by Lily Cavanagh | 03.10.2008

Philly 2011 Mayoral Candidates Forum
When: Oct 5, 2011 6:30pm
Where: First Unitarian Church, 2125 Chestnut St, Center City, Philadelphia, PA
Contact: Uhuru Solidarity Movement, philly@uhurusolidarity.org, 215-387-0919

THESE ARE THE REAL CONDITIONS IN PHILADELPHIA:

Children's music is about more than just selling CDs for Philadelphia musicians Cris Valkyria and Lou Paglione; it's about educating children, supporting social service organizations and expanding horizons for young musicians.

The duo entered the children's music scene last year with their own style of pop-rock that not only entertains kids but also teaches them virtuous behaviors. Composed for audiences between ages 1 and 11, songs from Chris and Lou educate children about topics that range from picking up toys to brushing teeth.

Tell us your story! Filmmakers of the Greater Philadelphia area with stories to tell, the ambition to create and determination to complete, we invite you to submit a program for Philadelphia Stories 8.

Selected programs will air on MiND TV as part of Philadelphia Stories (airing in May 2011) and receive the following award amounts.

I was asked to comment on a J-Lab Report that explored the ecology of the media in Philadelphia, specifically as it touched on politics in the city. The report was disputed by the New America Foundation that added in the many other media outlets that are doing fine work in Philadelphia to keep citizens informed and in touch. The person who relayed these two reports felt "Hey! They didn't include PhillyIMC in their assessment."

Ever heard of Fossil Fools Day?  It falls on April 1st each year and began in 2004 when environmental groups began making a mockery of the year’s biggest “Fossil Fool”.

This year, Philadelphia environmentalists told morning commuters not to be “fossil fooled” by PNC Bank – a bank that calls itself “A Green Bank with Eco-Friendly Service”.  PNC Bank has direct and indirect connections to mountaintop removal coal mining.

Mayor Nutter's "Keep Philly Clean" program is a noble attempt to plug Philadelphia's gaping budget deficit, but it doesn't fit the bill of a City striving to become the "Greenest City in America" - a title Philadelphia's Sustainability Office is eager to earn.  As Nutter outlined in a public address yesterday, Philadelphia seeks to fix the budget deficit by charging residents a weekly $5.77 trash fee and offering discounts at area stores to residents who recycle.

The Disease that infects us all...

Racism, no other disease infects the world more. Not Swine flu, Ebola, Cancer nor HIV/AIDS have infected the world more than the ignorance of racism. Racism since the days of slavery and the 50's, 60's and 70's in its blatancy days is now a silent, subtle and passive/aggressive socially constructed tool used to manipulate, control, exploit and degrade people solely based on the color of someone's skin.

Racism is man's gravest threat to man - the maximum of hatred for a minimum of reason." Abraham J. Heschel

What Stinks About Philadelphia...? Is it the Economy or Attitudes?

Smiling is infectious. You can catch it like the flu.
When someone smiled at me today...I started smiling too!

I always loved that poem. Makes you wanna smile, and it is so true. Yet I find, in Philadelphia, this does not seem to hold the same truth. The streets are talking and Philadelphia is not the city that loves you back...