Freddy's "Toast to George Will" Recap *and* F.I.B's 600th Post!

F.I.B attended the toast to George Will at Freddy's Sunday afternoon. Patron turnout was high in support for the boycott on Barclay's Bank and the belief that Bruce Ratner may end up behind bars for his involvement in a development project in Yonkers where bribery played a role. Click here to read coverage on that in the New York Observer.

Go to Eminent Domain Revolt to see lots of video coverage Sunday's event at Freddy's.

Also! Bar Manager Donald O'Finn and film maker Steve DeSeve will appear on Fox TV tomorrow morning (Monday)to let the world know about this land grab(amongst others) that should be made illegal. The duo will appear on Fox & Friends between 7 and 10 am. Strange times when a conservative writer such as George Will and a conservative television station such as Fox are taking an interest in our fair borough. (and why shouldn't they?)

Atlantic Yards Year 6 - Christmas Special Tonite on BCAT

From the folks at Freddy's Brooklyn Roundhouse:

Freddy's Brooklyn Roundhouse has updated it's perennial Christmas TV Special for year 6 of Bruce Ratner's attempt to take a Brooklyn neighborhood. It will be on BCAT Tuesday at 8pm on BCAT channel 1, Time Warner channel 34, and on MNN in Manhattan Time Warner 56, this Thursday at 8pm. Also available on Youtube.


Condemned For Christmas 2009 - The Mittens Are Off
Christmas # 6 of Bruce Ratner's attack on Prospect Heights for his Atlantic Yards project. The lawsuits against Ratner's use of the ESDC and MTA for his private benefit continue in full force. And the neighborhood is making it clear they are not going to be evicted. The recent court decision against the ESDC's attempt to seize property for Columbia University has revealed a pattern of Eminent Domain Abuse on the part of the ESDC. A new law has passed specifically prohibiting the ESDC and MTA favoritism toward Forest City Ratner. Can it be applied to this case? After a long battle there is renewed hope, and anti-Ratner activism is on the rise.

Should New York State take homes and businesses, at Christmas, and give them a connected Cleveland billionaire and his new partner, another billionaire from Russia? The billionaires, Bloomberg included say, "yes!" The neighborhood says "nyet!"

Starring The Prospect Heights Action Carrollers, Chris Owens, the Hagan sisters, Scott MX Turner, Daniel Goldstein, Velmanette Montgomery, and many others.

Special holiday activist messages at the end of Condemned for Christmas 2009 - The Mittens Are Off, include a message from Reverend Billy about the "Fracking" threat to New York State's drinking water. And another about a man who is being tortured just blocks from City Hall under Obama's justice department. The last piece features Wallace Shawn, Cathleen Chalfant, and Bruce Ratner's not-evil brother, Center for Constitutional Rights leader Michael Ratner. How could the Ratner family have one brother who is soooo good, and another who is soooo very bad? This hasn't happened since Cain and Abel.

Have a very happy and very activist holiday season!

Care About NYC's Water Supply?

Friends of F.I.B, Sabine Aronowski and Steve DeSeve continue to cover fracking, an gas extraction process which endangers our reservoirs and watersheds where we get our drinking water.

The filmmakers' description:

"Freddy's Brooklyn Roundhouse (FBR) presents excerpts from several recent NYC hearings and rallies on the controversial proposal to allow Gas Drilling in NY State using the highly toxic "Fracking" gas extraction process. The show focuses on New Yorkers asking the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and Governor Patterson to scrap their plans to allow Hydraulic Fracturing in NY State, especially since the gas extraction process endangers our reservoirs and watersheds. Given the environmental track record of "Fracking" in other states, there are many calls for a Statewide ban. The show includes interviews with Carl Arnold of Chenago Delaware Ostego Gas (CDOG) and Laura Sheinkopf of SWiM (the Safe Water Movement), and footage from the NYC City Council Hearing and the DEC's NYC Hearing on their Environmental Impact Statement on proposed gas drilling in the NYC watershed and beyond. Additional footage from Manhattan Borough President, Scott Stringers' "Kill the Drill" rally."

The filmmakers urge everyone to go here to sign the petition, deadline is December 31!

Reverend Billy Speaks Out Against Fracking

This just in from my favorite video activists Sabine Aronowsky and Steve DeSeve. Green Party Mayoral candidate Reverend Billy recently visited their Brooklyn headquarters and spoke about an irresponsible New York Times article on gas drilling.

Why was it irresponsible?

They did not mention the "fracking" that's being done in New York State

What's fracking?

* "Fracking," as the industry calls it, involves injecting a million gallons or more of water and chemicals deep underground to pry out gas that's locked away in tight spaces. Many environmentalists want the federal government to regulate the practice because, in some cases, fracking may be harming nearby water wells. The industry says regulation should be left up to the states.

To find out more check out the trailer for a new documentary called Water Under Attack

*Info from an radio show by Jeff Brady on NPR a few months ago, read the whole article here.