June 5, 2014 - WestchesterGuardian.com

Transcription

PRESORTED
STANDARD
PERMIT #3036
WHITE PLAINS NY
Vol. VI, No. XXII
Westchester’s Most Influential Weekly
YONKERS
A “Doable” Vision
By HEZI ARIS, Page 3
Thursday, June 5, 2014 $1.00
SHERIF AWAD
Ismailia Film
Festival 2014
Page 5
PAUL FEINER
Finding Employment
Page 7
HOUSES OF WORSHIP
Shavuot and Shabbat
Feast: St. Anthony of Padua
Page 10
JOHN F. McMULLEN
Friction Between Our
Values and Action
Page 15
RAYMOND IBRAHIM
Islamic Fatwa
Page 16
TRAVEL
GOVERNMENT
Charming
Seaside Inn
New England
Setting
Village of
Ardsley
FY2014 Budget
Message
By Lee Daniels, Page 12
By Mayor PETER PORCINO
WWW.WESTCHESTERGUARDIAN.COM
LARRY M. ELKIN
Net Neutrality Does
Not Equal Net Utility
Page 17
Dr. OREN LEVIN-WALDMAN
The Sources of
Wage Inequality
Page 17
JOHN SIMON
Subaltern Silver,
Delicious Dale
Page 24
rience fundraising, knowledge of what development entails and experience working with sponsors/donors; 2) Operations Manager- must have a
good knowledge of computers/software/ticketing systems, duties include
overseeing all box office, concessions, movie staffing, day of show lobby
staffing such as Merchandise seller, bar sales. Must be familiar with POS
system and willing to organize concessions. Full time plus hours. Call (203)
438-5795 and ask for Julie or Allison
Page 2
THE WESTCHESTER GUARDIAN
THE WESTcHESTER GUARDiAn
THE WESTCHESTER
GUARDIAN
THE WESTcHESTER
GUARDiAn
RADIO
RADIO
RADIO
Of Significance
Of Significance
Community Section ............................................................................... 4
Community
Section ............................................................................... 44
Business ................................................................................................
Business
................................................................................................
Calendar ............................................................................................... 44
Calendar
............................................................................................... 45
Charity ..................................................................................................
Creative
Disruption
............................................................................ 56
Charity
..................................................................................................
Contest
Cultural
Perspective
........................................................................... 766
Contest
..................................................................................................
Creative Disruption ............................................................................
Energy
Issues
.......................................................................................
Creative
Disruption
............................................................................
Education ............................................................................................. 867
In
Memoriam
....................................................................................1078
Education
.............................................................................................
Fashion
..................................................................................................
Medicine
.............................................................................................10
Fashion
.................................................................................................. 89
Fitness....................................................................................................
Najah’s
Corner ...................................................................................119
Fitness....................................................................................................
Health ..................................................................................................10
Movie
....................................................................................12
Health
..................................................................................................10
HistoryReview
................................................................................................10
Music
...................................................................................................12
History
................................................................................................10
Ed Koch Movie Review ...................................................................12
Community
........................................................................................13
Ed
Koch
Movie
Review ...................................................................12
Spoof
....................................................................................................13
Writers
Collection.............................................................................14
Spoof
....................................................................................................13
Sports Scene .......................................................................................13
Books
Sports
Scene
.......................................................................................13
Najah’s...................................................................................................16
Corner
...................................................................................13
People
..................................................................................................18
Najah’s
Corner
...................................................................................13
Writers Collection.............................................................................14
Eye
On...................................................................................................16
Theatre
..................................................................................18
Writers
Collection.............................................................................14
Books
Leaving
on
a
Jet
Plane ......................................................................19
Books
...................................................................................................16
Transportation
...................................................................................17
Government
Section
............................................................................20
Transportation
...................................................................................17
Government
Section
............................................................................17
Campaign
Trail
..................................................................................20
Government
Section ............................................................................17
Albany Correspondent
....................................................................17
Economic
Development....................................................................17
Albany
Correspondent
Mayor Marvin’s
Column..................................................................20
.................................................................18
Education
...........................................................................................21
Mayor
Marvin’s
Column .................................................................18
Government
.......................................................................................19
The Hezitorial
....................................................................................21
Government
.......................................................................................19
OpEd
Section .........................................................................................23
LegalSection
....................................................................................................23
OpEd
.........................................................................................23
Ed Koch Commentary.....................................................................23
People
..................................................................................................24
Ed
Koch
Letters
toCommentary.....................................................................23
the Editor ..........................................................................24
Strategyto...............................................................................................24
Letters
Editor............................................................................25
..........................................................................24
Weir Onlythe
Human
OpEd
Section
.........................................................................................25
Weir
Only
Human
............................................................................25
Legal Notices ..........................................................................................26
Legal Notices ..........................................................................................26
..........................................................................................27
CLASSIFIED ADS
YOUR PARENTAL RIGHTS AND COMMITMENT OF GUARDIANSHIP AND CUSTODY OF THE
CHILD FOR THE PURPOSES OF ADOPTION, AND MAY FILE BEFORE THE END OF THE 15-MONTH
PERIOD.
Office Space Available-
Prime Location,
Yorktown
Heights
UPON GOOD CAUSE, THE COURT MAY ORDER AN INVESTIGATION
TO DETERMINE
WHETHSq. Ft.: $1800.
Wilca: 914.632.1230
ER THE NON-RESPONSENT PARENT(s) SHOULD1,000
BE CONSIDERED
ASContact
A RESPONDENT;
IF
THE COURT DETERMINES THE CHILD SHOULD BE REMOVED FROM HIS/HER HOME, THE
COURT MAY ORDER AN INVESTIGATION TO DETERMINE
NON-RESPONDENTCounty
PrimeWHETHER
RetailTHE
- Westchester
PARENT(s) SHOULD BE SUITABLE
CUSTODIANS
FOR THE
CHILD;
IF THE CHILD
IS PLACEDHeights
AND
Thursday,
JUNE
5,Best
2014
Location
in Yorktown
REMAINS IN FOSTER CARE FOR FIFTEEN1100
OF THE
RECENT
TWENTY-TWO
Sq.MOST
Ft. Store
$3100;
1266 Sq. MONTHS,
Ft. store THE
$2800 and 450 Sq. Ft.
AGENCY
MAY BE REQUIRED
TO FILE
PETITION FOR TERMINATION OF PARENTAL RIGHTS OF
THURSDAY,
FEBRUARY
23,A 2012
Page 3
Store
$1200.
THE PARENT(s)
AND
COMMITMENT
OF
GUARDIANSHIP
AND
CUSTODY
OF
THE
CHILD
FOR
THE
THURSDAY,
MARCH
29, 2012
Page
THURSDAY,
FEBRUARY
Page 3
Suitable
for
anyNOT
type
of business.
Contact Wilca:
914.632.1230
PURPOSES OF ADOPTION,
EVEN IF23,
THE2012
PARENT(s)
WERE
NAMED
AS RESPONDENTS
IN
THE CHILD NEGLECT OR ABUSE PROCEEDING.
Of Significance
HELP WANTED
A NON-CUSTODIAL PARENT HAS THE RIGHT TO REQUEST TEMPORARY OR PERMANENT CUS-
A non profit OF
Performing
Arts
Center
is seeking
two job positions- 1) DirecTODY OF THE CHILD AND TO SEEK ENFORCEMENT
VISITATION
RIGHTS
WITH
THE CHILD.
tor of Development- FT-must have a background in development or expeBY ORDER
OF THE FAMILY COURT OF THE
STATE
OF NEW YORK
rience
fundraising,
knowledge of what development entails and
Feature
Section..................................................................................................................................
3 experience working
with sponsors/donors;
2) Operations
The
Hezitorial.
...............................................................................................................................
3 have a
TO THE
ABOVE-NAMED
RESPONDENT(S)
WHO RESIDE(S)
OR IS FOUND
AT [specifyManager- must
good knowledge of computers/software/ticketing systems, duties include
address(es)]:
Government..................................................................................................................................
4 lobby
overseeing all box office, concessions, movie staffing, day of show
Westchester OnCommunity
theLast
Level
isaddresses:
usually
heard
from
to Friday,
from NY
1010701
a.m.
to 12
known
TIFFANY
RAY:Monday
24staffing
Garfieldsuch
Street,
Yonkers,
Section.........................................................................................................................
5 POS
as#3,
Merchandise
seller, bar sales. Must be familiar with
Noon on the Internet:
http://www.BlogTalkRadio.com/WestchesterOntheLevel.
system
willing
to organize
concessions.
Call (203)
Calendar.........................................................................................................................................
Last known addresses: KENNETH THOMAS:
24 and
Garfield
Street,
#3, Yonkers,
NY 10701 Full time plus hours. 5
Because of the importance
of a Federal court case438-5795
purporting
corruption
bribery
and ask
for Julie orand
Allison
Cultural
Perspectives...................................................................................................................
5
An
Order
to
Show
Cause
under
Article
10
of
the
Family
Court
Act
having
been
filed
with
this
Court
allegations, programming
be suspended
for the days
of March
26 to 29, 2012. YonWestchester
On the
Levelwith
heard
Monday
to Friday,
from
Economic
Development.............................................................................................................
7
seeking
to is
modify
the from
placement
for the above-named
child. 10 a.m. to 12 Noon
Westchester On
On the
the Level
Level with
with Narog
Narog and Aris
Westchester
and Aris
Aris
and
kersthe
Philharmonic
Orchestra
Sadewhite
is our
scheduled
Friday,
Westchester
On the
Level is Conductor
heard fromJames
Monday
to Friday,
from
10 a.m.guest
to 12
Noon
on
Internet:
Join
Education.......................................................................................................................................
7
YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED to appear before this Court at Yonkers Family Court
March
30.
on
the
Internet: by
Join
the
conversation
calling
toll-free
to
1-877-674-2436.
Please
stay
on
topic.
Film.................................................................................................................................................
8
located
at
53
So.
Broadway,
Yonkers,
New
York,
on
the
28th
day
of
March,
2012
at
2;15
pm
in
the
It is howeverby
anticipated
that theto
jury
will conclude its Please
deliberation
ontopic.
either Monthe
conversation
calling
toll-free
1-877-674-2436.
on
afternoon
of saidare
day your
to answer
the petition
and
showstay
cause
why saidFebruary
child should20th
not beand ending9on
Health.............................................................................................................................................
Richard
Narog March
and
Hezi
Aris
co-hosts.
Incase,
thetowe
week
beginning
day or Tuesday,
26
or
27.
Should
that
be
the
will
resume
our
regular
adjudicated to be a neglected child and why you should not be dealt with in accordance with the
Richard
Narog
and
Hezi
Aris
are10entourage
your
In
the week
beginning
Make
it Fun.
...................................................................................................................................
February
24th,schedule
we
have
an
exciting
of
guests.
programming
and
announce
fact on
the
Yonkers
Tribune
website.February 20th and ending9on
provisions
of
Article
ofthat
the co-hosts.
Family
Court
Act.
February
24th,
we
have
an
exciting
entourage
of
guests.
Houses
of
Worship.....................................................................................................................
10
Richard
Narog
and
Hezi
Aris
are
co-hosts
of
the
show.
Every Monday is special. On
Monday,
February
20th,
Wade,
participant
in http://
PLEASE
TAKE FURTHER
NOTICE,
thatKrystal
you have the
right toabecelebrated
represented by
a lawPersonal
Finance.
.is.......................................................................................................................
11
Every
Monday is special.
Monday,
20th,
celebrated
participant
in http://
yer, and ifOn
the
Court
finds
youFebruary
are
unableKrystal
to
pay forKrystal
a lawyer,
you
haveathe
right
to havewho
a lawyer
www.TheWritersCollection.com
our
guest.
Wade
isWade,
a mother
of three
works fifty
miles
Pro
Life.........................................................................................................................................
11
assigned
by
the
Court.
www.TheWritersCollection.com
our guest.
Krystal
is a novel
mother
threeaccepted
who works
fifty miles
from home and writes in her “spare is
time.”
“Wilde’s
Fire,”Wade
her debut
hasofbeen
for publication
Travel.
.
...........................................................................................................................................
12 it?
from
home
and
writes
in
her
“spare
time.”
“Wilde’s
Fire,”
her
debut
novel
has
been
accepted
for
publication
PLEASE
TAKE
FURTHER
NOTICE,
that
if
you
fail
to
appear
at
the
time
and
place
and should be available in 2012. Not far behind is her second novel, “Wilde’s Army.” How does she do
noted in
above,
the Court
and determine
the petition
as provided
by law.Army.” How does she do
Music.
............................................................................................................................................
14 it?
and
available
2012.
Notwill
farhear
behind
is her second
novel,
“Wilde’s
Tuneshould
in andbefind
out.
Swimming.
.
..................................................................................................................................
14
Dated:
January
30,
2012
BY
ORDER
OF
THE
COURT
Tune in and find out.
Co-hosts Richard Technology/Creative
Narog2 and
Hezi ArisDisruption.
will relish
the
dissection
column
1 column
CLERK
OF
THE COURTof all things politics on Tuesday, February
.
...........................................................................................
15
Co-hosts
Richard
andPresident
Hezi ArisChuck
will relish
the dissection
of his
all things
politicsfrom
on Tuesday,
February
21st. Yonkers
CityNarog
Council
Lesnick
will share
perspective
the august
inner
Middle
East
Forum....................................................................................................................
16
21st.
Yonkers
Council
President
Lesnick will
share 22nd.
his perspective
from the
august
sanctum
of theCity
City
Council
ChambersChuck
on Wednesday,
February
Stephen Cerrato,
Esq.,
will inner
share
Current
Comentary...................................................................................................................
17
sanctum
of the
CityonCouncil
Chambers
on
Wednesday,
February
22nd.
Esq.,be
will
share
his political
insight
Thursday,
February
23rd.
Friday, February
24th
hasStephen
yet to beCerrato,
filled. It may
a propiEye
on
Theatre.
.
...........................................................................................................................
24
his
political
Thursday,
February
23rd. Friday,
February
24th
has yet to be
filled.
It mayofbeThat
a propitious
day toinsight
sum uponwhat
transpired
throughout
the week.
A sort
of BlogTalk
Radio
version
Was
....................................................................................................................................
tious
day toThat
sumGovernment.
up what
transpired
throughout the week. A sort of BlogTalk Radio version of That 17
Was
The Week
Was
(TWTWTW).
Public
Policy................................................................................................................................ 17
The Week That Was
(TWTWTW).
For those who cannot
join us.................................................................................................................................
live, consider listening to the show by way of an MP3 download, or
Governance.
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For
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who cannot
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minutes
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you
can
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the
segment
in
our
archive
that
you
may
Mayor Marvin............................................................................................................................. 18link
demand.
Within
15Lee
minutes
of ain
show’s
ending,paragraph.
you can find the segment in our archive that you may19
link
to using the
hyperlink
provided
the opening
Hamilton.
..............................................................................................................................
Legal Notices,
to using the hyperlink provided in the opening paragraph.
Advertise
Today
Campaign
Trail...........................................................................................................................
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The entire archiveLegal
is
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maintained
perusal.
The easiest way to find a particular interview
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Hair Cuts
• Stylingwhy,
• Washand
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where,
Pedicure • Acrylic Nails • Fill
Ins • Silkwhy,
Wraps •and
Nail Art
Designs
where,
how,
the
why
andand
how
drive our
will use
our •more
time,
ourwill
resources,
to pursuit.
get past We
the
Highights • Coloring • Extensions
• Manicure
Eyebrowabundant
Waxing
will
use
our
more
abundant
time,
and
our
resources,
to
get
past the
initial ‘spin’ and ‘damage control’ often characteristic of immediate
initial
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Yudi’s Salon 610 Main St, New Rochelle,
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10801 914.633.7600
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Legal
Thursday, JUNE 5, 2014
Page 3
FeatureSection
THE HEZITORIAL
A Doable Vision to Eclipse the Talk and the Drama Presently Consuming Yonkers
By HEZI ARIS
It is recognized though
rarely mentioned that the
City of Yonkers (CoY)
is a diamond in the
rough. Yonkers is by every
measure the centerpiece of the county. Yet
when measured against the barometer of
median wealth, it is outdistanced by most
of Westchester County. Juxtaposed to
that measurement, CoY is sought after by
every retailer for its very location, location,
location aspect, and every imaginable
developer, for one reason or another. The
very promise diversity of people inspires
has languished mostly because the battles
that have been fought to dominate the
City of Hills have exhausted CoY’s ability
to wrestle control of her destiny, often
by bullying tactics that have shunned
Yonkersites alike, no matter their innate
capacity to excel beyond the opportunities
in which they are permitted to engage. Lest
anyone infer this conundrum of capacity for
excellence and outcome is a recent environment of acknowledged malaise, study has
proven the dilemma has exhausted CoY for
some seven decades. A collective resurgent
individual effort in search of doable vision
worthy of attaining success and direction
still eludes the city once referred, “The
City of Gracious Living”. Such attributes
were the “top” accolade of its time. They
were gained with sweat and toil mostly
by an immigrant population who created
a robust sense of self acknowledgement
throughout the metropolitan region that
presently languishes in the minds of those
old enough to remember or history buffs
that yearn to appreciate the wealth of
history and the contributions the City of
Yonkers made over four centuries; laudable
at the very least. The crossroads yearning for
better can be afforded every Yonkersite the
potential to create rather than replicate the
past, indeed exceed in time with a vigorous,
enterprising, cultural, redefinition of CoY.
The history and the present attest to the
delineation above. All required now is the
engine to kick start the process. It is easier
than most would imagine. In fact, it has
stood openly camouflaged before us; to this
day unseen.
It is the engine that will bring purpose
to Yonkers once it is adopted. It will
redefine bond-ratings based on verified
standards rather than superficial hopes.
