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While it's sad that everything is politics in our sick era, at least sometimes it's the kind of sad you can laugh at. This morning we mentioned the now-viral Pete King video in which the GOP Congressman blasts the media for lavishing attention on the dead "pervert" Michael Jackson. Now Huffington Post 's Sam Stein informs us the NY-03 Democratic Nominee Fund is using King's outburst to raise money to defeat him in his next election, under the heading "Michael Jackson Fans AGAINST Peter King." The group posts the infamous video and cries, "Fans of Michael Jackson and his legacy stand united against Peter King's hateful words. Please donate here to show Peter King that true MJ fans won't stand for the smearing of a pop sensation!" Donations will actually go to the as-yet-unchosen Democratic contender for King's House seat, unless King goes for the Senate instead that year, in which case they'll just form a new group and raise more money in the name of whatever newly-dead star the meandering congressman is cracking on then -- Courtney Love, probably. Don't feel too sorry for the Jackson fans who get suckered by this -- they'd just spend the money on collectible plates if it weren't this.

Sarah Palin attorney Thomas Van Flein spent his July 4 in Fairbanks, Alaska, issuing a four-page statement warning news organizations not to investigate allegations printed by the Voice last October.

Talk about waving a red flag in front of a bull.

Van Flein's famous client had announced her upcoming resignation as Alaska's governor the day before, and the attorney wanted everyone to know that Palin's sudden and unexpected withdrawal had nothing to do with our story, 'The Book of Sarah' [October 7] which, of course, made many wonder just the opposite.

Van Flein threatened to sue Huffington Post, MSNBC, the New York Times and The Washington Post or anyone else who might "re-publish" an Alaskan blogger's suggestion that Palin resigned because she was under federal investigation in connection with "embezzlement" charges (the FBI denies that they are investigating Palin about anything and we never used the word embezzlement or anything like it). These charges, the lawyer explained, "stem from" an investigation "pertaining to the construction of the Wasilla Sports Complex," the $14.7 million hockey rink launched while Palin was mayor of the small Alaskan town. The Voice story, which examined the linkage between Palin and several contractors who worked on the complex, is the only piece cited by Van Flein, though he denounced it as "one of many fabrications about Sarah Palin."
           
Van Flein's statement -- which derides "modern journalism" for "abhorring" due diligence and factchecking -- is actually longer than the section of the Voice story that examined the connections around the complex, but he does not challenge a single fact actually presented in our story.

New York city subway blogger Benjamin Kabak of Second Avenue Saga likes his old-school Vignelli subway maps: "In the annals of New York City subway history," he says, "nothing is more fetishized and analyzed than the Massimo Vignelli 1970s-era subway map. Over the last few years, I've written posts about Vignelli's signage, an update to the Vignelli map and the Vignelli-inspired KickMap. I also own a handful of Vignelli maps from various years."

What particularly excites Kabak is that the lauded 1970s map has morphed into high fashion as "a sweetly styled silk dress with a fitted bodice and full, pleated skirt," according to the Nordstrom web site, which is selling it for $249.90.

The designer of the dress, New Yorker Christian Francis Roth tells via email that it's part of his 2009 "Gangs of New York" collection, "inspired by Gossip Girl culture combined with the 1979 gang movie 'The Warriors.'" Roth says the dress is modeled after the subway map that appears in the opening sequence of the classic New York thug flick.

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DATE: Sunday July 5, 2009, 10:18 p.m.
LOCATION: Fifth floor hallway, 695 East 163rd Street, the Bronx.

The police say a teenager was stabbed to death at the above address late last night during a fight with another teen. He was declared dead at Lincoln Hospital. The victim was identified as Michael Silva, 16, of East 217th Street in the Bronx.

This afternoon, the police said they arrested Kevin Santiago, 16, of East 166th St. in the Bronx. He was charged with murder, manslaughter and illegal weapons possession.

The Daily News is saying Santiago was furious that his girlfriend had dumped him for Silva. He confronted her, chased her, and after she vanished into her mom's apartment, stabbed Silva. See the News' article here: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2009/07/06/2009-07-06_bronx_boyfriend_nabbed_in_brutal_stabbing_of_girlfriend.html

Know the victim? Know anything about the murder? Drop us a line at grayman@villagevoice.com.

It may not be around much longer, but it seems worth noting that the new seven-member city Board of Education that met last week for the first time after the mayoral control law lapsed includes not a single current public school parent as a member.

The closest to having a personal vested interest in the schools is Dennis Walcott, 57, the Bloomberg deputy mayor who was conveniently selected by Queens borough president Helen Marshall as her own rep to the board. Walcott's four kids graduated from public school and he's got one grandchild enrolled now.

Bronx representative and former Hostos Community College prez Delores Fernandez, 65, also is the mother of two city public school grads, both of whom are currently teaching in the city's schools, according to a spokesman for Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr.

As for the remaining five appointees, they don't have any children in public schools because they don't have any children.

Those non-parents making decisions on the city's million-plus school children are:

Bloomberg deputy mayor Ed Skyler, 36.; Bloomberg deputy mayor Patricia Harris, 53; Manhattan borough president Scott Stringer's general counsel Jimmy Yan, 39 (who once worked at Advocates for Children); Brooklyn beep Marty Markowitz's chief of staff Carlos Scissura, 38 (he's a member of a school board); and Staten Island Boro Prez James Molinaro's deputy, Ed Burke, 50. Image (cc) woodleywonderworks.

