Written by Madeiline May Kunin, Pearls, Politics, and Power: How Women Can Win and Lead, sounds very interesting. I heard her on WNYC today and am now inspired to run for office. Just kidding. But read this quote:

We have been bystanders to history for too long. We have no more excuses; we are educated, we care, and we are ready to enter the arena. Times have changed since I was first elected governor of Vermont in 1985. When nine-year-old Melissa Campbell visited the Vermont State House in 2006 and saw my portrait, she exclaimed, “Finally, a woman, it’s about time!”

It is about time. We have seen two women serve as secretary of state, Madeleine Albright and Condoleezza Rice; one woman as U.S. attorney general, Janet Reno; and two women justices in the Supreme Court, Sandra Day O’Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsberg. For the first time in our history, we have a serious, qualified woman candidate for president—Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. On January 23, 2007, we saw the portrait of political leadership change in the Congress with the election of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. During the State of the Union Speech, when the camera focused on the triumvirate of the president, the vice president and the speaker, it was as if someone had torn down the scrawled sign nailed to the tree fort that read “Girls Keep Out,” and replaced it with “Women Are Welcome.”

We see more strands of pearls, flower-printed scarves, and red jackets in the Congress and in corporate boardrooms, but the lineups remain predominantly muted in black and gray. We can no longer wait for incremental change; it has been too slow. Parity will not be achieved by patience. To arrive at equal representation, we must mobilize both our anger and our optimism: anger at what is wrong in America and optimism that it can be changed for the better.

And we have to take risks—risks that we don’t have all the answers and risks that we may be rejected. The risk that we can no longer afford to take is the risk of continuing to accept things as they are—a country divided, governed by people who do not reflect the face of America. Bella Abzug made the case for women’s participation in public life in 1977: “We can no longer accept a condition in which men rule the Nation and the world, excluding half the human race from effective economic and political power. Not when the world is in such bad shape

Every day when I receive Google Alerts: Park Slope, there are more and more stories from all over the country about the hate crime attack on a rabbi by a group of Arab teenagers. Today Wicked Local Wellesley reports that one of those teenagers is being charged with aggravated harassment as a hate crime

Here’s the story: Rabbi Uria Ohana, a 25-year-old rabbinical assistant at the Chabad Center in Wellesley, Mass., was attacked by a group of Arab teenagers at the 4th Avenue and 9th street subway station in Park Slope on March 18th.

When he felt someone grab his yamulke, Rabbi Ohana turned around and, he says, saw a Arab teenager running down the stairs. He gave chase in order to get his yarmulke back. Running through the station, they passed a group of the boy’s friends who began chasing Ohana and screaming, “Allahu Akhbar!”

Ohana chased the boy, identified as Ali Hussein, 18, of Queens, outside, where he ran into the street and was hit by a car. Hussein’s friends caught up with Ohana and began shouting, “you see what you do?” punching him in the head, and screaming “Allahu Akhbar.”

Though the literal translation is “god is great,” Ohana said, in Israel, where he was raised, “it’s the expression of suicide bombers. When you hear ‘Allahu Akhbar,’ you should run.”

There were numerous witnesses outside the crowded subway station, he said, and many of them pulled out cell phones to call 911. Before police arrived, a black SUV pulled up, and two of Ohana’s attackers jumped in the car and drove away, leaving Hussein at the scene.

Hussein was transported to Lutheran Medical Center to be treated for a fractured leg, according to a police spokesman. He was later arrested. At this point, no other arrests have been made in the case, which police said is still under investigation. Ohana sustained no real injuries beyond minor cuts and bruises, though he said his head is still spinning from the incident.

“What bothers me is that 48 hours after this hate crime, no second or third [boys] were arrested,” he said; it was clear to him that the other young men were friends of Hussein.

The rabbi, who has been in the States for two years and spends half his time studying in Brooklyn, and the other half working at the Chabad center in Wellesley, wants to draw attention to the case “for the police to see that it’s something serious,” he said.