It will create the gravitas that has for too
long eluded Yonkers. It will mitigate the
loquacious promises of “so-called” developers who stand cup in hand for a piece
of the taxpayer’s largesse in Albany or the
Yonkers IDA, who are otherwise incapable
of moving forward with their “plan”. Truth
be told, those “so-called” developers don’t
have a pot to piss in; if they had, they would
have begun the projects they assert they can
complete. The promise of construction jobs,
the rebuilding of a school infrastructure,
the complimentary demand to invest in
CoY eclipses every other concept brought
forward to date. In fact, the project will
heal the wounds between union membership and Yonkers City Hall, drive
educational excellence, move Yonkersites up
the economic ladder, bring an even greater
sense of community and neighborhood
culture, as well as an easier load for mitigating police work. This program will reassert
the long lost commitment Yonkersites must
make to the Yonkers Police Department, the
Yonkers Fire Department, the Department
of Public Works, the CSEA workers who
remain the backbone of the Yonkers Board
of Education, and the SEIU workers. Lest
anyone believe this editorial will prove itself
a panacea to that ailing Yonkers, think again.
However, be assured the mechanism to kick
start Yonkers toward a doable imprint that
will draw people to consider Yonkers as the
alternative to Brooklyn, Hoboken, Austin
or elsewhere, can be accomplished and
done so within no longer than six-months
duration for its very adoption. Just recognizing the “miracle” it embodies is awesone.
The effort will only gain support and
bring about a doable outcome if it is shared
honestly and openly with Yonkersites; that
is, gaining counsel expert at such concerns,
with no familial ties to those in office and/or
related to those in office. The focus must be
to gain “trust” by working on maintaining
the transparency of purpose and affordability. What is that kick-starter? It is the
Public Private Partnership for Education
(P3forE). The P3forE concept has the
private sector making the investment for
the cost of the project that needs to be paid
off over time. At issue is only whether the
P3forE debt can be paid over a a financial
term commensurate with CoY’s ability to
pay. That can be worked out. The size of the
build out is only based on whether the debt
service can be managed by CoY.
P3forE is a long-standing concept
that brings together the public sector (the
People, that is, Yonkersites), represented
by Mayor Mike Spano, the Executive
branch of office), and the Yonkers City
Council (the legislative branch of government), with the private sector (financial
institutions) to build and rebuild a school
infrastructure (school buildings) that must
be as modern and relevant to those in the
field know to build. The buildings must
include the appropriate wiring for Internet
and other electricity based concepts, build
out that incorporates expected increases in
student registration populations, and most
importantly, a bond to support the project
structure for a 50 to 75 year term as debt
payment is made over a likely 25 years term.
Such a beginning should also spur a beginning that builds at minimum one school
in every council district to reduce busing
costs and time to get to and from one’s
home to the school and back. Adopting
RADIO
Westchester On the Level with Narog and Aris
Designated a “Featured” BlogTalk Radio program, has been operating for over two years
via the Internet with Co-Hosts Richard Narog and Hezi Aris every weekday, from 10 a.m.
to 12 Noon. Listen to the show live or on demand. Share your perspective by calling
(347) 205-9201 or by clicking onto the following hyperlinks: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/
westchesteronthelevel
a P3forE program must incorporate the
building of a four-year state endorsed university aligned with the New York State
sponsored StartUp program that permits
business investment in Yonkers relieved of
paying state taxes for 10 years, but only in
an area with a school of higher learning;
a requirement demanded by the business
inducement program. Even without the
StartUp program, the fourth largest ciy in
the state needs a school of higher learning.
A good friend suggested transforming
the former Homes for America building
into a Pre-K center. Pre-K is funded for
only a half-day in Yonkers. While the need
for full day is required, perhaps the second
half of the day may need to be overseen
by volunteers. Difficult times require volunteerism. Let’s not forget it IS all about
“our” children. Besides, volunteerism can be
managed so people need only offer an hour
or two a week.
The task may seem daunting, but it
is not. The task is doable. Yonkersites have
the heart; we only lead the leadership to
get us there. This plan is commensurate
with serving the viability of a great city
with specific needs. Graft of any kind
must be ostracized; accomplished by total
Continued on page 4
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Page 4
THE HEZITORIAL
you agree? If there is another option, I
would like to hear it. It is time Yonkersites
speak their mind in name or anonymously
to return CoY to a balanced frame of mind
and purpose. If there is a better way to
resuscitate a city yearning for more, please
share it online. Let everyone know your
thoughts; don’t just share your brilliant
concepts among a few friends and associates. That hasn’t worked.
I beseech you to engage in the discourse. If City Hall and the Yonkers City
Council can’t come to terms with the reality
Yonkers presently faces, public input will
help guide the process toward enlightening
those demanded to serve the public interest.
I’ve rolled up my sleeves. Please do likewise.
Let’s get it done!
Village of Ardley’s Fiscal Year 2014- 2015 Budget Message
of the library, particularly as they service our
neighbors in Elmsford under a contractual
agreement signed several years ago.
--Clarifying that last point, while we
will not technically be adding to our roster of
employees, our long time Village Manager,
George Calvi, has announced that he will be
retiring at the end of November. We have
contractual commitments to George for
unused sick days and vacation which will be
paid out of next year’s budget. And we will be
hiring a new manager. Given the demands
of the position and the astounding depth of
knowledge and information stored mainly
in the recesses of George’s mind, we plan to
have a new manager in place at least a month
or two before George walks out the door,
allowing George to impart all that stored up
information to the new manager. This will
require double payments for the manager
position during this period of overlap.
A Doable Vision to Eclipse the Talk and the Drama Presently Consuming Yonkers
Continued from page 3
transparency. And lastly, the old guard that
has brought Yonkers to her knees over the
many years of corruption under their watch
and over which few state or county departments have delved to correct it maligned
outcome must be supplanted with credible
experts who are willing to share their
knowledge for the benefit of the City of
Yonkers’ benefit. The time is now. Let’s do it.
Remember that the strife, bigotry,
stress, animosity, nepotism, patronage,
and graft revolves about only one thing;
survival. Survival can only be accomplished
by earning a living. P3forE will begin the
process of reviving the cachet long ago lost
to the bickering, finger-pointing antics of
those wanting only to carve a larger piece
of the pie for themselves. The $1 billion
plus budget of the City of Yonkers must be
managed to produce a return commensurate with and even exceeding the investment
made over many years by Yonkersites. Do
GOVERNMENT
By Mayor PETER R. PORCINO
Overview
The Ardsley Board
of Trustees adopted the
2014-15 budget on Monday
evening, April 28, 2014. The
total anticipated appropriations (expenditures) for the coming year are $11,665,254.
That represents a 7.39% increase over
last year’s budgeted appropriations, but is
offset in part by $2,407, 036 in anticipated
revenues, representing a 7.9% increase in
revenues from the prior year.The net increase
in appropriations less revenues from year to
year comes to $684,540. The increase in estimated appropriations is significantly lower
when compared with our actual expenditures for last year (as opposed to our original
budgeted projections for last year) since we
had several extraordinary expenditures in
this past year that were not anticipated in last
year’s original budget. The largest of these
was an additional $275,000 in pension contributions required by the New York State
Comptroller in excess of the Comptroller’s
original estimate.
We continue to experience an erosion
in our tax base due mainly to a hangover
from the recession which saw property
values decline significantly. The New York
State office that sets our ratio of assessed
value to market value failed to keep pace
with the reduction in market values, resulting in a staggering increase in successful
tax challenges, and unfairly skewing taxes
for everyone. It also resulted in some
unfavorable tax adjustments in favor of commercial properties. We are hopeful that with
property values firming up, and New York
State catching up to valuation adjustments,
these tax challenges will dwindle down to a
handful. You should also be aware by now
that the Town of Greenburgh has commenced its town-wide property revaluation,
which should result in a drastic drop in tax
challenges. (The goal of the revaluation is
not to increase the overall tax burden. It is
to spread that burden more fairly based on
current market valuations.) The results of the
revaluation will not go into effect until the
2017 tax year.
The net increase in our appropriations,
coupled with the decrease in our tax base,
means that we need to raise our tax rate to
cover the shortfall. The tax rate will increase
Before speaking to the police...call
George Weinbaum
ATTORNEY AT LAW
FREE CONSULTATION:
Criminal, Medicaid/Medicare Fraud Matters
White-Collar Crime & Healthcare Prosecutions
T. 914.948.0044 F.914.686.4873
175 MAIN ST., SUITE 711-7 • WHITE PLAINS, NY 10601
by 8.87%. The new tax rate will be $307.23
per thousand dollars of assessed valuation. The average tax bill in the Village will
increase by $450.54.
Increases in Appropriations
There were many factors driving the
increase in appropriations. These are the
major ones.
--Payroll: Compensation increased by
3% under our labor contracts, although this
number was offset by a continuing increase
in employee contributions to their health
care coverage, which now totals 1.5% of
salary.
--Pension Contributions: Pension
contributions have been the biggest driver
of budget increases for several years now.
Despite the State Comptroller’s pronouncements that the New York State pension
funds are sound, and despite the large gains
in the stock market, we still have been
experiencing 15-20% increases each year in
our required pension contributions, which
means hundreds of thousands of dollars
added to our budget yearly.
--Related Employee Costs: Other
employee costs, including social security,
workers compensation, medical and dental
insurance, increased by approximately
$70,000.
--Equipment Purchases: We expensed
the purchase of a police cruiser, which will
cost $41,000, rather than borrow for this
cost. We also expect to make substantial
purchases in equipment for our beleaguered
DPW/Sanitation Department, some of
which will be expensed, but most of which
will go into our capital budget. The DPW
has patiently waited for replacements for
trucks and equipment that in some cases
are decades old. But the time has come to
address these needs as their ability to do their
jobs is being imperiled by breakdowns and
long waits for repairs. We will also be replacing our phone system and e-mail system as
our existing equipment has outlived its usefulness, and is no longer up to the tasks they
were designed for, let alone the increasing
reliance on these technologies to carry out
the Village functions.
--We will also be making a substantial
contribution to our road repair budget this
year. This is another budget item that has
suffered from deferral, and the condition of
our roads attests to the need for extensive
repaving throughout the Village.
--We will be replacing much of our
street lighting with LED lights. While this
will require an upfront outlay, the Village will
see an immediate reduction in energy costs.
--The only addition to our personnel
will be one-half of a children’s librarian. We
are restoring the full-time position of children’s librarian in light of the increased needs
Solidifying our Financial
Footing
While we witnessed substantial
increases in budget costs for this coming
fiscal year, we believe that the Village is on
sounder financial footing as we look beyond
next year. We believe the tax base has stabilized and the State has moved closer to an
appropriate assessment ratio. Revaluation
will bring some equity to the housing assessments and reduce tax grievances. After
several years of double-digit increases in our
pension contributions, the next year’s figures
appear to be in line with historical numbers,
and we may even experience a decrease.
Increases in employee salaries will be smaller
and their contributions towards health care
will increase again. We have allocated considerable monies to meet capital needs in this
year’s budget, which should allow for smaller
allocations in the next few years.
We will continue to look for ways to
save money, including sharing and consolidating services where appropriate.
Ultimately our goal is to continue to deliver
high quality services at reasonable cost to the
taxpayers, preserving Village life and making
the Village a desirable place to live and raise
a family.
Peter R. Porcino is mayor of the Village of
Ardsley
Page 5
Heritage: 30 Years and Thriving.” The day’s
events include entertainment by musical
groups and dancers, along with drama and
poetry readings, health and educational
exhibits, and activities for children. Visitors
will also be able to browse the many vendors
who will be selling traditional arts and crafts
and countless types of ethnic foods.
I must say, my daughter and all her
friends looked beautiful for their prom last
week, my other daughters and wife did
as well, as for me, well you can only do so
much…see you next week.
CommunitySection
CALENDAR
News & Notes from Northern Westchester
By MARK JEFFERS
June is busting out all over
as is my waistline, so it’s off
to the gym, but not before I
finish this week’s “slimming
down” edition of “News &
Notes.”
Here’s one way for me to get started,“Be
Fit One Day at a Time”. The program is an
outdoor bodyweight fitness boot camp being
held at the Kensico Dam Plaza in Valhalla
on Wednesdays and Saturdays in June.
Only at The Field Library in
Peekskill… still have last year’s summer
middle and high school summer reading
books at home? Now through June 27th,
bring back your looooong overdue summer
reading books and pay noooooo fines,
sound like a deal?… then spread the news.
Grand Prix New York in Mount Kisco
recently hosted the Second Annual Project
Yellow Light Race, raising more than $3,000
for the charity. This year’s race was organized
to spread the word on the dangers of distracted driving.
Guided trail rides, raffles for prizes and
live music, along with bicycling contests and
fun, will highlight the 19th Annual Fat Tire
Festival, Sunday, June 8th, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.,
at Blue Mountain Reservation in Peekskill.
The Fat Tire Festival is a celebration
of mountain biking camaraderie. One and
all are welcome to come out and spend
a day riding some of the greatest trails in
New York State. Organized group rides
for all ability levels, led by experienced local
guides, will be leaving throughout the day
to explore the trails. Watch and compete
in the many skills competitions, including
a wheelie contest, fast and slow races, and
the infamous, crowd-pleasing “skinny skills”
contest on an ultra-narrow, raised wooden
obstacle course. The event is presented by
Westchester County Parks and Westchester
Mountain Biking Association (WMBA), a
mountain biking advocacy group dedicated
to promoting the use of mountain bikes on
trails in a safe and environmentally friendly
manner. Food and refreshments will be
available for purchase. A portion of the
proceeds benefit the Friends of Westchester
County Parks, Inc.
The Pound Ridge Library and
Recreation Department will host a senior
health and resource fair on Tuesday, June
10th, from 10:30am to 2:30pm.
More senior news… Westchester
County senior citizens are invited to spend
the day poolside as they enjoy an old-fashioned barbecue and entertainment during
a pool party and barbecue scheduled on
Tuesday, June 24th, 10am to 3pm, at Saxon
Woods Pool in White Plains, the rain date
is Wednesday, June 25th. This event is sponsored by Westchester County Parks and the
county’s Department of Senior Programs
and Services, the pool party is open to
Westchester County residents age 60 and
older. Seniors are welcome to bring their
young grandchildren.
Congratulations to Skip Beitzel and
the nice folks at Hickory & Tweed as they
celebrate 53 years in Armonk providing the
region with everyone’s cycling and skiing
needs!
Here’s another shout out to the workers
at Twigs Thriftree Thrift Shop in Mount
Kisco for their 50 years of service in raising
funds for Northern Westchester Hospital
and for making comfort items for patients,
way to go and congratulations.
Bring your camera for some great
nature photos at Cranberry Lake Preserve,
Old Orchard Street, in North White Plains
at the “Snapshot Nature Hunt,” being held
at 2pm on Saturday June 7th.
Experience
the
richness
of
CULTURAL PERSPECTIVES
Ismailia Film Festival 2014
By SHERIF AWAD
While the Egyptian people
were standing in long lines
to vote for their favorite
candidate in the presidential
elections, the Board of the
17th Edition of the Ismailia Film Festival for
Documentaries and Shorts were finalizing
their selection for launch next week.
Headed by president and director of
photography Kamal Abdel-Aziz, and its
director and producer Mohamed Hefzy,
the upcoming film festival edition will
take place from June 3-8, 2014 in the
Continued on page 6
African-American culture at the 30th
Annual African-American Heritage Festival
on Sunday, June 22nd, Noon to 7pm, at the
Kensico Dam Plaza in Valhalla. The theme
for this year’s event is “Celebrating Our
Mark Jeffers resides in Bedford Hills, New York,
with his wife Sarah, and three daughters, Kate,
Amanda, and Claire.
Page 6
CULTURAL PERSPECTIVES
Ismailia Film Festival 2014
City of Ismailia, known to Egyptians as
“The City of Beauty and Enchantment.
Although it is considered as one of the
most important festivals in Egypt, the
Ismailia Festival has faced many challenges this year: an economic challenge
due to the lack of private sponsors and
the diminished support provided by the
Egyptian Ministry of Culture that did
not exceed 1.2 million Egyptian Pounds,
equivalent to US $167,824.80. Another
challenge is related to the critical timing
of the this edition; it coincides between
the announcement of the Egyptian
Presidential election results and the start of
the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil on June
12th. Nevertheless, the selection committee has succeeded to getting 46 films from
32 countries, in addition to some leading
film jurists including Syrian Director
Mohamed Malas, its jury president, and
Egyptian Producer Marianne Khoury,
French Producer Marianne Lere, and
Greek Director Dimitris Koutsiabasakos
comprising the august jury membership.
The 17th edition will open with the
second part of the documentary Jews of
Egypt by Amir Ramses who continues to
investigate their stories by focusing on the
Amir Ramses
Egyptian Jews who still reside in Egypt
after refusing to leave the country in the
1950s, and also focused on their progeny.
The
Long
Documentary
Competition
features
interesting
new films. Brooklyn-based Egyptian
Filmmaker/Director Sherief Elkatsha,
Cairo Drive, is another documentary, this
one focusing on Cairo and its 20 million
habitants, its two million cars, its taxi
drivers’ habits, its stuffed public buses, its
donkey carts and everybody’s daily race
to go to work and hours later returning
to their homes once again. Shot between
2009 and 2012, Cairo Drive won Best
Documentary at the Abu Dhabi Film
Festival 2013.
My Love Awaits Me by the Sea is a
Jordanian-Palestinian documentary by
Mais Darwazah, who takes a first time
journey back to her homeland, Palestine.
Her guide is Hassan is Everywhere, a children’s book of illustrations and poetry by
the late Palestinian artist Hassan Hourani
who drowned in the forbidden Jaffa Sea
(Yafa in Arabic, Yafo in Hebrew) in 2003.
