco truck. Their mission is to bring legitimate street food to Buffalo by offering affordable yet incredibly tasty takes on tacos and burritos.


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Support Buffalo’s Food Trucks

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The Western New York Food Truck Association, which is the unified voice of Buffalo’s food trucks, is still waiting for the City of Buffalo to draft, debate, vote on, and pass legislation that will legalize and regulate their business and movement within city limits. Buffalo Place, the organization that is in charge of regulating business activity in the downtown core, has already gone on record as pledging to follow whatever rules city government puts in place.

Legislation that was under consideration this past summer was tabled, and although the city was urged to resolve these issues before the weather turned lousy, it is now mid-December and the trucks are still waiting for a clear and concise set of rules under which to do business in the city.  The WNY Food Truck Association, in conjunctino with the Institute for Justice, have produced this video to explain what they want, and what’s at stake.

http://youtu.be/dN9J9aZ7cLo

Please contact the Common Council and let them know that legislation should be passed to legalize and regulate these food trucks in Buffalo as soon as possible. Better still, you can sign this petition, which will result in an email being sent to the Mayor and each Common Council member.

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Support Buffalo's Food Trucks

One comment

The Western New York Food Truck Association, which is the unified voice of Buffalo’s food trucks, is still waiting for the City of Buffalo to draft, debate, vote on, and pass legislation that will legalize and regulate their business and movement within city limits. Buffalo Place, the organization that is in charge of regulating business activity in the downtown core, has already gone on record as pledging to follow whatever rules city government puts in place.

Legislation that was under consideration this past summer was tabled, and although the city was urged to resolve these issues before the weather turned lousy, it is now mid-December and the trucks are still waiting for a clear and concise set of rules under which to do business in the city.  The WNY Food Truck Association, in conjunctino with the Institute for Justice, have produced this video to explain what they want, and what’s at stake.

http://youtu.be/dN9J9aZ7cLo

Please contact the Common Council and let them know that legislation should be passed to legalize and regulate these food trucks in Buffalo as soon as possible. Better still, you can sign this petition, which will result in an email being sent to the Mayor and each Common Council member.


Asking the Tough Questions of the Powerless and Mentally Ill

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I like the Buffalo News’ new editorial direction. The mainstream media of yore would have exposed – oh, I dunno – maybe the fact that the country’s political, taxation, and entire socioeconomic structure has been systematically co-opted by the richest 1% of Americans for their own benefit, thanks to a compliant governmental structure that is able and willing to be lobbied and bought. In the past, the city’s paper of record would have proudly gone after the powerful. Pentagon Papers! Watergate! Obscure Guy at Occupy Buffalo!

Now? The Buffalo News bravely questions the claims of military service made by Christopher Simmance, an Occupy Buffalo protester who suffers from PTSD, and has been fighting the federal bureaucracy for years trying to get incorrect records corrected.

Simmance is not a leader – putative or otherwise – of Occupy Buffalo, nor is he in any position of power or influence over anybody. As far as I can tell, he’s a troubled Army veteran who is upset about the direction of the country, and sports a backwards Kangol cap.

Did Simmance serve in the Korangal Valley of Afghanistan? I mean, IT WAS IN A MOVIE! I know that the Buffalo News didn’t have the answer, but insinuates that he didn’t.

Setting aside this article’s questionable prioritization – questioning the powerless rather than the powerful – the article doesn’t conclusively rebut any of Simmance’s claims. Instead, it employs the Glenn Beck-trademarked trick of question-asking to discredit by innuendo.  I don’t get it. Here’s a Twitter back and forth that Steve Watson, the article’s author, and I had:

View the story “Steve Watson on Simmance” on Storify]

If the News had unearthed actual facts to dispute Simmance’s claims, then it’d be a story. Without them, it’s just a smear.

A shameful one at that.

Up next: an Orchard Park working mother of two claims to go to a gym three times a week to work out. But does she? She claims to do Zumba, but Zumba is mentioned on TV ads!

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