“Attacking a Jew just for being a Jew — it’s important that this doesn’t happen. This kind of hate crime, it’s important to me that it doesn’t occur.”

This Saturday March 29: The Yossi Piamenta Band plays at the Jewish Music Cafe. Doors open at 9:30 p.m. Reserve now at the JMC website.

Not familiar with the Jewish Music Cafe? Elie Massias, one of the 2007 Park Slope 100, started the Jewish Music Cafe at at 401 9th Street (between 6th and 7th Avenues) because he thought the Slope needed a place where people who can get an ice cold bottle of He’ brew Beer, a slice of Mrs. Selter’s famous Cheese cake, a Kosher Cappuccino and enjoy great bands playing Klezmer, Sephardic, Avant Garde jazz, Hassidic rap and Israeli trance in the heart of one of NY’s most ethnically diverse neighborhood.

And who is Yossi Piamenta? Here’s a bio from his website.

Yossi is a self-taught musician who would turn on the Jerusalem radio and play along. That’s how he learned how to play. He used money from gigs to buy the best audio equipment, international albums and music magazines. Yossi’s self-acquired education led him to become one of the most skillful and original guitarists on the Jewish and secular music scene. Yossi’s original style is best described as a hint of jazz, a drop of blues, and a whole lot of rock ‘n’ roll filtered through a purple haze of Oriental funk.

After finishing boarding school, Yossi joined a “Top 40” cover band as their lead guitarist. Then he joined the army, and played in the Army Band. After completing his army service, Yossi became a full time musician. During the Yom Kippur War Yossi, together with his 15-year old brother Avi, now an international acclaimed flutist, played for the soldiers. After that, Yossi and Avi immediately formed “the Piamenta Band.” The rest is history. The band went on to play with the most prestigious Israeli musicians. They were dubbed the “Mizrahi Rockers.”

In 1976 Stan Getz discovered the Piamenta Band. 3 weeks later Getz sent Yossi a ticket to America, where Yossi was introduced to the crème de la crème of American musicians. Getz was so impressed with Yossi’s music that he cancelled his schedule for 3 weeks to cut an album with Yossi. The album was so successful that Getz tried hard to sign a lifetime contract with the Piamenta’s but when Yossi saw what went on in the showbiz industry… he declined and ran towards his Jewish roots.

With 6 official studio albums and appearances at the most distinguished venues in the world, the Piamenta Band is the most requested name in Jewish events. Piamenta Management is planning a tour of colleges and universities. As far as plans for the near future, the Piamenta Band will be working on producing an album with Eddie Kramer, the engineer who cut albums for Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, KISS and more. Piamenta will soon be a household name, God willing.

There will be a forum on the residential parking permits hosted by Council Member Bill de Blasio, Community Board 7, Friends of Church Avenue, KWT Neighbors, and the Windsor Terrace Alliance.

Here’s the idea: come and share your ideas on Residential Parking Permits in a community forum!

Date/Time: Wednesday March 26, 2008, 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm

Location: Shepherds Hall at Holy Name Church
245 Prospect Park West
Brooklyn, NY 11215

To RSVP please contact: Dorian Caal, 718-854-9791 Or caal76@gmail.com

Rachel, a moderator on Park Slope Parents, recognized the need for a list serve for parents of teenagers and decided to do something about it. .

While Park Slope Parents is a great resource for parents of younger children, there isn’t much on there about teenagers.

That’s why Rachel started Parents of NY Teens as a way to connect parents of teens. She writes:

There are currently over 150 members and recent discussions included summer programs for teens and teen depression. The board is open to all parents – citywide – with kids 12 – 20 years….

If you think that you’d benefit from this information and support list serve, just send an email to
parentsofnyteens-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

NYPIRG Straphanger’s Campaign released its 2007 Subway Shmutz report yesterday and found the L line to be the cleanest.