Guardians of Time Lost by Lebanese
Director Diala Kachmar focuses on marginalized young men, known as the thugs
of the Lija neighborhood of Beirut. The
name “Guardians of Lost Time” was
bequeathed onto these boys by writer
Hassan Dawood to designate their being
lost between the labyrinth of drugs and
the maelstrom of crime. The documentary
won the Arab Muhr Special Jury Prize at
the Dubai Film Festival 2013.
Among the films in the Short
Documentary Competition, the 25-minute-long Egyptian entry Om Amira By
Naji Ismail focuses on the title’s protagonist is first seen on a downtown rooftop
with her husband and two daughters.
Having no other option to support her
family and her sick daughter, Om Amira
sells homemade fried potatoes thoughout
the night, until the following daybreak.
In My Old Grandmother, Lebanese
Director Hadi Moussally presents a
three minute portrait of his grandmother, Mayssar, who has become very
old, perhaps approaching her demise
within days of her final moment of rest.
On the other hand, the Short Narrative
Competition will feature the15-minutelong Iranian entry, More Than Two Hours,
about a couple wondering the night in
search for a hospital to cure a sick girl.
Two weeks before the festival’s
opening, Egyptian Director Bassel
Ramses released a statement denouncing the festival’s decision to not screen
his latest, long-documentary, Sokkar
Barra (Sugar on the Side), in the official
competition. Ramses claimed that the
festival will “kill” the film by deeming
Sugar on the Side
Ismailia Film Festival 2014 poster.
it out-of-competition, which, according to him, should distract the attention
of the attending juries and media. The
documentary was shot across the villages
of el-Hawamdiah, el-Azizeyah, Abou
Bassel Ramses
el-Nomros and focus on the arranged,
and sometimes paid, marriage of poor
Egyptian young women to wealthy,
visiting Arab men. The Madrid-based
Ramses also shows how these women,
who often live in a remote area, far from
the judicial and protective systems of
Cairo, forces them to face marital and
divorce issues on their own. There are
many concerns that are particularly
endemic to these arranged marriages. As
the film might not be selected for Ismailia,
Ramses will screen it across Spain and
might also organize a private screening for
Egyptian media in the coming weeks.
The 17th Edition will also feature a
special screening of the Italian documentary About The Resistance that highlights the
Cairo Drive
role played by cinema as a means to rehabilitate the only movie theater in a small,
Southern Italian town. The Panorama of
Egyptian Documentaries includes Jehane
Noujaim’s The Square, which was nominated for the Best Documentary Oscar
this year. Keeping up with the 2014 FIFA
World Cup in Brazil, the festival will focus
on three soccer films, including three
films about remarkable football legends.
Maradona, by the renowned Serbian
Director Emir Kusturica, Puskás Hungary,
by Director Tamás Almási, and The Two
Escobars by Jeff Zimbalist and Michael
Zimbalist. The Ismailia Festival will also
feature a workshop on best practices to
distribute and promote documentary
films that face strong competition from
mainstream productions worldwide.
Born in Cairo, Egypt, Sherif Awad is a film /
video critic and curator. He is the film editor of
Egypt Today Magazine ( www.EgyptToday.
com ), and the artistic director for both the
Alexandria Film Festival, in Egypt, and the
Arab Rotterdam Festival, in The Netherlands.
He also contributes to Variety, in the United
States, and is the film critic of Variety Arabia
( http://varietyarabia.com/ ), in the United
Arab Emirates (UAE), the Al-Masry Al-Youm
Website ( http://www.almasryalyoum.
com/en/node/198132 ) and The Westchester
Guardian (www.WestchesterGuardian.com).
Page 7
24 Old Albany Post Road, Croton-OnHudson, NY. New members may be
accepted after June 28, based on their experience and musical abilities. Singers who
have a conflict with the complete rehearsal
schedule may likewise be accepted based on
experience and ability. For further information, contact Mary Corda: divamaryc@aol.
com or call 914-649-1826. Visit the website
at http://www.taconicopera.org.
There are no fees to join the chorus, but
members must secure their own music and,
if applying early, may be able to participate in
special group prices for the score copies that
are arranged for chorus members. Falstaff
performances are scheduled for Oct. 16,
17, 18 & 19, 2014 at the Yorktown Stage,
Yorktown Heights.
CALENDAR
Opera Auditions
Each year, Taconic Opera offers area singers
the opportunity to participate in the chorus
of a professional opera, at no cost, alongside
professional singers and a full orchestra.
Choral Singers are invited to audition for the
company’s fall production of Verdi’s Falstaff
between June 2 and June 28, 2014. Auditions
can be arranged to suit the applicant’s
schedule and may be waived for experienced
choral singers.
Rehearsals for Falstaff commence
Wednesday, June 11 and take place on
Wednesdays from 7:00-8:45 pm and
Saturdays from 3:00-4:45 pm at the
Cortlandt School of Performing Arts,
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Downtown Yonkers Newest Business is State Farm
YONKERS, NY -- May 23, 2014 marked
the official grand opening of a new State
Farm office in Downtown Yonkers. Branch
owner Jocelyn Mizrahi took this opportunity to give back to her new community.
State Farm has always been known for
their social responsibility, and was recently
ranked #1 in that category, among insurance
companies, by Fortune Magazine. Yonkers
newest State Farm office continued that
tradition with donations to both the Yonkers
Animal Shelter and the Mt. Vernon Animal
Shelter. Ms. Mizrahi has a long-term commitment to protecting animals and will
donate a certain percentage of her profits to
local animal shelters and causes. This new
State Farm office represents a new age of
businesses that are dedicated to their local
community, consumer service, and social
accountability.
On hand to celebrate the official
ribbon cutting were Ms. Mizrahi’s staff,
family, friends, and her two dogs. Daniel
Lipka, Executive Director of the Yonkers
Downtown BID presented a plaque and
official welcome to this new business. “This
is a special time in Downtown Yonkers.
Wonderful new businesses are opening and
bringing a vibrant energy to our community.”
Yonkers Deputy Mayor Sue Gerry was
in attendance to welcome State Farm and
presented a proclamation on behalf of the
City of Yonkers. “We welcome State Farm
to Yonkers and to the growing economy
and community in our downtown area,” said
Deputy Mayor Sue Gerry. “Yonkers is committed to ensuring the success of businesses
such as State Farm so we can continue to
make our city a great place for people to want
to live, work and play.”
“I specifically chose Warburton Avenue
to be part of the revitalization of downtown
EDUCATION
Are you a recent college
graduate out of work?
Are you a college senior
dreading graduation?
Are you the parent of a college graduate
who is working as an unpaid intern? You
paid $250,000 for your child’s college education over the past four years and now
he/she is back home, living with you as an
unpaid intern.
I’m scheduling a meeting of college
graduates/college seniors who have been
having difficulty finding employment this
Tuesday, June 10th, 2014, at 7:30 PM, at
Greenburgh Town Hall, 177 Hillside Ave,
White Plains, NY. Town Hall is located
off of Exit 5 -287. Hillside intersects with
Route 119.
The goal of the meeting is to address
Awareness Class for teens Drivers.
Yonkers Downtown State Farm Office,
54 Warburton Avenue, Yonkers, NY 10701.
Telephone: 914-292-4200.
Daniel Lipka is Director of the Yonkers
Downtown Business Improvement District
(BID). For additional information telephone
914-969-6660, or direct email to [email protected]
OUR PARTIAL KNEE REPLACEMENTS
ARE FULLY ENDORSED
Finding Employment
By Supervisor PAUL
FEINER
Yonkers,” said Ms. Mizrahi. When Ms.
Mizrahi opened her State Farm office in
Yonkers, she wanted to be able to work
with people from different walks of life and
financial situations. She and her staff are
committed to her new Yonkers community
and to providing the highest quality services
to anyone who walks through her door. Her
new office, location at 54 Warburton is part
of the award winning Warburton Lofts
at Philipse Manor Hall Historic District,
which recently received an award for
Excellence in Historic Preservation, given by
the Preservation League of New York State.
State Farm is a full service insurance
company as well as a provider of other financial products, such as banking, life insurance,
retirement roll-overs and 529 college savings
plans. Ms. Mizrahi, and her team of insurance experts, has a variety of programs and
services allowing them to customize a plan
that is right for each individual.
State Farm brings 92 years of experience and one of the largest portfolios in the
world. For the last four years, State Farm
was ranked in the top 2 companies in terms
of customer service, along all insurance
companies. They have provided countless
contributions and opportunities to communities throughout the county, including
right here in Yonkers. This includes a
recent national grant for the Yonkers Police
Department to provide Distracted Driving
unemployment issues/problems that
recent graduates have encountered; and
to explore other options, such as providing graduates with information on how to
start their own businesses.
Elizabeth Skovron, a resident of
Tarrytown, an honors student at the
University at Albany, SUNY, is an intern
in my office. Her summer project was
organizing an initiative to help recent
graduates find work.
Elizabeth told me that many of her
friends and peers, including recent Ivy
League graduates, are scared – they can’t
find employment.
“We aren’t given a chance to use our
knowledge and brainpower. Many of my
friends dread graduating college. We go
from being independent to dependent
on our parents. It’s not fair for our parents
C
M
Y
CM
MY
CY
CMY
K
Continued on page 8
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ORTHOPEDIC SURGEON
Page 8
EDUCATION
Finding Employment
who never expected that they would have
to support us after spending as much as
a quarter million dollars on our college
degrees.”
Current college students and graduates will meet to discuss pro-active steps
they could take to enhance their future
employment prospects. Among the initiatives that will be explored will be providing
students with ideas as to how they could
start their own businesses. During the
summer we will meet with people who
have had success in starting their own
businesses.
Elizabeth will be working at
Greenburgh Town Hall during the
summer months. If you know of any
college student or graduate who might be
interested in participating in this initiative
or sharing their unemployment horror
stories, direct email to eskovron@albany.
edu, or to me at pfeiner@greenburghny.
com.
a consortium of community groups, including: Temple Israel Center, AJC Westchester,
Bet Am Shalom Synagogue, Westchester
Jewish Council, Solomon Schechter School
of Westchester, Congregation Emanu-El of
Westchester, and Hebrew Institute in White
Plains and the JCC of Mid-Westchester. For
information about the films showing as part
of this Festival at the JCC in Manhattan,
visit
http://www.israelfilmcenter.org/
festival2014.
Admission is $20 for June 12 Opening
Night with post-screening reception; $14 for
June 15, 16, and 17, or $11 for Community
Partners. Purchase tickets at www.jccmw.
org or the JCC Front Desk. For information
about sponsorships for the Opening Night
event and festival passes, contact Melissa
Haber at [email protected], 914-4723300, x 351. .
The JCC of Mid-Westchester, 999
Wilmot Road, Scarsdale, NY is a proud beneficiary of UJA-Federation of New York, is a
nonprofit organization dedicated to enriching the community by providing cultural,
social, educational and recreational/fitness
programs, Jewish identity-building opportunities and human services to people of all
ages and backgrounds. Tel: 914-472-3300.
www.jccmw.org.
Paul Feiner is Greenburgh Town Supervisor.
FILM
Israel Film Festival Coming to Westchester
SCARSDALE, NY and YONKERS, NY
-- The JCC of Mid-Westchester and the
JCC in Manhattan will co-sponsor an Israel
Film Festival in June, featuring new Israeli
movies and discussions after each screening with filmmakers. Two newly released
films from Israel will show at the JCC, 999
Wilmot Road, Scarsdale, and two will show
at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, 2548
Central Park Ave, Yonkers.
Operation Sunflower
Opening night at the JCC on Thursday, June
12 at 7:30 p.m. features Operation Sunflower,
directed by Avraham Kushner. 1960’s Israeli
intelligence is nervous — Iran is bringing
missiles out of its bunkers and will soon be
just a “push of the button” away from launching them at Israel. Racing against time, the
head of the Mossad (Yehoram Gaon) and
a reluctantly recruited scientist work to
create a nuclear option for Israel. Together
with France and Germany, they must find
a way to protect Israel against its potentially
imminent destruction, while facing their
own moral qualms.
recognize any of the faces caught on camera.
This action-packed film, based on real life
events and starring Sasson Gabay and Bar
Refaeli, brings this tumultuous story to life
with humor and suspense.
Farewell, Herr Schwartz
Farewell, Herr Schwarz, a documentary directed by Yael Reuveny, opens
Tuesday, June 17, 7:30 p.m. at the Alamo
Drafthouse Cinema, Yonkers. Michla and
her brother Feiv’ke were inseparable before
the Holocaust. When Michla learned that
Feiv’ke was killed, she moved to the new
state of Israel. The documentary filmmaker,
Michla’s grand-daughter, investigates what
happened to her grandmother’s beloved
brother – and is surprised to discover Feiv’ke
had become Peter, married a German
woman, and spent the rest of his life in a
cozy home a few feet from the concentration camp where he had been imprisoned
during the war.
The Westchester films are presented by
Operation Sunflower
Operation Sunflower
Operation Sunflower
Operation Sunflower
Hunting Elephants
Hunting Elephants, directed by Reshef
Lev, premieres on Sunday, June 15 at 3:00
p.m. at the JCC. In this Israeli box office
hit comedy starring Sir Patrick Stewart,
Jonathan, after his father’s untimely death,
spends his afternoons in an old-age home
with his estranged grand-father, Eliyahu
(Sasson Gabai). Together with some help
from Eliyahu’s old-time friend Nick (Moni
Moshonov), and a penniless English Lord
(Patrick Stewart), they decide to improve
their stressful financial situation by robbing
a bank.
Kidon
The Film Festival shifts to the Alamo
Drafthouse Cinema, 2548 Central Park Ave,
Yonkers on Monday, June 16 at 7:30PM
with the U.S. debut of Kidon, directed
by Emmanuel Naccache. Mahmoud al
Mabhouh is found dead in a hotel room in
Dubai and security footage reveals that the
assassins are Israeli Mossad agents. The story
shocks the world – but no one is as surprised
as the Mossad itself - which claims not to
Page 9
HEALTH
Tips to Protect Your Pup From the Dog Days of Summer
As you and your dog head outside to enjoy
the warmer weather, it’s important to
remember pet safety. Heat can be dangerous
for pets, increasing the chances of heat-
Temperatures can rise as much as twenty
degrees inside a vehicle in ten minutes, and
can reach up to 115 degrees - when the
outside temperature is only 70! Leave your
going to be outside for an extended period
of time. Remember, dogs can get sunburned
too!
Walk your pet during the cooler hours
of the day. “Pets shouldn’t be exercised during
the peak hours when the sun is hottest,” says
Dr. Mitsie Vargas, Veterinarian. “Dogs can’t
dissipate heat as well as we can.”
When walking, try to avoid hot surfaces.
As roads, trails and sidewalks become hot,
they can burn your dog’s paws. Plan a route
with lots of shade, and let your dog walk on
cooler surfaces like grass.
Prevent pesky parasites. Summer is the
high season for fleas, ticks and heartworms.
Talk to your Veterinarian about the best way
to keep your dog free of parasites.
Consider clipping or shaving dogs
with long coats. Dogs are basically wearing
a fur coat 24/7, which can be extremely hot
during the summer months. Giving your
dog a trim will help keep him or her cool.
Be a responsible pet parent this summer,
and keep your dog cool by following these
guidelines! The AVMA has been making
sure our pets get the best care for over 150
years, and you can find more great information on keeping our pets happy and healthy
at www.avma.org.
A Cause For Paws Pet Adoptions
related stress or illness, including sun burns,
skin cancers and heat stroke.
The American Veterinarian Medical
Association (AVMA) wants to help you
keep your pups safe this summer with tips to
protect dogs from the heat. Remember, dogs
can’t expel heat as well as humans can, so be
sure to follow these tips to make sure your
dog stays cool this summer!
Never leave your dog in the car. Ever.
dog at home instead, your pup will thank
you!
Make sure your dog has access to water
at all times. As temperatures get hotter, it’s
important for your dog to have water available. If your dog’s water bowl is left in the sun
for a while, replace it with fresh, cold water
that will cool your dog down.
Make sure your dog has access to shade.
This is especially important if your dog is
MAKE IT FUN AND IT WILL GET DONE!
Flying with Kids? Be Organized!
By PAM YOUNG
I’m happy to announce
I’m featured in American
Airways magazine this
month! With that good
news I thought I’d write
about flying with little ones. Now that
vacation time in full swing and if you plan to
fly with your kids, here are my top ten tips for
happy flying. . . short of drugs.
Be Prepared
Designate a carry-on as the entertainment bag. Keep what’s in it a secret, bringing
out surprises as the trip goes. Busy kids are
happy kids. Bored ones have the ability to
terrorize everyone on a flight, including you.
• books
• notebooks
• pens
• crayons
• coloring books • iPod with favorite movie
• Kindle
Get Gum
Children have very small ear canals and
when the cabin is pressurized tiny ears can
hurt. Chewing sugarless gum can help and
once the jet is air bound it isn’t needed.
Let it Suck
Nurse during take-off, or have a binky
ready. I don’t think I’ve ever taken off without
hearing an infant screaming because his little
ears hurt. Sucking helps.
Turn Bedtime into Fly-time
Matching PJs don’t just have to be at
Christmastime. Deck your whole family out
in new jammies for the flight. You’ll crack up
the flight attendants as well as fellow passengers. Tell your kids you get to have a pajama
party on the plane. You may have a hard time
sleeping on a flight, but I’ve never met a kid
on a red-eye that wasn’t asleep and I’d love
to see a fun-loving family dressed for bed on
a red-eye.
No Sugar
When the flight attendant comes by
with the free sodas and juice, just say “NO,
water or milk please.” Bring treats high in
protein and fat. Nuts and cheese, veggies and
mayo. Hungry children and those high on
Continued on page 10
Siggy is an 8 yr. old, neutered male
orange tabby. He is very calm and
easy going, and is good with dogs,
cats & kids.
Solo is a friendly and energetic 2 yr.
old neutered male pit mix. He loves
to play and go for runs. He is good
with dogs, cats & kids.