Governor Paterson, assemblyman Michael Gianaris, and a bunch of good-government groups had a marvelous idea for breaking the Albany Coup 31-31 state senate voting deadlock: just have Paterson appoint a new Lieutenant Governor to replace the vacancy left by Paterson's own ascension to the Governor's office, and that person would provide the swing vote. And they sent up trial balloons to that effect. Unfortunately the chief legal officer in the state, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, says it's unconstitutional. He cites 4 § 1 and 4 § 6 of the State Constitution, which stipulate that the Governor and Lieutenant Governor shall be elected at the same time and a LG vacancy can only be filled by an election concurrent with a gubernatorial election or, in the senate, by the president pro tempore (Smith or Espada, depending on how you look at it). There's a more detailed legal consideration here that seems to offer some room for argument, but it may be hard to convince a judge to overrule the AG. Common Cause New York, the Citizens' Union, and the Brennan Center were among the groups that supported the proposal. So, back to Plan A: tergiversation and prevarication.

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DATE: Sunday, June 28, 2009 at approximately 2:20 a.m.
LOCATION: 67 Montrose Ave, Brooklyn.

Raul Rosa, a father of two who earned his living fixing windows, was laid to rest Friday at Linden Hill Cemetery in Ridgewood, Queens, his sister told us today.

Rosa, 29, of the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn was shot fatally outside a nightclub on June 28, after he tried to break up a fight that erupted following a hip-hop concert for unsigned artists. He left behind a 9-year-old daughter, and a 3-year-old son. His killer remains at large.

"He was a great man, a working man, a great father to his kids, and a mentor to a lot of the young guys out here," Jessica Rosa tells the Voice.

Rosa says she was inside the Mi Gente Sports Bar and Lounge when an altercation brewed between friends of her brother and another group of men. She says the fight started after someone disrespected the bartender.

"They started punching each other," she says. "My brother separated them so they wouldn't fight. My brother's friends were thrown out. He went outside to make sure they got home. He didn't want anyone to fight and mess up the night because it was a great night. My brother was by the car, the guys were ready to leave, that's when one of the locals came out and shot him."

Rosa says that the club managers failed to order every customer searched before allowing them into the club. "The bouncers were picking and choosing who they searched," she says.

She says the club also would not allow people to leave immediately after the shooting.

Rosa was also unhappy with some errors in a police report and newspaper articles on the shooting. The NYPD's public information office said Rosa had been shot in the leg. In fact, he was shot in the chest by one of six bullets that were sprayed at a car he was standing near.

The local tabloids reported that he was left to die in the street. In fact, his friends quickly put him in a car and drove him to Woodhull Hospital before police had arrived.

Rosa was also upset that the tabs suggested that her brother's prior arrest for drug possession may have had something to do with the murder. That arrest took place 5 years ago, and had nothing to do with the shooting, she said.

Know the victim? Know anything about the shooting? Drop us a line at grayman@villagevoice.com.

New York Magazine cover boy and state senate rascal Pedro Espada told reporter Chris Smith that one of his childhood heroes was late light heavyweight champion, Jose "Chegui" Torres. The legendary Torres, says Espada, taught him as a kid on the South Bronx streets to be a tough puncher and --more importantly -- to also hit the books.

"I grew up in St. Mary's public housing, on Caudwell Avenue, and I met Torres at St. Mary's rec," Espada tells Smith in this week's profile. "Espada got some valuable career advice from Torres: Stay in school. Espada laughs. 'The ability to take and dish out punishment I learned in the ring has stayed with me, though,'"

But friends of Torres, the great boxer-turned-writer who died in January at 72, say if Espada's paid his respects to his inspiration it's news to them.

Attorney Ramon Jimenez, a longtime Torres friend who helped organize a standing-room-only memorial for Torres in February at Hostos Community College says Espada was a no show. The senator also wasn't around when Torres's many pals threw a huge goodbye party for  the fighter when he moved back to Puerto Rico a few years ago.

"They must have had a strange friendship as Espada failed to attend both the goodbye party we had for Jose, and the overcrowded memorial we had for him after his death," says Jimenez, who leads the group, Friends of the South Bronx. "I never heard Jose ever mention this protege."

The long-awaited Bushwick Inlet Park finally broke ground today down by the water between North 9th and 10th Streets.

It's been slow going, which has led to much complaining, and the city doesn't have all the property yet for the grand scheme, but at least the proposed power plant is off the table and, as you can see by these photos, they have about a block or so of what is currently nothingness upon which, we are told, will be placed "a synthetic turf multipurpose field for soccer, football, lacrosse, field hockey, rugby and ultimate Frisbee."

A Miss Heather commenter paid a visit over the weekend, and reports: "Boy, have those plans changed. The wetlands in the old ferry slip are still there but it doesn't show the pier. It only shows one pier platform... The pier platform is there for the future water taxi. Taxpayer money should go for the pier not toward a business."

NY1 reports the MTA is putting speakers in the IRT station at 96th Street so that subway riders may experience "sounds of nature" while waiting for their train. These will include "chirping birds, rustling leaves, and a flowing brook." Maybe they anticipate disappointment over the scaled-back redesign of the station, and hope to soothe grumpy patrons with audio of babbling brooks and cheerful birds. Or else they've decided that the incursion of nature, in the form of water leaks, at the South Ferry Station is a can't-beat-'em-join-'em situation. Jumanji!