(New York, New York) – The number of clean subway cars improved slightly since 2005, according to the ninth annual "subway shmutz" survey by the Straphangers Campaign, released today.

The
best performing line was the L, with 88% of its cars rated clean, up
from 61% two years ago.  Tied for second best line was the 7, with 78%
clean cars up from 22% clean cars in 2005.

Both the L and 7 are in a new car cleaning initiative.

Starting
in mid-September 2007, "additional cleaners were deployed at both
terminals for these lines, working in multiple shifts to provide
24-hour coverage," according to MTA New York City Transit. Beginning on
December 10, 2007, two new "line general managers" were appointed with
greater authority to run the L (Greg Lombardi) and the 7 (Lou Brusati).

The survey was conducted on 2,200 subway cars on 22 subway lines between September 20, 2007 and January 11, 2008.

Campaign
surveyors rated 50% of subway cars as "clean," a small statistical
improvement from 47% of cars rated clean in a survey conducted in the
winter of 2005. (No survey was released for 2006 so as not to rate New
York City Transit’s new administration too early.)

The
worst performing lines were the E and Q, with the smallest number of
clean cars at 29% each.  The E performed worst in our survey two years
ago, with 2% of its cars rated clean.

TONIGHT: Join OTBKB and Brooklyn Based for cocktails at Sidecar, the groovy and very attrctive bar in the South Slope. 560 Fifth Avenue. 6:30 – 8 p.m.

Thursday, March 27: Brooklyn Reading Works presents: Inner Lives Out Loud at the Old Stone House. Readings from Regina McBride’s workshops. 8 p.m.

Saturday, March 29: If you are a Brooklyn blogger, get interviewed for a video about Brooklyn blogging by Blue Barn Pictures and me. Let me know what’s a good time for you (louise_crawford(at)yahoo.com. The shoot is from 11 am until 7:30 on Saturday the 29th in DUMBO. Email me if you can be there and what’s a good 90-minute time slot for you. You must be a Brooklyn blogger, who’s been around for 3 months, who updates with some frequency. This video will be at the May 8th Blogfest! You snooze you lose. In other words, let me know soon if you are coming!

This Styrofoam Fact Sheet was sent to me by Bill DeBlasio’s office.

Ø Polystyrene, or the Dow Chemical brand name, styrofoam, is composed of Benzene, Styrene, and ethylene. Polystyrene becomes Styrofoam when it is injected with certain gases, known as blowing agents, to make it 30 times lighter than its original weight.

Ø The biggest environmental health concern associated with polystyrene is the danger

associated with Styrene, the basic building block of polystyrene. Styrene is classified as a possible human carcinogen by the EPA and by the International Agency for Research on Cancer.

Ø 1986 EPA report on solid waste named the polystyrene manufacturing process as the 5th largest creator of hazardous waste.• The National Bureau of Standards Center for Fire Research identified 57 chemical byproducts released during the combustion of polystyrene foam. The process of making polystyrene pollutes the air and creates large amounts of liquid and solid waste.

Ø Studies show that toxic chemicals can leak out of these products into the food that they contain (especially when heated in a microwave). These chemicals threaten human health and reproductive systems. These products are made with petroleum, a non-sustainable and heavily polluting resource.

Ø Polystyrene foam is often dumped into the environment as litter. This material is notorious for breaking up into pieces that choke animals and clog their digestive systems.

Ø Initially a portion of polystyrene production was aided by the use of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), the chemicals that break down ozone in the troposphere. When this issue came to light, polystyrene manufacturers negotiated a gradual phase-out of CFCs in the production process and no CFCs have been used since the late 1980’s. Though polystyrene manufacturers claim that their products are “ozone-friendly” or free of CFCs, this is only partially true. Some polystyrene is now manufactured with HCFC-22, which, though less destructive than its chemical cousins, CFC’s, is still a greenhouse gas and harmful to the ozone layer. In fact, according to a 1992 study by the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research, HCFCs are three to five times more destructive to the ozone layer than previously believed.