Whiskey is a very friendy cat who
is looking for a loving home. He is
good with dogs, cats & kids. Whiskey
is a neutered male and is 2 yrs old.
To submit an adoption application or to inquire about other cats and dogs looking for homes, please contact
[email protected]
BECOME Al
BIOLOGYl
TEACHER!l
Earn a master’s degree in two years while
continuing to work at your present job.
This is an affordable, 10-course, 30-credit
program with some courses offered online.
Benefit from a distinctive program
in Biology Education, designed
to help meet the increasing need
for science teachers and geared
toward individuals who work or
live in Westchester.
This exciting program, taught by
Touro College Graduate School of
Education faculty, includes select
science courses that leverage the
faculty, expertise, and resources
of New York Medical College in
Valhalla, NY.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
PLEASE CONTACT:
Dr. Stevan R. Peters, Interim Chair
TOURO COLLEGE
GRADUATE SCHOOL
OF EDUCATION
Touro is an Equal Opportunity Institution
Touro College Biology Education Program
212-463-0400 x5284
[email protected]
www.touro.edu/edgrad
Page 10
MAKE IT FUN AND IT WILL GET DONE!
Flying with Kids? Be Organized!
Go Potty Before Take-off
sugar will get fussy and disruptive.
Make Sure Price is Right
Check the ticket prices for infants as
you may be charged more for your baby than
yourself. Some airlines charge up to 75%
for a ticket without a seat. In this case you
don’t save money! Buy a normal ticket. At
least you’ll get extra space and that’s really
valuable.
Even the ones who pipe up and say, “I
don’t have to,” make sure everybody goes
before take-off. Cut back on fluids before
the flight, the same as you do before bedtime
or they’ll be up and down the aisle. Torture
for the guy who sits in the aisle seat and your
kid’s are in the window seat. This is sensible
advice for adults too. Drinking five pints of
beer before getting on the plane is dangerous,
especially if you’re held up during taxiing. Of
course, there’s always Depends.
The Air Police are Watching
One of my friends who had to fly with
her rather hyper three-year-old told me
this worked wonders. “I warned Rachel to
behave or the Air Police would have to come.
I pointed out the TSA uniformed agents and
told her they also look out for badly behaved
children. I’m not suggesting I scared her out
of her wits and I didn’t tell her what’d happen
if they caught her being a brat; I just used the
suggestion as a way to teach her respect for
those in uniform and it definitely gave me a
psychological edge.”
Peek-a-Boo
Babies love to be held up over your
head. On a flight, they get to see all the passengers and many will be trying to get baby’s
attention. It’s a great way to calm a baby and
it’s good for your upper arm muscles.
Practice Enlightened
Selfishness
Follow one of the airline’s cardinal rules:
in case the cabin loses pressure, put your
oxygen mask on first and then assist your
child. Take care of yourself first and everything will take care of itself. If you feel good
and are rested, you’ll be far more able to cope
with the inevitable tests thrown at you by
your busy little ones. So, eat right, get your
sleep and give yourself plenty of time to get
to the airport early.
Safe travels! Have a wonderful time
with your kids wherever you’re going and
thank you for reading my column. To see
other columns go here http://hub.am/
R3I9re
To see what Pam’s got up her cyber-sleeve, check
out www.cluborganized.com. Want to get
organized? Join the club!
HOUSES OF WORSHIP
Westchester Community for Humanistic Judaism’s Triple Event
By CHARLOTTE KLEIN
WHITE PLAINS, NY -- A triple event
sponsored by the Westchester Community
for Humanistic Judaism is scheduled
for Friday, June 6, 2014, @ 7PM at the
Community Unitarian Church, 468
Rosedale Avenue, White Plains 10605.
• Rhoda Kleiman, a noted librarian, will
discuss author Maurice Sendack, The
Humanist of the Year;
• A mini art show featuring several works by
local Jewish artists; and
• An acknowledgement of Shavuos and
Shabbat, in the humanist mode
There is no charge for admission but
donations are welcome.
For more information, visit http://www.
wchj.org, direct email to charlotteklein48@
verizon.net, or telephone 914-218-8535.
FRIDAY NIGHT
CELEBRATION
The Feast of Saint Anthony of Padua
FRIDAY NIGHT
CELEBRATION
HOUSES OF WORSHIP
JUNE 6 AT 7:00 PM
THE WESTCHESTER
COMMUNITY
FOR
WESTCHESTER
COMMUNITY FOR
HUMANISTIC JUDAISM
HUMANISTIC JUDAISM
PRESENTS
FOR YOM HASHOAH
PRESENTS
RHODA KLEIMAN, NOTED LIBRARIAN
WILL DISCUSS MAURICE SENDACK
AS THE HUMANIST OF THE YEAR
LOCAL ARTISTS’ MINI ART SHOW/WALK N TALK
ACKNOWLEDGING SHAVUOS AND THE
SHABBAT IN A HUMANIST MODE
ENJOYING HOSPITALITY
Guest Speaker
ESTHER
GEIZHALS
No Charge, but Donations are Welcome
At the Community Unitarian Church
468 Rosedale Ave.,White Plains
A Holocaust survivor reveals enduring, as a young woman,
years of nightmare experiences,
journeying from Poland to
Visit: wchj.org
Czechoslovakia in concentration camps, including Auschwitz
Contact-- Charlotte Klein,914-218-8535
Saturday, April 26, 7 PM
Community Unitarian Church-468 Rosedale Avenue, White Plains
No charge for admission, but donations are welcome.
By THOMAS MUSCATELLO
MOUNT VERNON, NY -- This June,
in honor of the Feast of Saint Anthony
of Padua, three Friars from the Pontifical
Basilica of Saint Anthony of Padua, Padua,
Italy, will bring three distinct relics to three
different corners of the English-speaking
world. Father Paolo Floretta will be in
New York and Long Island, Father Mario
Conte will be in Australia and Singapore,
and Father Riccardo Giacon will visit our
northern neighbor, Canada.
We are thrilled and honored to bring
Saint Anthony of Padua, in the form of a
holy relic, to Mount Vernon, Westchester
County, New York, on Wednesday, June
11th, during the week of the Saint’s Feast
Day.
Last year, the relics awed and inspired
so many Catholics during the 750th
Anniversary of the saint’s incorrupt tongue
by Saint Bonaventure. Devotion to Saint
Anthony is an accepted part of life for many
New Yorkers, but an encounter with the relic
moves it to the forefront. So many people
describe it as a confirmation of their Catholic
faith. Father Mario Conte, Executive Editor
of The Messenger of Saint Anthony, in
Padua, Italy, reflected that the first Jesuit
pope was deeply inspired by Saint Anthony
GRAND FRIDAY NIGHT
CELEBRATION
Saint Anthony of Padua.
and Saint Francis’ love, care and concern for Church, 214 East Lincoln Avenue, Mount
the poor and marginalized. Pope Francis Vernon, NY 10552. Veneration at 5:00 PM;
once said “Relics are parts of the body of Mass at 7:00 PM followed by Veneration
a saint which was the Temple of the Holy
For details, call Tom with the
Spirit.Through this body, the saints practiced Anthonian Association at 914.263.8841.
heroic values recognized by the church.”
Wednesday, June 11th - St. Ursula
Page 11
1099’s?) Do compare the completed return
to prior years. Do photocopy any documents
that are being delivered, mailed and handed
over to your preparer. Do get supporting
documents for your deductions such as your
pharmacy’s year-end prescription expenditure list or from your doctors and dentist to
parking receipts for certain appointments.
Do remember your accountant, financial
advisor, etc. are not mind readers.
Income tax returns are the most
imaginative fiction being written today. -Herman Wouk
Why accountants get hired: The interview for a job went something like this: Asked
how much two plus two is, the engineer said
four, the businessman said four, the accountant
quietly whispered, “What do you want it be”.
The more the preparer knows about
your situation, the more complex your
finances, the more time needed for proper tax
planning and financial preparation. Creative
accounting does not have to be something
illegal, shady or questionable. There are rules
and codes that can be/are for your benefit.
Tax preparation is just the beginning, just a
small part of good financial planning.
I hope I shall possess firmness and
virtue enough to maintain what I consider
the most enviable of all titles, the character of
an honest man. George Washington
Ask your accountant, financial advisors,
even your friends may have something
interesting that may be applicable to your
individual, unique situation.
Special thanks to Howard Russo, CPA,
for his input and advice.
PERSONAL FINANCE
Preparing for April 15 Is a Twelve Month Project
th
By GLENN SLABY
“Organizing is what you do
before you do something, so
that when you do it, it is not
all mixed up.” -- A. A. Milne
With tax season adventures
still fresh in our minds, it’s time to review
the individual systems of record keeping to
somehow make next year’s filing process a
little easier. I will not talk about what color
folders you should use for your receipts and
expenses or how to sort your files, but I will
give advice on what to do and what to avoid.
My tips are generic for any system. Only you
know what’s best. Each individual has their
own unique styles and methods that will not
be optimum for another taxpayer, but you
should always seek to improve on current
methods. If you do your own returns or pay
someone, I hope the following is useful.
“This is too difficult for a mathematician.
It takes a philosopher.” “The hardest thing in
the world to understand is the income taxes.”
--Albert Einstein
Every January starts the race against the
clock where our biggest opponent is time
because a lot of us keep repeating the same
disorganized and time consuming methods
year after year. A good filing system can
save a lot of money, keep you from making
easy mistakes, but most importantly it will
save valuable time and aggravation. Good
record keeping is an ally when you’re faced
with audits and other tax issues. Take advice
from a disorganized individual and former
accountant, whose wife’s filing system is
super neat, well managed and structured: it
pays to listen to one’s spouse, again.
Accountants do not like to receive shoe
boxes of papers. The more time he or she
spends in digging out the information, the
more it will cost you. And the longer it takes
to do your return the longer you will have to
wait for that refund. Remember also, you are
competing against other tax filers who are
also clambering for your accountant’s attention. (The longer you wait to file, the less
individual attention you will receive. I knew
one accountant who charged higher fees
as the April deadline approached.) Every
filer has specific issues and unique financial
situations. Put yourself in the accountant’s
position: when there are issues to be resolved,
when there are creative tax laws to be
explored and tax liability options to be dealt
with, whom would you rather work with
Felix Unger or Oscar Madison? Everyone,
including accountants, dread tax season, so
why make things difficult for the preparer
and yourself. Some little bit of discipline now
saves a lot of aggravation later. Read some of
my tips below, ask your tax preparer for some
advice, but before January 1st and after April
15th.
The best preparation for tomorrow is
to do today’s work superbly well. -- William
Osler
Some don’ts. Do not wait to send in
your tax information. Do not wait to implement any new filing system for bills, receipts
and invoices pile up very quickly. Do not wait
to gather documents for it is better to notice
missing documents or incorrect information
in February than in March and April. Do not
rely on memory. Will you remember an issue
that occurred in August in January? Make
notes. Take notes. Never say to yourself,
“I’ll remember this when the time comes”
or “It’s so simple, I’ll just follow what I did
last year”. The simplest of notes will make
the filing process less stressful and less costly.
Remember, it’s not what you remember that
is important but what you don’t remember
that can be crucial.
“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” “An ounce of prevention is worth a
pound of cure.” -- Benjamin Franklin
Some do’s. Do write legibly. As one
who does not possess the world’s greatest
handwriting, make sure these notes will be
legible to you or to someone else in the near
and far future. There is no telling who may
need to review your record keeping. Don’t
take it for granted you will be the only one
needing the tax information or that you
will be available to answer any questions so
make sure you have a paper trail when it
comes to substantial transfers, withdrawals,
etc. Be neat. Do put everything in a neat file
as they arrive, do not procrastinate, it is too
easy to misplace important data. Confirm
that all your all receipts are clearly labeled
with explanation/description, amounts,
names and dates. Do compare current year’s
information, tax data and statements to prior
years before mailing/meeting the preparer.
(Did you get the equivalent number of
abortion is. They call it “reproductive rights”
as if the pregnant woman has not reproduced yet, but the truth is that a pregnant
woman already is a mother (we had parents
before we were born, right?), meaning that
she has reproduced. Nine-month pro-choicers (those who support abortion without
qualification) say abortion “terminates pregnancies” – but birth terminates pregnancies.
They call abortion “surgery” but medicine
does not include homicide – abortionists are
not real doctors. Abortion is not surgery, it
is mutilation. You will never understand the
cruel brutality of the pro-choice holocaust
until you see minutes 10-15 of “Eclipse of
Reason,” available free on YouTube.
When pro-choice-to-kill activists lie to
women about prenatal homicide, they deny
women the power to choose abortion. They
trick women into abortion. They choose
abortion for women. “Pro-choice” is no
choice. Women are coerced into abortion
and since they are not truly consenting to
the mutilation of their genitals, they are
being raped. The pro-choice movement is
not just a baby holocaust movement, it is a
giant mob of rapists, and this helps explain
the profound psychological abuse prenatal
homicide does to women and girls.
Second, let’s consider liberties that
exploit those who have them. How many
pro-choicers are pro-choice on prostitution?
That is a right to privacy issue, a woman’s
right to control her body. Very well, some
liberals are indeed in favor of legal prostitution, but remember, minors can get
abortions. The abortion industry demands
that eleven-year-old girls be allowed to abort
without their parents’ knowledge – are prochoicers pro-choice on prostitution for girls?
Here we see that the “right to control one’s
body” can hurt those who take advantage
of that “right.” And do you want women
to have the “right” to sell their organs or use
heroin? These too are “right to privacy issues”,
Glenn Slaby is married and has one son. He is
former accountant with an MBA. He writes
part-time and works at the New Rochelle
Public Library and at St. Vincent’s Hospital in
Harrison, New York. He struggles with issues of
mental illness.
PRO-LIFE
Pro-Life 101
By CHRIS ROSTENBERG
“Let women decide for
themselves if abortion is
good for them. Women
know best how to handle
their own bodies.” This proabortion-choice sentiment sounds logical
and enticing, and most Americans probably
share it, but it is completely wrong, for three
reasons. First, women are being lied to by
pro-choice-to-kill activists about what
prenatal homicide is. Second, some liberties
exploit those who have them (and prebirth
infanticide is one such liberty). Third, even
if abortion does serve women, it still robs
unborn babies of their lives.
Abortion can only be a woman’s choice
if she understands what it is she is choosing.
Pro-choicers constantly lie about what
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Page 12
TRAVEL
Charming Seaside Inn in Quintessential New England Setting
By LEE DANIELS
Looking for a vacation
spot that is smaller than
Newport, larger than the
Town of Nantucket, but
with an equally charming,
waterfront setting, that is half the distance
from Westchester and has half the tourist
crowd? Then seek out Old Saybrook,
Connecticutt.
The place to go in Old Saybrook—
whether for a social or business event, spring
or summer weekend or vacation, or fall
foliage tour—is the Saybrook Point Inn &
Spa, and its adjacent Three Stories guest
house.
Settled in 1635, and the secondoldest English settlement in the U.S. after
Plymouth Rock, Old Saybrook is an attractive vacation spot for New Yorkers--first, as
it is easily accessible, at less than a two-hour
drive from Westchester, and just over a
two-hour’ train ride from New York’s Penn
Station-and second, because of its tranquil
setting and eternal New England charm.
Recently renovated, its attractive yellow
clapboard and classic white trim shining
like a brightly colored daffodil in the late
spring sunshine, the Inn sits regally on Old
Saybrook Point, with waterfront views
encompassing South Cove, Long Island
Sound, and the Connecticut River.
The list of the Inn’s amenities is robust:
free bicycle rentals, indoor and outdoor
heated pools, a jacuzzi, full-service spa with
12 rooms and a yoga/spinning studio below,
a fitness center with 12 weight machines
and nine aerobic machines, and a full-service
marina.
Checking in to the hotel, I was greeted
by the very personable front desk manager,
Scott, whose ebullient professionalism
reflected the attitude of each and every
staff member I met during my stay, from
Les Tripp, head chef at the Inn’s Fresh Salt
restaurant; assistant manager Jody Ackles;
our charming and super-attentive dinner
Outdoor pool at Saybrook Point.
Saybrook Point Inn and Spa.
waitress, Darcy; to chief engineer Nick Dacri.
Tagliatela, whose family has been in the
Managing Partner Stephen Tagliatela, hotel business in Old Saybrook for decades,
who welcomed me shortly after I arrived, starting with the Castle Inn--owned and
run by his grandparents in the 1950s--and
made me feel completely at home as he
accompanied on a personal, three-hour tour, Terra Mar, owned and run by his parents in
beginning with some of Saybrook Point and the 1980s--is not your ordinary innkeeper.
Instead, he is an innovator who wears many
its rich, nearly 400-year history.
Original Cupola at Three Stories.
Katharine Hepburn Suite, Three Stories.
hats in order to keep such a successful and
diverse business afloat.
At the start of the tour, I noticed the
license plate on one of the hotel’s company
cars, which read: SP-Inn, which I pointed
out to Tagliatela.
“We like details,” he said with a smile.
Recovering from nearly a half-million
dollars’ worth of renovation from damage
caused by Hurricane Sandy in 2012, the Inn’s
business is stronger than ever before, running
at double-digit growth this season, according
to Tagliatela.
In addition to its business success,
Tagliatela is proud of the fact that the hotel
strives to keep all its operations “green,”
becoming a Certified Energy Hotel in 2007,
and its marina certified under the EPA’s
Clean Marina program.
He showed me where a “chef ’s garden”
was growing on both sides of the Inn, to
produce fresh produce for the restaurant, and
explained the Inn’s use of a “soil air” system in
planting and naturally fertilizing ornamental
shrubs (no grass) and food plants that results
in cleaner effluent and groundwater.
