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I’ve got photos stuck in my new phone (recommended) that I am dying to show the world. (What’s the backup plan when you forget your charger in another country?) Ya, it’s me passing the drivers license test in the-middle-of-nowhere Brooklyn, thanks to my excellent driving instructor Phil from a Russian driving school in Queens. The whole experience was a little surreal, and it was mainly because the testers in Brooklyn are so mean. On purpose. But a few pictures and self-congratulations should suffice. Soon.

Nerdy street fun. Political protests would be more fun, if they were organized more like these games.

This is what can happen if you employ non-union workers in New York. I’m not sure how many inflatable rats are parked in front of building sites and businesses around the city, but it seems like someone should make a website with a Google map on it so we can keep track.

I just discovered that Yahoo Maps (unlike MapQuest and Google Maps) has subway and busstops included on search results.

The Danish-Puerto Rican Society is having its annual picnic in Prospect Park on Saturday. Email the president for more info. There’ll be music all day, since we’re piggy-backing on the Boricua Festival. Bring Carlsberg beer and multi-ethnic smiles. Near the Bandshell. 2pm.

I am speaking for openDemocracy at a conference this weekend called Bringing the World Home Through Media at Yale University. It’s organized by Americans for Informed Democracy. On my panel are Media that Matters, Link TV, and The Interra Project. About 100 student journalists will be participating.

My groovy New York pal “James B. Martini” has been on adventures with Calé in Rio. Make sure you don’t miss the cat that looks like Hitler.

New York’s lesbians, gays, transgender and bisexual folks took over the better part of Manhattan today for the annual pride parade (what kind of spam will that attract??). As usual it was a spectacular display of rainbow colors and outrageous outfits. I read words on a lot of t-shirts today. Three favourites: “Dump her”, “We are everywhere”, and “Don’t worry. We’re not your type”.

From the Toronto Star via the Persian Gay & Lesbian Organization: “Fearless in Canada“. Thanks to the work of brave activists, more and more gay Iranians fearing execution and torture at home are being granted asylum in the West.

Slate: Brooklyn’s Trojan Horse: What’s wrong with the buildings Frank Gehry wants to put in my neighborhood?
Wow. I knew it was going to be big ugly and horrible. But not on this scale. I do not want Bruce Ratner to erect giant scyskrapers and a stadium in my neighborhood, even if architect Frank Gehry signed the drawings. Anybody who’s ever been to or walked through the Atlantic Center Mall would understand. Bad judgement all the way.

openDemocracy is cosponsoring an event with the worthiest of cosponsors, Brooklyn Breweries. If there were free beer at all the events we put our name on, there would probably be more people at them. If you’re in New York tomorrow, Thursday, you should join me and the nearly 300 people who bought tickets in advance for the premiere of the film American Zeitgeist. It’s a smart film about the “war on terror”. It’s starts with the Soviet-Afghan war in 1979, and only gets to 9/11 in the middle. The longview is good, but I’m not sure it will help make much sense of any of it. Did we win the war yet? Oh yes, Christopher Hitchens is speaking after the screening.