Next stop was the Inn’s sister guest
house across the street, Three Stories, decorated in pastel pink and reflecting Italianate
architectural style, was originally built in
1892 as a single-family home by local
train engineer, William Vars, who worked
on the old Connecticut Valley Railroad, a
44-mile track running between Hartford
Na Old Saybrook, commissioned in 1871,
the property was bought by the Inn five
years ago, and after extensive reconstruction
design and furnishing, today exists as The
Three Stories Inn.
Three Stories has eight guest rooms,
tastefully decorated with antique replica
furniture and fine linens, and amenities
that include bathrooms with heated floors,
air jets in tubs and body spray outlets in
showers, luminary fireplaces, wall-mounted,
flat-screen TV with DirecTV, WiFi, an
automatic “do not disturb” systems that
indicates to staff members when a room is
occupied, a rooftop terrace with a fire pit,
kitchen, salon, bar, and a billiards room with
library on the ground floor.
The Inn’s award-winning Fresh Salt restaurant, so named after the confluence of the
fresh water from the Connecticut River and
salt water from Long Island Sound, opened
in 2011. Since then, it has received the AAA
Four Diamond Award in 2014 (as did
the Inn), plus accolades from New Haven
Dining, Connecticut Magazine, The New
Haven Register, Yankee Magazine, Hartford
Magazine, and DiscoverNewEngland.org.
It features simple, but elegant table settings, a
full, wraparound bar, a large aquarium with
¾” glass, and stunning water views.
Head Chef Les Tripp, who oversees all
operations in the kitchen, related the simple
secret behind his operation’s success to date,
in a personalized “cook’s tour” I was given the
afternoon of my visit.
“We’re a family operation and believe in
family values,”Tripp said.
Tripp went on to explain that he picks
up his own produce personally each day
from local farms, including five types of
Upstairs at Three Stories.
Page 13
TRAVEL
Charming Seaside Inn in Quintessential New England Setting
organically grown lettuce, squash, broccoli,
butter beans, and tomatoes from a 1-1/2 acre
tomato farm that the restaurant owns, where
it grows its prized heirloom tomatoes, the
seeds for which are flown in each year from
Italy by one of the kitchen staff.
Comfort” (August 29).
Late in the day, hotel engineer Nick
Dacri led me on a detailed tour of the hotel’s
state-of-the-art power plant, including its
heating and cooling system, in which all
rooms share the same freon system, whose
output is based solely on demand, and
Prieur & Fils Sancerre from France (2012)
to accompany the meal, while she confided
in one possible reason behind her and
her husband’s success in running such an
extraordinary seaside resort: intimate knowledge of the area.
“I grew up here. My father and grandfather were both Connecticut River boat
pilots. I would just sit and listen to their
stories; of sailing to this port and that port,”
she explained.
“The boaters who come back each
summer are a good litmus test of the Inn’s
popularity,” she said, gesturing back toward
Fresh Salt’s Grilled Swordfish Chop.
“We’re especially proud of our seafood
program. Our fishing boats go out seven
days a week to places like Pt. Judith, for
scallops and calamari, and they call in the
therefore conserves heat and hot water;
organically produced salt water and chlorination system for the two pools at the hotel;
ultra-efficient, load-shedding power system,
Fresh Salt’s Fresh Sushi Triangles.
Managing Partner Stephen Tagliatela, downstairs at Three Stories.
day’s catch ahead of time, before docking, so
we have our inventory of fresh fish all set up
for the day,”Tripp explained.
“Our lobster is very popular, especially
our two lobster rolls—one which is prepared
warm, with drawn butter, and the other cold,
with mayonnaise. On the days that we serve
lobster rolls—Tuesday, Wednesday, and
Saturday--we crank out fresh, hand-picked
meat from 500 lobsters,” he said.
Moving outside to the marina bar, at
poolside, and featuring its own fire pit, I
read a list of events for the summer, which
included “Christmas in June with Van Gogh
Vodka” (June 27), “Patriotic Night with
Jack Daniel’s,” Vineyard Tasting” (July 25),
and “Red Sox vs. Yankees with Southern
which generates the hotel’s electricity supply
from natural gas and stores it according to
a demand-response system; advanced water
recycling system; and a technologically
advanced system for keeping water ducts
free of bacteria and sediment build-ups that
lead to constriction.
That evening, I was invited to dinner
by Tagliatela and his vivacious wife, Viola, at
Fresh Salt, and treated to fresh sushi triangles, Pt. Judith, R.I. calamari, and a fabulous
and succulent grilled swordfish chop, made
from the cheek of the swordfish, and
highly recommended by Ackles, followed
by cheesecake with blueberry rosemary
compote and crème fraiche.
Ms. Tagliatela recommended a Paul
the busy bar.
During the evening, many friends
stopped by our table to greet the Tagliatelas
and share a glass of wine.
“This is our new favorite restaurant,”
said Tom McDowell, of Essex, who sat at
the table next to us with his wife, Samantha.
Kim Virgil, who lives across the street,
having moved here three years ago from
Utica, NY, and runs a catering business in
nearby Middletown, was particularly happy
to be here.
“I’ve been coming here for years. It’s the
most incredible community I’ve ever been
Spa at Inn.
involved with. Everyone here embraces you,
and you feel like you’re home; I wouldn’t
If You Go:
trade it for the world—beautiful people,
Saybrook Point Inn and Spa
beautiful food,” she said.
Two Bridge St.
Upon leaving, somewhat regretfully,
Saybrook, CT
early the next morning, I ran into Dan
860.395.2000
Gottschall, of Trumbull, Conn., who was
www.saybrook.com
also concluding his stay after a company
Queen/King (base rate): $319
retreat at the Inn, and was pleased when
Queen/King, water view: $379
his comments on his stay echoed my own
sentiments.
Sea Sprite Sport Fishing
“It’s great--the food, the accommoSaybrook Point
dations--just the perfect getaway; relaxed,
Old Saybrook, CT 06475
comfortable, the people treat you well. Plus,
860.669.9613
they have a great Scotch selection at the bar.
http://www.captainpete.com/index.
What more could you want?”
php
All photos by and courtesy of Lee
Daniels.
Caffe Toscana
Based in Pleasantville, NY, Lee Daniels is Arts
& Leisure writer for the Yonkers Tribune and
The Westchester Guardian and editor for Kiev,
Ukraine-based ICU.
25 Main St.
860.388.1270
Old Colony Package Store
276 Main St.
860-388-3820
Old Saybrook Historical Society
350 Main St.
P.O. Box 4
860-395-1635
www.saybrookhistory.org
Saybrook Point Inn Lighthouse Suite.
Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts
Center (performing arts)
300 Main St.
860-510-0453
http://www.katharinehepburntheater.org
Page 14
PRO-LIFE
Pro-Life 101
the “right to control one’s body.” If having a
uterus requires the right to kill a baby, then
women’s bodies are evil, and this misogynistic attitude exploits women. If women are
exploited by their babies, they are exploited
by their bodies, and only a woman-hater can
believe that.
Third, we cannot simply say that if
abortion is good for women, that is the end
of the discussion. What about the children?
History is about including classes of human
beings that were once excluded: blacks,
Jews, women, gays and unborn babies.
Pro-choicers with all their claims that the
baby is only a “potential person” are bigots.
What is funny is that pro-choicers themselves say that bigotry is wrong. This trait of
opposing bigotry while embracing bigotry,
common to pro-choice-to-kill activists, just
shows the depth of their denial and divorce
from reality. The side of equality and inclusion always wins in the end, which is a very
good sign for the anti-abortion movement.
You don’t have to be a pro-lifer to fight
pro-choicers. There are more than two
groups. Pro-choicers myopically obsess over
rape, incest and embryonic abortion to create
a wedge between the general public and prolifers, but I take no positions on these issues.
Technically, this means I am not pro-life;
I call myself a “pro-compromiser.” Those
who support some abortion and oppose
other abortion need to understand that
they can only get the laws they want when
nine-month pro-choicers are removed from
power. Contrary to conventional wisdom,
prenatal homicide is legal through all nine
months of pregnancy, under all circumstances, in every state, and has been since
1973, although the law misrepresents itself
and is too complicated to explain here (see
“Are Pro-Choicers Indoctrinated?” by Chris
Rostenberg, The Westchester Guardian,
May 22, 2014, page 7). Pro-kill extremists
should not be allowed to pick and choose
which abortion they wish to defend – all
prenatal homicide must be justified.
Pro-choice is not about helping women.
Pro-choice is about being selfish, having
irresponsible sex and not owning the consequences. It is about empathizing with human
beings who are like you – women – and
killing those who are not like you – babies.
Pro-choice is about going along with the
majority, and deluding yourself into thinking
you are not killing children (or worse, that
killing babies is acceptable). Pro-choice is
about simplistic, violent answers to very
serious, complex problems. Tragically, prochoice is also about women and men who
have killed their children who do not want
to admit to it. Pro-choicers don’t understand
abortion, and don’t want to. Fifty million
dead children is enough to drive a nation
neurotic. It is easy to see that pro-choicers
are in denial, and to understand why, but it is
very hard to see why anti-abortionists would
rationalize their position. Yes, the environment is important, but it is being addressed
openly. You are not allowed to talk about
the baby holocaust, even after all this time.
Prenatal homicide is not the most important
issue – it is the only issue. If you don’t understand the nine-month pro-choice holocaust,
you don’t know what the hell is going on.
No, leaving prenatal homicide up to the
woman is a bad idea. I tell the women of the
world, “I deny your right to abortion, and I’m
doing you a service when I do so.”
Chris Rostenberg is a freelance writer.
Correspondence may be directed to ChrisRosty@
gmail.com
MUSIC
THE SOUNDS The Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band “Goin’Home”
OFBLUE www.ConcordMusicGroup.com – www.KennyWayneShepherd.com
By Bob Putignano
The Kenny Wayne Shepherd band moves
to Concord Records using a “Louisiana
Entertainment” moniker which is appropriate as Shepherd really does go back to his
blues and (at times) Louisiana roots on the
appropriately titled “Goin’ Home.” There
aren’t any KWS band member changes, but
there are some very special guests: Rebirth
Brass Band, Joe Walsh with Kim Wilson,
Warren Haynes, Pastor Brady Blade, Sr.,
Keb’ Mo,’ Robert Randolph, and even Ringo
Starr assist on this twelve-track of all-coversongs/blues recording. And while I had
some fears about a potential train-wreck, the
majority of this album flows particularly well,
and feels fresh, even though no new ground
is broken.
That being said Duck Dunn’s, Don
Nix’ and Leon Russell’s “Palace of the King”
kicks-off the album in high-fly fashion aided
by the rousing horns of the Rebirth Brass
Band, Noah Hunt is on top of his vocal game,
as Shepherd leaps with blistering solos. No
needed guests on Walter Jacobs’ “Everything
Is Gonna Be Alright” performed as it
should as a down-home blues standard,
Riley Osbourn tickles the ivories tastefully
throughout and melds and assists when
Shepherd explodes. Stevie Ray Vaughan
and Doyle Bramhall’s “House Is Rockin’” is
all pedal to the medal, Hunt exhumes Stevie
Ray’s vocal eerily interpreting Vaughan’s
mannerisms, again Osbourn strolls, and
Shepherd unloads. Warren Haynes guests
on “Breaking Up Somebody’s Home” and
tastefully trades vocal barbs with Hunt, the
tune develops as a deep soul-blues groove
as Shepherd and Haynes exchange riveting
guitar licks towards the abrupt yet smart
ending. “Looking Back” is not from
Johnny “Guitar” Watson’s later-day
funk era and is straight tinged Texas blues
that works extremely well especially when
Shepherd sets sail. Dual guests Keb’ Mo’ and
the Rebirth Brass Band return on a rousing
(William Bell – Booker T. Jones) edition
of “Born Under a Bad Sign.” Keb’ Mo’
introduces the vocal and quickly goes back
and forth with Hunt, Rebirth’s horns kick
and make it funky too. I could have done
without Muddy Waters’ “Still a Fool” with
Robert Randolph, even though Shepherd
and Randolph amp up the instrumental
segment, yet it feels clunky to me, and I
would have preferred to have ended this
quality recording in a more upbeat way, but
that’s just me.
Shepherd fans will dig “Goin’ Home,”
and I suspect with Concord’s powerful marketing punch this new disc will introduce the
Kenny Wayne Shepherd band to an even
wider audience. That being said; enjoy the
solid cover tunes here, and when the KWS
band comes to your town, be certain to go
to see them perform live as you will not be
disappointed, they’ll keep you rocking-on all
night.
For fifteen years Bob Putignano has been pivotal
at WFDU http://wfdu.fm with his Sounds of
Blue radio show: http://www.SoundsofBlue.
com ; Previously a senior contributing editor
at Blues Revue, Blueswax, and Goldmine
magazines, and Music Editor for the Yonkers
Tribune and The Westchester Guardian.
Putignano can be contacted at: bob8003@yahoo.
com
SWIMMING
Seniors Start Summer with Pool Party and Barbecue
WHITE PLAINS, NY -- Westchester
County senior citizens are invited to spend
the day poolside as they enjoy an old-fashioned barbecue and entertainment during
a Pool Party and Barbecue scheduled on
Tuesday, June 24, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., at Saxon
Woods Pool in White Plains. Rain date is
Wednesday, June 25.
Sponsored by Westchester County
Parks and the county’s Department of
Senior Programs and Services, the pool party
is open to Westchester County residents age
60 and older. Seniors are welcome to bring
their young grandchildren.
Since the pool will
not be officially open yet,
seniors and youngsters
will have the pool for their
exclusive use. Saxon Woods
also features the “Andy’s
Place” playground that is
handicapped-accessible for
children with special needs
and is fun for kids of all ages.
And, mini golf rounds are
free.
From 11 a.m. to noon,
barbecued chicken, tossed
salad, potato salad, juice
and dessert will be available. Entertainment will
be provided by the Stolen
Moments Band, along with a
water aerobics class.
Participants are welcome
to bring any additional nonalcoholic beverages. Seating at
Saxon Woods Pool is limited;
participants are encouraged to
bring chairs for seating.
Admission and parking
for the event are free; Park Passes are not
required for this program.
Suggested lunch contribution is $4
for seniors and children. Deadline for
placing lunch orders is Tuesday, June 10.
To order, call the Department of Senior
Programs and Services at (914) 813-6380
or (914) 813-6416 Make checks payable
to “WCDSPS” and mail to: Pool Party;
Westchester County Department of Senior
Programs and Services; 9 South First
Avenue, 10th Floor; Mount Vernon, NY
10550.
Saxon Woods Pool is located at 1800
Mamaroneck Avenue in White Plains.
For more information about the event,
call (914) 231-4500.
Page 15
and Time Magazine 2002 “co-person of the
year” Coleen Rowley {http://www.blogtalkradio.com/johmac13/2014/05/25/
the-weekly-johnmac-radio-show)
opined that the government had illegally
acted when it pulled Snowden’s passport
when he was out of the country. If she is
correct, this action may prove to have the
same result as the Nixon-age break into
Ellsberg’s psychiatrist’s office.
In other words, the public expects individuals to be fallible and to commit illegal
acts. We do not – nor should we – expect the
government which we have entrusted the
right to make laws as our representatives to
then break the laws. We have elected and put
our trust in two presidents to both protect us
and be faithful to our laws, not break them.
We did not entrust the same to Vinnie The
Chin nor Edward Snowden.
On a previous episode on my
radio show (www.blogtalkradio.com/
rapidtalk/2013/11/03/the-johnmac-show),
former Federal prosecutor and creator of
the cybercrime unit Mark Rasch, while
personally favoring many of the government surveillance programs, said that what
is missing is public debate on these important issues. First, the public has no idea of the
existence of many of the programs (for good
reason – they are illegal under our current laws)
and, when they are made public, the rationale
for their existence is that they are necessary
for our protection and, without them, “we
would be much less safe.” But as Rasch points
out, when we ask for details – how many
plots have been uncovered or stopped, the
answer is always “that’s classified.” Rasch feels
– and I agree – that there is no room for
debate in that scenario. It’s merely “Take my
word. I know what’s good for you.”
Rowley makes a case that secrecy
actually makes us less safe than transparency
TECHNOLOGY / CREATIVE DISRUPTION
Friction Between Our Values and Our Actions
By JOHN F. McMULLEN
James Warren, New York
Daily News Washington
Bureau Chief, ended a recent
column with the paragraph
“There’s friction between our
values and our actions. And Obama, a rational
man should perceive the fallacy of our actions.”
The column, “Chinese hackers,
American hypocrisy” (www.nydailynews.
com/opinion/chinese-hackers-american-hypocrisy-article-1.1803981) dealt,
not kindly, with the recent indictment of
Chinese military officers for “hacking” into
the computer systems of American corporations and a labor union. Warren points out
that not only did Edward Snowden’s revelations include US hacking into a Chinese
mobile phone company, a Chinese maker of
Internet switching equipment and Brazil’s
state-run petrochemical company but also
that the Clinton Administration bugged
the Japanese during big auto talks – all of
this was done under the rationale of national
security.
Warren quotes Jack Goldsmith,
George W. Bush’s head of the Office of
Legal Counsel as saying “the U.S. position
is less hypocritical than it is self-serving. The
United States is seeking to defend a position that
has no basis in law and that is designed to serve
its particular interests of maximizing surveillance while minimizing intellectual property
theft”.
Clearly, the government is on shaky
ground here – but it seems that in our new
digital world, much of decisions by individuals and our governments alike, are on shaky
ground.
There seem to be complexities, nuances,
in the instances raised by Warren. In his
rather negative New York Times review of
Glen Greenwald’s account of his dealings
with Snowden (http://www.nytimes.
com/2014/06/08/books/review/noplace-to-hide-by-glenn-greenwald.
html), Michael Kinsley quotes Greenwald
as writing “My position was straightforward.
By ordering illegal eavesdropping, the President
had committed crimes and should be held
accountable for them.”
Kinsley summarizes this statement as
meaning “You break the law, you pay the price:
It’s that simple” and rebuts this conclusion,
writing “But it’s not that simple, as Greenwald
must know. There are laws against government
eavesdropping on American citizens, and there
are laws against leaking official government
documents. You can’t just choose the laws you like
and ignore the ones you don’t like. Or perhaps
you can, but you can’t then claim that it’s all very
straightforward.”
Kinsley then proceeds to find just
about everything possible wrong with both
the book and with Greenwald himself
with opinions like “Maybe he’s charming and
generous in real life. But in “No Place to Hide,”
Greenwald seems like a self-righteous sourpuss,
convinced that every issue is “straightforward,”
and if you don’t agree with him, you’re part of
something he calls “the authorities,” who control
everything for their own nefarious but never
explained purposes.”
Perhaps blinded by his distaste for
Snowden and Greenwald, Kinsley, who
always comes across as a very bright and
thoughtful person, never addresses the fact
that the American public has the right to
have different expectations of individuals
and the government that we have entrusted
to make and carry out our laws. Snowden
certainly appears to have committed a
criminal act – as have many people in our
history – John Dillinger, Willie Sutton,
Julius Rosenberg, Vincent “Vinnie The
Chin” Gigante, Daniel Ellsberg, Aldrich
Ames, Bernard Madoff... and, now. Edward
Snowden comes to mind. Some committed
crimes for the thrill of it, some for ideology,
some for money, and some, like Ellsberg and
Snowden because they felt that they were
breaking their legal agreements for more
compelling of patriotic reasons (whether we
agree with their thinking or not).
Parenthetically, it is ironic that
Snowden, like Ellsberg, may eventually
avoid legal sanctions because the government in its pursuit of him may have itself
violated the law. On my radio show last
week, ex-FBI agent, “whistleblower, attorney,
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Page 16
TECHNOLOGY / CREATIVE DISRUPTION
Friction Between Our Values and Our Actions
would. She referred to Steven Aftergood’s
website, “Secrecy News” (www.fas.org/
sgp/news/secrecy/), the publication of the
Federation of American Scientists Project
on Government Secrecy for information
of the secrecy procedures of the federal
government.
I believe that an intelligent case could
be made for the necessity of government
intrusion into what has been heretofore
considered private areas for our protection
– just as I believe that a case can be made
that our privacy is more important than the
possible lack of security. In a democracy,
the people are supposed to elect officials
who will administer laws that reflect the
majority wishes, under the constraints of
our Constitution. Instead, we have an atmosphere that appears to be out of the television
shows “Scandal” and “Person of Interest”
where un-elected officials design and implement illegal programs, unknown even to
members of Congress who are charged with
overseeing those agencies.
Greenwald writes “Democracy requires
accountability and consent of the governed,
which is only possible if citizens know what is
being done in their name. The presumption is
that, with rare exception, they will know everything their public officials are doing, which is why
they are called public servants, working in the
public sector, in public service, for public agencies.
Conversely, the presumption is that government,
with rare exceptions, will not know anything
that law abiding citizens are doing, That is why
we are called private individuals, functioning in
our private capacity. Transparency is for those
who carry out public duties and exercise public
power. Privacy is for everyone else.” I don’t see
how Michael Kinsley could disagree with
this statement.
The extent of the “rare exceptions” mentioned by Snowden may certainly be debated
in the context of privacy vs. security but they
must be debated – and in public! No matter
which side of the debate Americans come
down on, the result, as long as it doesn’t
violate our Constitution, is in keeping
with our democratic traditions. Until we
take such action, there will always be, in
Warren’s words, “friction between or values
and our actions” – but it’s up to us to demand
this debate!
of himself and flee? Should the Egyptian
soldier stand his ground and defend his
nation against invaders, or should he flee to
preserve his own life?
Three observations:
First: Salafis like Burhami, who try
to pattern their lives as literally as possible
after Islam’s prophet Muhammad and his
original companions—hence the ubiquitous
beards and white robes—deserve attention
for they are a treasure trove of information
on literal Islam. It’s always the Salafi-minded
Muslims who evoke and uphold any
number of things deemed absurd or evil in
a Western context—from trying to enforce
Still, Salafis are much more frank
and honest than other, less overt Islamists,
namely the two-faced Muslim Brotherhood,
which, now that it has been overthrown in
Egypt, has shown its true face—terrorism—
causing it once again to be banned in Egypt.
Second: To be sure, many Muslims—
perhaps the majority—reject Burhami’s
latest “cowardly husband” fatwa, in agreement with the aforementioned op-ed. The
problem, however, and as usual, is that while
they agree that such behavior is unbecoming of a husband, in the realm of Islamic
jurisprudence, it is difficult to argue with the
Salafi cleric’s logic. He used qiyas, a legitimate tool of jurisprudence; and the imam
whose logic he analogized is widely recognized as an authority in Sunni Islam.
Moreover and despite the sneering
tone of the op-ed, women are, in fact, often
depicted as little more than chattel for men
in Islamic scriptures.
This is the fundamental problem facing
all moderate Muslims: despite what they like
to believe and due to a variety of historical
and epistemological factors, they are heavily
influenced by Western thinking—protecting
women and the weak in general, or chivalry,
is a Christian “innovation”—so whenever
they come up against Islamic teachings they
cannot fathom, they collectively behave as if
such teachings don’t really mean what they
mean.
Yet the Salafis know exactly what they
mean.
Third: This latest fatwa exemplifies
the lure of Salafism. This brand of literal
Islam does not offer anything profound
or spiritually satisfying, but it does offer
divine sanctioning for unabashed egoism—
in this case, forsaking one’s wife to rape in
self-interest.
Justifying egoism is not limited to
preserving the self but also gratifying it—
especially in the context of jihad. One can
go on and on about the other Salafi fatwas
permitting rape,incest, and prostitution
Creative Disruption is a continuing
series examining the impact of constantly
accelerating technology on the world around
us. These changers normally happen under
our personal radar until we find that the
world as we knew it is no more.
John F. McMullen is a writer, poet, college professor and radio host. Links to other writings,
Podcasts, and BlogTalkRadio broadcasts
www.johnmac13.comhttp://www.
at
johnmac13.com/.
MIDDLE EAST FORUM
Islamic Fatwa
Husbands Should Abandon Wives to Rapists in Self-Interest
By RAYMOND IBRAHIM
Islam permits Muslim
husbands to abandon their
wives to rapists in order to
save their own lives—so says
Dr. Yassir al-Burhami, vice
president of Egypt’s Salafi party, the nation’s
premiere Islamist party since the Muslim
Brotherhood was banned.
Burhami’s fatwa, or Islamic decree,
is not altogether surprising. Earlier the
Salafi sheikh said that, although a Muslim
man may marry non-Muslim women,
specifically Christians and Jews, he must
hate them—and show them that he hates
them—because they are “infidels” (even as
he enjoys them sexually).
Indeed, the many fatwas of Dr.
Burhami, a pediatrician by training, include
banning Muslim cab and bus drivers from
transporting Coptic Christian priests
to their churches, which he depicted as
“more forbidden than taking someone to a
liquor bar”;permitting marriage to minor
girls;banning Mother’s Day—”even if it
saddens your mother”—as a Western innovation; and insisting that Muslims cannot
apostatize from Islam—a phenomenon
often in the news.
Now in his most recent fatwa—that
husbands are permitted to forsake their
sexually-assaulted wives in self-interest—
Burhami relies on qiyas, or analogy, based
on the rulings of a prominent twelfth
century jurist: according to Imam ‘Azz bin
Abdul Salaam, a Muslim should abandon
his possessions to robbers if so doing would
safeguard his life.
Based on this logic, Burhami analogizes
that the Muslim husband should abandon
his wife if defending her jeopardizes his
life—as she is just another possession that
can easily be replaced.
In the words of a critical Arabic op-ed
titled “Manhood according to Burhami!”
and written by one Amani Majed, a Muslim
woman:
So that which applies to abandoning
one’s possessions to thieves and fleeing in
fear of one’s life, applies—in Burhami’s view,
sorry to say—to one’s wife and daughter. So
if the wife is ever exposed to rape, she is seen
as a possession. The husband is to abandon
Yassir al-Burhami
her to the rapists and escape with his life.
a canonical hadith that compels women to
And why not? For if he loses his possessions,
breastfeed adult men (ironically, to protect
he will replace them; and if his wife is raped,
their “chastity”), to drinking camel urine for
he will marry another, even if she remains
good health, to calling for the destruction of
alive!
all churches.
The op-ed goes on to consider the ramOf course, even this honesty is continifications of Burhami’s logic should every
gent on Muslim capability and advantage.
Muslim man follow it: if a policeman patrolThus Dr. Burhami himself once said that
ling the streets sees a woman—a stranger,
peace treaties with Israel and other infidels
not his wife or daughter—being gang-raped,
should be respected—that is, until Muslims
should he intervene, as his job entails, and
are capable of reneging and going on a sucrisk his own person, or should he think only
cessful offensive.
for those fighting to empower Islam. Even
renowned heroes like Khalid bin al-Walid—
the “Sword of Allah”—celebrated in the
Muslim world for his jihadi conquests, was,
from a less hagiographic perspective, little
more than a mass murdering, sadistic rapist.
More generally, Salafi-minded Muslims
believe that all non-Muslims can be deceived,
cheated, robbed, exploited, enslaved and/or
killed—all in the self-interest of the Muslim,
seen as one with the self-interest of Islam.
Why do they believe this? Because from
a Salafi point of view, all free non-Muslim
“infidels” who do not submit to Islamic
law, or Sharia—Americans and Europeans
for example—are natural born enemies, or
harbis, and thus free game.
First published by Frontpage Magazine
on May 28, 2014:
http://www.meforum.org/3832/islamicfatwa-husbands-should-abandon-wives-to
Raymond Ibrahim, author of Crucified Again:
Exposing Islam’s New War on Christians
(Regnery, April, 2013) is a Shillman Fellow at
the David Horowitz Freedom Center and an
Associate Fellow at the Middle East Forum.
Page 17
counterproductive for those of us who want
the state of Internet connection technology
to continue to improve. And it is neither
unreasonable nor unfair to want companies
that push the demand for higher speeds and
more bandwidth to shoulder some of the
costs involved in providing it.
This is not to say broadband providers
should have no regulation whatsoever. In
particular, the prohibition against blocking
or disrupting competing vendors’ content
is an essential consumer protection.
Differentiating types of traffic is useful, but
protection to make sure it isn’t discriminatory due to the traffic’s content is wise.
While recognizing this, the FCC seems to
be taking care not to clamp down on ISPs so
severely that they are inhibited from investing in new or improved services.
The FCC’s proposal will draw a big
pile of comments for the next few months,
while it remains open for public reaction.
A lot of those comments will be critical.
Net-neutrality advocates have already called
the proposed rules “a stake in the heart
for Internet openness” and “an insult to
those who care about preserving the open
Internet.” Online and offline protests have
sprung up, based on distrust for broadband
providers or the idea that a “fast lane” must
necessitate a “slow lane” that is substantially
worse than what most users see now.
But perhaps the most telling sign, to
an outside observer, indicating that the
FCC’s proposal is a compromise is that it
has already drawn criticism from both sides,
not simply the most extreme defenders of
net neutrality. Verizon issued a statement
warning that subjecting broadband to strict
regulation “would lead to years of legal and
regulatory uncertainty and would jeopardize
investment and innovation in broadband.”
The FCC is caught in the middle of fight
in which everyone claims to want the same
thing: faster, better Internet.
There may well be room for improvements in the FCC’s proposed rules, but
the proposal is still a good start. If we want
vendors to keep investing in ever-faster
and wider pipes, then the parties who do
the most to fill those pipes must at least be
allowed to help foot the bill.
CURRENT COMMENTARY
Net Neutrality Does Not Equal Net Utility
By LARRY M. ELKIN
The
most
strident
proponents of “net neutrality” want the Federal
Communications
Commission to declare
broadband a utility, so the government can
ensure that everyone gets equal access to the
best Internet service that today’s providers
can offer.
Had they gotten this wish back in 1999,
there is a good chance we would all get
online today using state-of-the-art dial-up
modems.
The FCC is trying to walk a fine line
in its regulation of broadband. By a 3-2 vote
earlier this month, it advanced a proposal
that seems to be a reasonable attempt. The
proposal would allow large traffic generators,
like Netflix, to enter into deals with Internet
service providers to ensure the fastest possible
service, and thus underwrite the infrastructure that their service requires. At the same
time, the proposal would prevent broadband vendors, like Comcast, from blocking
or severely slowing traffic from competing
websites that do not pay extra to use the fast
lane. New Internet sites would reach consumers at whatever speeds consumers paid
vendors to provide.
Tom Wheeler, the chairman of the
FCC, has emphasized that the commission’s
goal is “an open Internet” and has argued
that the rules respect the principles of net
neutrality, suggesting that the definition of
Photo by and courtesy of John Pasden
the concept is not necessarily self-evident. infinite, and companies that provide broadAjit Pai, the senior Republican on the band services not only can recognize that
commission and one of the two dissenters, not all Internet traffic is created equal, they
said that all the members shared common should. Data packets that carry your voice
ground in wanting to protect a free and open call or the next frame of your streaming
Internet despite the split vote, according to
high-definition video must arrive exactly
The New York Times. The dissenters argued when expected, or you will notice the difthat Congress, not the FCC, should establish ference. The packet carrying part of the
policy for regulating Internet traffic.
homepage of your favorite news site – or an
ad appearing on that homepage – is not so
In essence, then, the dispute comes
down to what “free and open” means. As time-sensitive.
Seattle Times columnist Brier Dudley
This sort of logic has already played
observed, those opposing the FCC’s out, to some degree. Netflix has made
proposed rules are disingenuous or naive
agreements with Verizon and Comcast to
if they claim that the Internet is currently allow the service to bypass congestion at
neutral and free. “Since the rise of the com- hubs connecting ISPs and transit providers,
mercial Internet,” he wrote, “it’s been a place
despite arguing that the FCC should ban
where you pay more to get faster and better such payments. Ars Technica reported that
service, whether you are a consumer or a
Netflix performance speeds on Comcast
company on the other end of the pipe.”
improved by 65 percent after the deal.
Differentiating types of Internet traffic
Federal regulation preventing broadis actually necessary in order to provide a
band providers from sorting high-priority
smooth user experience. Bandwidth is not traffic from less urgent demands would be
Larry M. Elkin, CPA, CFP®, has provided
personal financial and tax counseling to a
sophisticated client base since 1986. After six
years with Arthur Andersen, where he was a
senior manager for personal financial planning
and family wealth planning, he founded his
own firm in Hastings on Hudson, N.Y., in
1992. That firm grew steadily and became the
Palisades Hudson organization, which moved to
Scarsdale, N.Y., in 2002. The firm expanded to
Fort Lauderdale, Fla., in 2005 and to Atlanta
in 2008.
GovernmentSection
PUBLIC POLICY
What are the Sources of Wage Inequality?
By Dr. OREN
LEVIN-WALDMAN
The conventional explanation
for
growing
wage inequality is often
referred to as the skillsbiased towards technical change theory.
This holds that with globalization and
increased capital mobility, the economy
has changed from industrial production to a post-industrial service based
economy. The former did not need a
greatly skilled workforce, but the latter,
being technologically more advanced,
did require much greater skill.
In recent years, however, an alternative explanation has emerged which
focuses on deliberate policy choices that
were made, which effectively resulted
in a deterioration of institutions. This
explanation focuses on changes to the tax
code that effectively transferred wealth
and income from the bottom and the
middle to the top, legislative attempts
to pass right-to-work laws making
unionizing more difficult, packing the
National Labor Relations Board with
pro-business and anti-labor people, and
willful neglect of the minimum wage.
A look at the data, however tells a
more complicated story which suggests
that as much as the skills-biased technical change explanation is true, its effect
on wage inequality was only exacerbated
by the deliberate policy choices that
effectively resulted in the absence of
labor market institutions that have traditionally bolstered the middle class. Put
another way, in the face of globalization
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Page 18
PUBLIC POLICY
What are the Sources of Wage Inequality?
what is needed, contrary to the conventional wisdom of greater wage and labor
flexibility, are stronger institutions that
can bolster wages.
Let’s consider the following
examples. In 1982, those working in
Professional and Technical occupations constituted 19 percent of the labor
force and earned median annual wages
of $44,666 in 2013 dollars. By 2013
they constituted 27.6 percent of the
labor force, an increase of 45.3 percent,
and their median wages increased 23.2
percent to $55,000. At the same time,
however, those working as craftsmen
(more skilled labor) constituted 13.9
percent in 1982 with median wages of
$41,039 in 2013 dollars, but declined
30.2 percent to 9.7 of the labor force
with median wages of $40,000 in 2013, a
decrease of 2.5 percent. Operatives (also
more skilled) decreased by 35.3 percent
from 15 percent in 1982 to 9.7 percent
in 2013, although their median wages
increased 10.5 percent from $28,969
to $40,000. Laborers who are perhaps
less skilled decreased 12.8 percent from
3.9 percent to 3.4 percent during this
period, and their median wages fell 5.9
percent from $26,555 to $25,000.
Meanwhile, on the industry side,
the number working in manufacturing decreased 48.3 percent from 23.2
percent to 12 percent in 2013, but
their median wages increased 17.3
percent from $38,000 in 2013 dollars
to $44,563. Despite the growth in
manufacturing wages, it is against the
backdrop of a significant decline in the
manufacturing base, which by 1982 was
still considerably lower than it had been
decades earlier. Retail trade, which is
where more low-skilled workers tend to
be found, increased during this period
10.5 percent from 12.4 percent to
13.7 percent. Although median wages
in retail increased 25.7 percent from
$21,727 to $27,301, they are still considerably lower than those in Professional
and Technical, or those in the more
skilled blue-collar occupations.
The one interesting growth industry
was Business and Repair Services, which
perhaps requires more skill. The number
working in this industry increased 93.6
percent from 4.7 percent in 1982 to 9.1
percent in 2013, with median wages
increasing 50.6 percent from $26,555 in
2013 dollars to $40,000. And yet, their
percentage in the overall distribution
was very low in 1982 and continues to
be low in 2013.
On the face of it, these examples
suggest growth in the number of jobs
requiring greater skill and education
while there has been a decrease in the
number requiring less. This, of course,
would support the skills-biased towards
technical change model. Economies,
however, don’t function in vacuums. They
occur within larger political contexts
and are very much influenced by public
policy. While these transformations were
occurring, union membership declined
by 46.2 percent from 21 percent in 1982
to 11.3 percent in 2013.
Let us also consider that in 1963,
the minimum wage of $1.25 an hour at
a 100.6 percent of the U.S. poverty level
was in 2013 dollars $9.52 an hour. The
willful neglect of the minimum wage,
which leaves it at $7.25 an hour means
that minimum wage earners are earning
23.8 percent less today than they were
in 1963. Even the 1982 minimum wage
of $3.35 an hour at 90.6 percent of the
poverty line was $8.09 in 2013 dollars.
Still, minimum wage workers are
earning 10.4 percent less in 2013 than
they were in 1982.
Sophisticated statistical testing,
which often cannot be easily explained
in 30 second sound bites or a short infomercial, also reveals that in 1982, states
with high union density were more likely
to have lower levels of wage inequality.
During the 2000s, there was no statistical significance to union density because
it had become irrelevant. Meanwhile
states, where the bottom 20th percentile of the wage distribution was higher
than the bottom 20th percentile of the
national wage distribution were more
likely to have lower wage inequality. Moreover, states that passed new
minimum wage laws or raised existing
ones above the federal minimum wage
were more likely to have less wage
inequality between 2007 (when many
states began to do so) and 2011. Again,
institutions matter.
Therefore, it does not completely
follow that growing wage inequality
is a natural progression because of the
forces of globalization. Rather, wage
inequality could be reduced were labor
market institutions to be strengthened.
On the contrary, globalization resulting in a skills-bias towards technical
change requires more institutions to
ensure unskilled workers continue to
have respectable wages that will enable
them to purchase goods and services.
The answer is not that complicated:
wages at the bottom and in the middle
need to go up, because if they do not
increasing concentrations of wealth will
only result in the top .l percent of the
top 1 percent pulling further away from
the rest of us. Fairness aside, this simply
is inefficient because there is a limit to
what the very top consumes. After all, it
is consumption that drives the economy,
and its those in the middle who need to
consume.
Oren Levin-Waldman is professor of public
policy in the School for Public Affairs at
Metropolitan College of New York ([email protected] ) and author
of several books on wage policy. They include
the just published: Wage Policy, Income
Distribution and Democratic Theory
(http://www.routledge.com/books/details/
9780415779715/#reviews); The Political
Economy of the Living Wage: A Study of
Four Cities (M.E. Sharpe 2005); and The
Case of the Minimum Wage: Competing
Policy Models (SUNY Press 2001).
He is a researcher for the Employment
Policy Research Network (EPRN), and
some of his work can be found at http://
www.employmentpolicy.org/people/
oren-levin-waldman.
GOVERNANCE
Yonkers’ April 2014 Unemployment Rate Down 1.7% from 2013; Population Increases by 2%
In addition to Yonkers’ decrease in
unemployment, the city experienced
a 2% increase in population growth,
growing by nearly 4,000 people since the
2010 U.S. Census. Yonkers has grown at
a faster rate than any other major city
in New York besides New York City
(2.8%).
“Accompanying the increase we’ve
experienced in sales revenue and home
YONKERS, NY -- Mayor Mike Spano
on May 28, 2014 announced preliminary data released by the New York State
Department of Labor showing the April
2014 unemployment rate (5.7%) in the
City of Yonkers is at its lowest in five years
and down 1.7% from last year. Data also
shows Yonkers having the lowest unemployment of New York’s other big 5 cities
– New York City (7.4%), Buffalo (7.2%),
Rochester (7.4%), and Syracuse (6.3%).
MAYOR Marvin’s COLUMN
The remarks expressed by
Mayor Marvin on behalf of
the Village of Bronxvillians.
Good Morning and
God Bless America!
A warm welcome to our clergy, distinguished colleagues, police and firemen,
2011, 8.7% in 2010 and 8.1% in 2009.
Newly released data also shows the
annual average unemployment rate for
2013 was the lowest in 5 years at 7.8%.
The data is released under the New York
State Department of Labor Local Area
Unemployment Statistics Program.
SOURCE: Christina Gilmartin,
Communications Director, Office of the
Mayor
he had harrowing experiences. He dealt with
the fact that his plane had enough fuel to
get to Russia but not back! Mid-air refueling at 5,000 feet in a near stall will test the
character of any man and, on duty one day,
Bob was sitting in his plane on alert for what
was a Cold War “real thing” when it was only
halted by a radio cancellation from President
Eisenhower himself.
Bob served both on active duty and
in the reserves and retired with the rank of
Captain.
His superior record of service to our
nation has only been eclipsed by his record
of involvement in the Village. To name just
a few of his many volunteer pursuits, Bob
has been Village Counsel, Village Trustee,
Chairman of the Sarah Lawrence College
Board, Co-Founder of our Bronxville
Historical Conservancy and at this moment
is Co-Chair of our Eastchester Town 350th
Anniversary Celebration.
Bob raised his two children in the
Village and still lives here on Crows Nest
GOVERNMENT
Offering a Prayer in Silence and Gratitude
By Mayor MARY C. MARVIN
sales, the downward trend in unemployment and rise in population over the last
several years are more positive signs of
the growth of our economy -- proving
people and businesses are choosing
Yonkers to live, work and play,” said
Mayor Spano.
The April 2014 unemployment rate
in Yonkers was 5.7%, down from 7.4%
in April 2013, 8.4% in 2012, 7.9% in
community organizations and most
especially the children to the 94th annual
Bronxville parade and commemoration.
Today I have the distinct pleasure
to honor, on behalf of all of you, a lifelong
Bronxvillian, Robert (Bob) Riggs, as our
Grand Marshal.
After graduation from the Bronxville
Schools, Bob went off to Amherst College
and there joined the ROTC and upon graduation, was commissioned as an officer in the
U.S. Air Force.
Bob was trained as a pilot on the B-47
Stratojet, a six engine flying fortress, that was
part of our Cold War fleet.
Although Bob was not in war combat,
MAYOR Marvin’s COLUMN
must never become old fashion or go out of
style.
It is said that a hero is someone who
understands the degree of responsibility that
comes with his freedom and is willing to
sacrifice his own dreams for the hopes of a
nation.
President Kennedy said, “A nation
reveals itself not only by the men it produces
but also by the men it honors.”
The legacy of a hero is the inheritance
of a great example and our small Village has
more than its share of heroes – Bronxvillians
experienced the bombing of Pearl Harbor,
the Battle of Iwo Jima and the taking of
Normandy Beach. We have fathers who
served in Vietnam with sons who then
served in Iraq. And thanks to the heroism
exhibited by men and women of this caliber,
the rest of us should be quite aware that to be
born free is an accident, to live free is a privilege and to die free is a responsibility.
Today is a day to take time to say a
prayer and a word of gratitude for the fallen
but also to reflect upon virtue, what it means
to have character, dignity, to be honorable,
brave, have integrity and courage. Wars have
shown us that courage is contagious.
Let Memorial Day be a rebirth of our
commitment to live a life of character with
passion and joy and emulate true heroes
– people of quality and substance as we celebrate life and liberty.
Sadly I want to add that, in just this past
CENTER ON CONGRESS AT INDIANA UNIVERSITY
Why I Still Have Faith in Congress
By LEE H. HAMILTON
It’s depressing to read
poll after poll highlighting Americans’ utter
disdain for Congress.
But it’s my encounters
with ordinary citizens at
public meetings or in casual conversation that really bring me up short. In
angry diatribes or in resigned comments,
people make clear their dwindling
-
Page 19
year, we lost three of our heroes, World War
II veterans and past Parade Grand Marshals.
Please offer a moment of silence to
honor three fine men. Gordon Markle, Dr.
Martin Stein and Arthur Miller.
Thank you and Happy Memorial Day!
Mary C. Marvin is the mayor of the Village of
Bronxville, New York. If you have a suggestion
or comment, direct your perspective by e-mail to:
[email protected] .
GOVERNMENT
Offering a Prayer in Silence and Gratitude
with his wife Wendy and he remembers
marching in this very parade as an eight year
old Scout.
Bob we honor you for your service to
our nation and our Village.
Some ask – why have Grand Marshals
and continue to celebrate Memorial Day
when frankly military service seems so
removed from our daily lives?
I believe we need Memorial Day as a
day to bear witness to heroes, and it is not
just children who need heroes, and there is
no better place to find true heroes than in our
country’s military - past and present. Serving
our country is the noblest of professions and
love of country and devotion to freedom
confidence in both politicians and the
institution itself.
With all Congress’s imperfections
— its partisanship, brinksmanship, and
exasperating inability to legislate – it’s
not hard to understand this loss of faith.
Yet as people vent their frustration, I
hear something else as well. It is a search
for hope. They ask, almost desperately
sometimes, about grounds for renewed
hope in our system. Here’s why I’m confident that we can do better.
Let’s start with a point that should
be obvious, but that people rarely notice:
Our expectations are too high. In part,
this is our elected officials’ fault: they
over-promise and under-perform. They
set the bar high — promising strong
leadership, a firm hand on the legislative
tiller, and great policy accomplishments
— then usually fail to clear it.
Which should come as no surprise.
Congress is not built for efficiency or
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Page 20
CENTER ON CONGRESS AT INDIANA UNIVERSITY
Why I Still Have Faith in Congress
speediness. On almost every issue,
progress comes in increments. The future
of the American health care system may
appear to hang on the debate raging
these days about the Affordable Care
Act, but this is just the latest installment
of a long-running fight that began even
before the creation of Medicare and
Medicaid almost five decades ago.
Congress deals with complex issues
over many years and, sometimes, dozens
of pieces of legislation. Focusing on any
one moment in our legislative history is
to miss the slow but undeniable advance
of progress on Capitol Hill.
I also tend to be more patient
with congressional leaders than many
people who share their frustrations with
me. Our political leaders confront a
terribly difficult political environment:
the country is both deeply and evenly
divided along partisan and ideological
lines. Getting 218 votes in the House
and 60 votes in the Senate can be a punishing task. It takes skill, competence,
and a great deal of passion to make
progress in this kind of environment —
especially when those in Congress who
are dedicated to finding a way forward
have to face colleagues who do not
appear to want the system to work.
This brings me to a third point. If 50
years of watching Congress closely have
taught me anything, it’s to wait until
the end of a congressional session to
see what members actually accomplish.
Despite all the bickering, roadblocks,
delays, and grandstanding, Congress can
often pass significant legislation by the
end of a session, even if it can’t do everything we expect of it.
And members of Congress are good
politicians. Most try hard to understand what the people want, and try to
bring about meaningful change, at least
within their ideological framework. It
may take a while, but Congress in the
end responds to public sentiment. That
is why it will pass the government’s basic
funding bills this year, having learned
from the public outrage over last year’s
government shutdown.
Finally, Congress has proven over its
long history that even in the most difficult circumstances it can be astoundingly
productive. The very first Congress,
meeting at a time of enormous political
uncertainty and financial trouble, was
able to firm up the new government’s
structure and set the course for the
nation’s future.
At one of the darkest times in our
recent history, during the height of the
Watergate scandal — when tensions
between Congress and the White
House and between Democrats and
Republicans were no less pointed than
they are now — Congress and President
Nixon were still able to collaborate
on the Federal Aid Highway Act, the
Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization,
the Endangered Species Act, the Legal
Services Corporation Act, an overhaul
of the farm subsidy program, and an
increase in the minimum wage.
Congress often has risen above
periods of great contention. It possesses
a resilience that is obvious from the perspective of decades. Building on that
search for hope in our system, and on the
long historical record, Americans have
good reason to believe that Congress can
and will do better.
Lee Hamilton is Director of the Center
on Congress at Indiana University.
He was a member of the U.S. House of
Representatives for 34 years.
Go to Facebook for information about the
Center of Congress at Indiana University
educational resources and programs, and to
share your thoughts about Congress, civic
education, and the citizen’s role in representative democracy. “Like” them on Facebook
at “Center on Congress at Indiana
University.”
CAMPAIGN TRAIL
Attorney General Candidate John Cahill Calls for VA Transparency for New York Veterans
Former Yonkers Mayor and Vietnam Veteran John Spencer in Attendance with Area Veterans
YONKERS, NY – In the wake of revelations of falsified wait time records
and new reports of disability pay delays,
New York Attorney General candidate John Cahill stood with 2006 US
Senate candidate, Mayor John Spencer
and area veterans outside the Yonkers
Veteran’s Administration (VA) office on
Wednesday, May 28, 2014, to call for the
release of documents detailing veteran
care and disability payment delays.
“It’s not enough to just say ‘thank
you for your service’ and show up at a
few Memorial Day events. New York’s
veterans, including many of our own
national guardsmen, are finally coming
home after thirteen years of war and
they deserve a VA that delivers on our
solemn promise to provide care,” said
Cahill.
“While the VA is legally beyond the
reach of the State Attorney General, it is
incumbent on the AG to come forward
where there is injustice and be a voice
for those who are neglected or wronged,”
added Cahill.
Last week, Attorney General Eric
Holder indicated that the Department
of Justice doesn’t have any plans to
investigate the host of problems at the
VA, instead leaving it to their internal
Inspector General (IG). Cahill said,
“Everyone in America knows our
veterans are being mistreated, but
instead of leading the charge for change
Eric Schneiderman remains silent.”
According to a May 26, 2014 report
by the Press & Sun Bulletin, “In the 31
county area served by the VA’s Buffalo
Regional Benefit Office — covering
the western half of New York State
from Broome County to Lake Erie —
veterans are more likely to face delays
in processing disability benefits claims
than almost anywhere in the country.
61 percent of the 7,254 claims for
disability benefits pending as of May 17
in the Buffalo region were at least 125
days old. Only four out of the VA’s 57
regional benefit offices nationwide — in
Jackson, Miss., Reno, Nev., Louisville,
Ky., and Baltimore, MD., — have worse
backlogs.”
Mayor Spencer said, “We need an
Attorney General who will look out for
veterans who will be their voice. I know
John Cahill will be that voice.”
Cahill noted, “The VA has been
self-reporting its patient outcome data
for years and it’s crystal clear that it’s
not working. It’s time to put in place a
qualified third party to review and recommend real improvements to the VA’s
performance.”
There are more than 2 million
AG candidate John Cahill (2nd from left) and Former Yonkers Mayor John Spencer (right)
standing before the Yonkers Veteran’s Administration Office with concerned veteran supporters.
Iraq and Afghanistan veterans in
America, many of whom suffer from
unemployment, post-traumatic stress,
alcoholism, substance abuse and homelessness. Worse, according to current
Veterans Administration estimates, 22
American veterans commit suicide every
day.
“As a state and as a nation we need
to wake up to the challenges facing
our veterans and, following their brave
example, we need to answer this call to
action in the face of crisis,” concluded
Cahill.
Visit http://cahillforag.com/ to
learn more.
GREG BALL’S CORNER
Forever Grateful To Have Served In Public Office
By Senator GREG BALL
As many know, I term limited myself
in the Assembly and am proud to now
follow through on that same pledge in
the Senate. For 8 years I have enjoyed
a tremendous opportunity to serve.
Those memories and friendships will
last a lifetime and I am forever grateful.
As an elected official, and unlike many,
I swore to make the position my full
time job and to not accept outside
employment. I kept my word and am
proud to have done so, but now it is
time to return to the private sector, and
eventually, hopefully take time to raise
a family.
In just 4 terms I have been
through 4 general elections and 3
primaries, and I’ve lived a lifetime of
experiences in a condensed period
of time. I gave the community every
ounce of energy I had, working 7
days a week. I’m proud of my record
in public service and honored to have
had the opportunity to shape public
policy for the good, specifically for
service disabled and other veterans,
victims of human trafficking and
domestic violence, small business
owners, sportsmen, seniors, taxpayers,
the special needs community and our
four legged friends.
I didn’t run for office to embrace
the status quo or to make friends, yet
I am proud to have kept my independence even while making strong
friendships along the way. I genuinely
believe in servant leadership and I
term limited myself in the Assembly
and similarly term limited myself in
the Senate. Breaking that pledge was
never an option and leaving this seat
open two years from now, during a
Presidential election where we would
be hard pressed to maintain the seat,
would have been selfish.
My late announcement was
timed with one purpose, to keep this
Senate seat in Republican control.
Until a month ago, we didn’t even
have a replacement candidate and I
was never going to walk away from
my Republican conference, unless
this seat was secure. With Terrence
Murphy, I am now confident that we
will maintain this seat not only during
this election, but also for many years
to come. My office will continue to
provide excellent constituent and legislative work. On the campaign side, I
will remain engaged from fundraising
to operations for a solid Republican
victory in November. It has been an
exhilarating journey and I would like
to thank my family, friends and supporters. And no, I am not running for
County Executive, Congress or any
other position. Thank you and God
bless.
For more information, direct
email to Josef Bachmeier: joe@
ball4ny.com or (845) 531-9796.
State Senator Greg Ball represents New
York State’s 40th District, which includes
the communities within Dutchess,
Putnam, and Westchester counties.
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Page 21
Page 22
CAMPAIGN TRAIL
Twitter is for Twits
By NANCY KING
Twitter, the fast moving
140 character blurb-athon has changed, not
only the way we communicate with one another,
but has just about influenced every other
way information is disseminated. It has
fast become the preferred source for
information junkies and reporters alike.
All there has to be is a hint or a rumor of
a news event and out pops a tweet that
may confirm or deny that rumor. Those
pesky little 140 character sentences have
damn nearly killed the print industry.
You see it, and you report it via tweet.
Gone are the days of covering a story
and then rushing to you keyboard to
get it to your editor in a timely manner.
We’ve all been reduced to 140 characters, a click to send, and we’re onto the
next “newsy” item. But news isn’t the
only thing that has found a home on
twitter, it seems to be the place where
elected officials and political candidates
and their consultants are now living.
Welcome to elections management in
2014.
With the New York State gubernatorial race for becoming one of the
nastier races in recent history, both
sides have taken to Twitter to beat
their respective chests while taking jabs
at each other’s record. First up at the
keyboard is Governor Andrew Cuomo.
His daily tweets often include some feel
good moments about why it is great
to do business in New York, or those
little tidbits about storm preparedness.
Whoever manages his happy Twitter
account never has a bad or negative thing
to say about the state or his opponent.
However, it isn’t always diamonds and
roses when another pro-Cuomo account
hits the keyboard.
@AstorinoTruthSquad,
which
was reportedly started by a group of
Westchester Democrats, never misses
a chance to Tweet something negative
about the Republican candidate and
current County Executive Rob Astorino.
Their latest tweets have included a
charge that County Executive Astorino
has himself failed to sign legislation
for term limits in the county when he
stated on the campaign trail that he
is a proponent of term limits. Earlier
tweets take a jab at the county’s lowered
bond rating status and how, if elected,
governor, the rights of women and
children under Astorino will be in peril!
Where Governor Andy Cuomo would
have us pooping out rainbows, the
AstorinoTruth Squad assert and call CE
Astorino an outright liar.
The Astorino campaign is likewise
maintaining a couple of Twitter
accounts; both of which are not being
managed too effectively. @CuomoWatch
is an anti-Cuomo, anti-Democrat,
anti-liberal account that tweets pretty
much incessantly about the most inane
topics. From Sandra Lee’s housing
permit woes to conspiracy theories as
to why the Moreland Commission was
de-commissioned. The funniest tweet
this past weekend when whomever is
managing this Twitter account tweeted
Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino and two of his children engage some quality time. The photo was posted in the latter part of May; why
is the property outside the house covered in snow. There was no snowfall in Westchester County in May 2014.
to me that having four more years of
Andrew Cuomo as Governor would be
like having the infamous and alleged tot
killer Casey Anthony as a mother. Call
me old fashioned but this demeanor
diminishes a candidate’s credibility
because the campaign can’t even manage
one of their staffers. Maybe I’m just
being sensitive or maybe I expect a legitimate candidate to have professional and
legitimate staff. Perhaps my expectations
are too high.
Rob Astorino has a Twitter account,
too. It is however doubtful that he maintains it. It is usually as benign and as
boring as Governor Cuomo’s and also
includes what he is allegedly doing at the
time of the tweet. So here we all sat in
reflection this past Memorial Day when
out pops a tweet from @RobAstorino,
“Nothing like some quality time with
the girls. Hope you’re enjoying your
weekend!” Of course there is the obligatory picture of Astorino sitting at a
table with his two daughters engaged
in an arts and crafts project involving
some red paper and wooden hearts. In
the background, the view through the
window reveals the great outdoors…
covered in snow? In May? Yes, in May!
Hey @AstorinoTruthSquad, how’d you
let that one squeak by?
#bothcampsfail
2012, the women of Detroit obtained
5,693 abortions (31%). It is significant
to note that this is triple the abortion
rate for the state of Michigan during the
same period. Michigan’s abortion rate
declined 1.6% between 2001 and 2012.
Detroit’s increased 10.4% during the
same time period.
Public health “officials” attribute the
increase of feticide on “rising poverty
and dwindling access to contraception”. Not even a passing mention of
the breakdown of the urban family and
increased (irresponsible) sexual activity
between people unready and unwilling
to raise a child. Let’s blame the lack of
taxpayer-sponsored Trojans. Did Sandra
Fluke pick up an unannounced gig at the
Detroit Public Health commission...?
Anyone with the most cursory
understanding of population growth/
decline can understand why this is such
a problem. As the effulgent Mark Steyn
will tell you, every population has a
replacement fertility rate. To maintain
the current population requires a fertility rate of 2.1 children per woman, since
that is the bare minimum needed to
replenish the country/state/city. Once
a population’s fertility rate drops below
1.4 children per couple, it is virtually
Nancy King is a freelance reporter operating out of Westchester County.
PROGRESSIVISM
Mass Murder in Detroit, Sanger-style
By LUKE HAMILTON
This column has previously explored the
cataclysmic failure of the
city of Detroit; how the
city represents a culmination of decades-long Leftist policy and
how the citizens continue to bite the
hand attempting to feed it. None of this
is news to Clash Daily readers. However,
it seems statistically probable that things
will get a whole lot worse before they
get better. How is this possible, you ask?
Their operating deficit last year stood at
$100m and they have long-term liabilities which stretch mid-teens into the
billions. Their police and fire squads are
so demoralized and understaffed that
they have been forced to abandon entire
neighborhoods to their own devices as
there simply isn’t enough manpower.
Wild animals have taken over city blocks
and a private group is even recruiting investors to fund a zombie-survival
amusement park in the city itself, ala The
Walking Dead.
How could things get worse?
DetroitNews.com reported this
week that ⅓ of all pregnancies end in
abortion in the city of Detroit. That is a
staggering statistic. Yes, it’s true that in
certain demographics and in our most
concentrated urban areas, the percentage
of pregnancies ending in abortion can be
higher; but this number is regardless of
demographic. The future growth of the
city of Detroit has been shuttered by a
third for subsequent generations. Out
of an estimated 18,360 pregnancies in
Page 23
are thousands of men who have chosen
cowardice over courage. Pretending to be
a man to get into her bed, but shirking
duty and honor to drop off a pile of cash
on the dresser of a sexual partner, so that
she can “take care of it”.
This is an issue of humanity and
those who cheapen it to the point of
death.
Detroit isn’t a tragedy, it’s the perfectly-formed fruit of the rotten tree of
Progressivism.
who happens to be a liberty-loving, rightwing, Christian constitutionalist. When
not penning columns for ClashDaily.
com, Hamilton spends his time astride the
Illinois-Wisconsin border, leading bands of
liberty-starved citizens from the progressive gulags of Illinois to [relative] freedom.
Hamilton is the creative mind/voice behind
Pillar & Cloud Productions, a budding
production company which resides at
http://www.PillarCloudProductions.
com.He owes all to his Lord and Savior,
Jesus Christ, whose strength is perfected in
his weakness.
PROGRESSIVISM
Mass Murder in Detroit, Sanger-style
impossible for the population to rebound
into a growing entity.
Some Asian and European countries have already entered what Steyn
calls “the death spiral” which is akin to
calling Hospice for your population: you
don’t know when it will arrive, but the
end is nigh. Spain’s fertility rate hovers
around 1.1 births per female. This means
the Spanish nation is halving in popula-
years, given that the rate of demographic
replenishment is cut by a third with each
passing generation?
Where is President Obama, who
loves to lecture us about the responsibility we hold to keep abortion “safe,
legal, and rare”? There’s nothing rare
about your population being truncated
by a third. One can almost picture that
harpy, Margaret Sanger, rubbing her
talons together in some warm, sulfurous
(and other progressive eugenicists) come
tragically true.
This is not an issue of condom
access, or even poverty. This is an issue of
the devaluation of humanity. Thousands
of women have decided that their own
convenience and/or pleasure is more
important than a human life. They are
encouraged by discussion from so-called
medical professionals who inform them
that going through with the procedure
is the equivalent of blowing their nose.
Does a nose have a heartbeat? Does snot
contain DNA distinct from your nose?
Along with all of those women, there
Luke Hamilton is classically-trained,
Shakespearean actor from Eugene, Oregon
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tion with each generation. In 2012, the
population of Detroit was estimated to
be around 713,777 poor souls, of which
around 52% were estimated to be female.
With 5,000+ abortions performed each
year in Detroit, how is it even conceivable that the city will survive another 25
place. This is, after all, the fulfillment of
her dream when she founded Planned
Parenthood. She sought to purge the
American society of those demographics she deemed undesirable or unfit
for breeding. As the numbers of urban
women who choose death over life skyrocket, the dreams of Margaret Sanger
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S&G WEALTH MANAGEMENT, LLC Articles of
Org. filed NY Sec. of State (SSNY) 4/14/14 Office
in Westchester Co. SSNY design. Agent of LLC
upon whom process may be served. SSNY shall
mail copy of process to C/O Donald Giannattasio
Seligson & Giannattasio, LLP 723 North Broadway White Plains, NY 10603. Purpose: Any lawful activity.
Notice of Formation of The Beauty Parlor, LLC.
Articles of Organization filed with NY Sec. of
State on 1/14/14. Office located in Westchester County. SSNY is designated as agent upon
whom process against the LLC may be served.
SSNY shall mail process to: the LLC, 100 Main
St., Dobbs Ferry, NY 10522. Purpose: any lawful
activity.
BELMONT CORONEA LLC Articles of Org. filed
NY Sec. of State (SSNY) 5/7/14 Office in Westchester Co. SSNY design. Agent of LLC upon
whom process may be served. SSNY shall mail
copy of process to The LLC 26 Belmont Ave Yonkers, NY 10704. Purpose: Any lawful activity.
CASSIDY & SONS PROPERTIES LLC Articles of
Org. filed NY Sec. of State (SSNY) 5/16/14 Office
in Westchester Co. SSNY design. Agent of LLC
upon whom process may be served. SSNY shall
mail copy of process to The LLC 771 Nepperhan
Ave Yonkers, NY 10703. Purpose: Any lawful
activity
CYPRESS CORLISS LLC Articles of Org. filed NY
Sec. of State (SSNY) 5/7/14 Office in Westchester Co. SSNY design. Agent of LLC upon whom
process may be served. SSNY shall mail copy
of process to The LLC 18-20 Cypress Street
Yonkers, NY 10704. Purpose: Any lawful activity.
Law Offices of Nichelle A. Johnson, PLLC Articles of Org. filed NY Sec. of State (SSNY)
4/16/2014. Office in Westchester Co.; SSNY
design. agent of LLC upon whom process may
be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to
the PLLC at 240 North Avenue, Ste 215, New Rochelle, NY 10801. Purpose: Any lawful activity.
Page 24
EYE ON
THEATRE
Subaltern Silver, Delicious Dale
By JOHN SIMON
Nicky Silver is neither a top
drawer nor a bottom drawer
dramatist, but one from the
middle drawers. Of middle
drawers there are several,
and sometimes Silver is high middle, sometimes low middle. His current “Too Much
Sun” is perhaps middle-middle drawer.
Like its immediate predecessor, “The
Lyons,” it has a middle-aged heroine, in
this case Audrey Langham, a celebrated
stage actress, who in some ways has made
a mess of her life, and is now in the process
her. But Audrey is terrible at taking direction even in Chicago (the city, not the
show). She gripes about her costume, her
stage positioning, the lighting, and, most
of all, the verse play she is in, and an infanticide heroine, she believes, nobody gives a
damn about.
As Linda Lavin plays Audrey, this
is funny—well, fairly funny—but also
wholly unbelievable. No director would be
only a disembodied voice, and no leading
actress would walk out on her role in mid
rehearsal, even leaving the Windy City
for the summer house on the Northeast
Matt Dickson as Lucas and Ken Barnett as Dennis in Too Much Sun.
of ruining other people’s, starting with that
of her daughter Kitty, unhappily married
and a whiner, but, as a schoolteacher, not
nowadays surprisingly so. The trouble with
Linda Lavin as Audrey Langham and
Jennifer Westfeldt as Kitty in Too Much Sun.
most Silver plays is that they are not quite
believable as drama, and, as comedy, more
silver than gold.
In the very first scene, Audrey stands
dead center before a curtain, rehearsing
the role of Medea, with an unseen director
heard over the loudspeaker trying to direct
Coast, rented by her neglected daughter
now in the middle of an unhappy marriage.
I refer to Kitty’s one, rather than the five or
six (the play is vague about numbers) marriages of her own.
Richard Bekins as Winston and Linda Lavin
as Audrey Langham in Too Much Sun.
Kitty is married to Dennis, an ad
man taking a summer off to write a sci-fi
novel set partly on a planet with two suns
(hence the play’s title), and, as it turns out,
attracted less to her than to a neighbor,
young Lucas, who makes money peddling
pot (where does he get it from?) rather
than getting ready for college, where his
widowed father, Winston, would have
him go, except that he spoils his son rotten,
smiling even when the lad totals dad’s car
or sells dad’s golf clubs.
Kitty has reasons to complain besides
her husband’s coldness. Audrey has been
the worst possible, absentee mother,
neglecting her year after year. This on
top of Dennis’s bitching that the study in
which he would be writing has been converted into a bedroom for Audrey, who
sleeps till all hours and emerges only for
meals and candy. Or cigarettes, which, in a
running gag, she tries to bum from every
other character in the play, all of whom
however, are nonsmokers.
Two relationships grow. Audrey
and Winston become close, and Dennis
embarks on a steamy beachside affair
with Lucas in more graphic gay sex
scenes than I recall previously seeing on
a stage. Presently we get Gil, who works
for his uncle, Audrey’s theatrical agent,
and is deputized by him to bring back
the runaway actress. But Gil dreams of
becoming a rabbi, rather than pursuing
Audrey, who now thinks that all acting is
ridiculous, and considers her forty years
doing it a total waste.
But no more plot summary--although, believe me, there is plot aplenty,
too much even for “Too Much Sun.” Be it
said, though, that Linda Lavin is an expert
comedienne who infuses enough wit into,
or extracts enough humor from, about
everything she touches, and that Mark
Brokaw has done everything a director can
do hands on, rather than through a mike.
There is also good acting from
Richard Bekins as Winston, and much
less so from Mark Dickson, as his son
Lucas, neither young, appealing or
talented enough. Jennifer Westfeldt does
the best one can with the thankless role of
Kitty, and Matt Dellapina is acceptable as
Gil, with Ken Barnett, as Dennis, a touch
less so.
The production has a nice sundeck
by Donyale Werle, and clever costumes by
Michael Krass. But also one of the most
expendable scenes ever written, a pointless
entr’acte in which Ms. Lavin, accompanied by Mr. Bekins on the piano, butchers
the great Brecht & Weill “Surabaya
Johnny” in both German and English, the
sort of thing that could give gratuitousness
the worst possible name.
Too Much Sun production images by
and courtesy of Carol Rosegg.
Venue Details: Vineyard Theatre,
108 East 15th Street, between Union
Square and Irving place, New
York, NY 10003. Ticket Services:
1.212.353.3366 or 1.800.276.2392.
What a relief to come to the marvelous
Jim Dale in Just Jim Dale.
“Just Jim Dale,” as good a solo show as you
will ever see, and which I cannot commend
and recommend highly enough. Jim Dale
may just be the most charming farceur to
tread the boards, while also triumphing on
both the big and little screen and in music,
to say nothing of his brilliant recorded
readings of the seven Harry Potter novels,
in which he manages a different, equally
splendid voice for all two hundred plus
characters.
Jim Dale in Just Jim Dale.
But let’s get back to charm. This
usually comes with high comedy a la Noel
Coward or Cary Grant, or, more Gallicly
and bedroomily, by Charles Boyer. It
almost never comes with unabashedly low
or middle-range farce, dazzlingly elevated
to the heights attained by Jim Dale, as he
holds you in his palms, his feet, his whole
body for two uninterrupted hours, leaving
you wallowing in laughter but perfectly
game for any number of hours more.
Delightfully accompanied by Mark
York on the piano—and a bit beyond—
Dale sings and clowns, dances and jests
with delicious patter, and moves with an
anthology of comic walks, gestures, and
even the odd pratfall, right onto your funny
bone and into your heart. And when I say
funny bone, I don’t mean merely that spot
on your elbow, but every bone and muscle
making you shake with laughter to make
the rafters ring.
The show is essentially Dale’s telling
and reenacting of his life and stage story,
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and how a boy from a working-class
suburb of London, with working-class
parents and very briefly himself a shoe
factory hand, worked himself up through
hard training to the summits of showbiz,
to Britain’s beloved music hall and
beyond it to stellar performing in every
possible country and medium, including Shakespeare and Molière, displaying
matchless movement (as suggested by his
father), terrific timing (ditto) and those
oodles and oodles of charm which only
inborn talent and hard work lightly worn
can attain.
Richard Maltby, Jr. has contributed
skilled direction, and Anna Louizos a
handsome backdrop, but mostly it’s the
genius of just Jim Dale or Smith. Yes
Smith, as he was born, but, by a printer’s
error he adopted, Dale, has “forged in the
smithy of his soul”(phrase by James Joyce)
not just “the conscience of his race” (Joyce
again), but also the conquest and conveying of the summits of comedy.
It is impossible to impart all this
through mere printed words; you must
catch “Just Jim Dale” and experience it
first hand. What you see and hear will stay
with you as a touchstone for as long as you
are capable of joyous remembrance.
Just Jim Dale production images by
and courtesy of Joan Marcus.
Venue Details: The Harold and Miriam
Steinberg Center for Theatre,The Laura Pels
Theatre, 111 West 46th Street, New York,
NY 10036. Ticket Services: 1.212.719.1300.
John Simon has written for over 50 years on
theatre, film, literature, music and fine arts for the
Hudson Review, New Leader, New Criterion,
National Review, New York Magazine, Opera
News, Weekly Standard, Broadway.com and
Bloomberg News. He reviews books for the New
York Times Book Review and Washington Post.
To learn more, visit the www.JohnSimonUncensored.com website.

June 5, 2014 - WestchesterGuardian.com

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