No one will deny that we Puerto Ricans are proud of our culture and very proud of our cuisine. Much of our food contains – dare I say it: salt.  It’s part of who we are, have been, and will be.  The unique blend of salt and a variety of flavors in every Puerto Rican meal is to be savored and enjoyed. 

It’s hard to understand how any Puerto Rican would consider making a law to cast our food aside and recommend ways to punish restaurants that prepare and serve Puerto Rican dishes.

The Trauma of War

By Michael Boyajian

When I was younger I used to watch war movies, mostly John Wayne stuff like his cavalry trilogy, his World War II forays and finally the Green Berets.  As kids we all played with our G.I. Joes dressing them up in Marine dress up or a frogman outfit.  All the neighborhood kids would run around the block playing army with toy guns.  How did we know how to play army?  Well, they were broadcasting the Vietnam War on television every evening.

School’s Out Forever

By Michael Boyajian

The pariah of school cuts to arts and music has raised its ugly head once again.  Those who use but one side of their brain have decided that only math and science count when it comes to financing our schools.  By corrupting and taking a hard right off Plato’s conjectured road they say to hell with art, music, philosophy and the humanities in general without giving thought for a minute to the simple modern world facts that those with musical skills excel in science and that without the art and literature of science fiction there would be no landing of a man on the moon.

Don’t ever say that some of the female members of Brooklyn’s city council delegation are soft: they aren’t. There was a raucous public hearing last Wednesday evening at the Brooklyn Museum (near Grand Army Plaza), that was aimed at getting the general view on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s proposed service cuts in the next fiscal year; at this event, NYC council members Darlene Mealy and Tish James -both from Brooklyn- made outstanding oral presentations which captivated the loud crowd of attendees. Throughout the procedures scores of teenagers outnumbered the elderly, in openly expressing their disenchantment with the proposed cuts by the MTA’s board members. Eventually four arrests were made amongst the spirited -but at times rowdy- youngsters; as police officers had to be called in to help maintain order. 

I should really make this title: “OF DREAMS AND DRIVES AND PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT”, since it highlights the importance of parental involvement in young children’s lives. This column deals with two black female attorneys and their two kids; and in both instances these kids were raised in single-parent households. Too often these types of situations are frowned upon; but I always caution folks not to stereotype: you will be surprised or contradicted quite often.

I know both parents involved here. They are both good friends and are also politically active. They have devoted their lives to developing their kids properly. They have also invested extraordinary amounts of time, effort, energy and money in their children’s overall development. Their combined goal has always been to maximize the potential in these kids. They both need to be commended. Maybe some organization could jointly award them the “Mother of the Year” award at some event, later this year.

A Brilliant Sunrise

By Michael Boyajian

I started out a recent Friday night drinking an O’Doul’s listening to Who’s Next.  Ahh, the other side of fifty.  Where trying to catch a buzz from a non alcoholic beer is like trying to suck water out of a mouthful of pebbles.

The Sociological Aspects of CB Radio

By Michael Boyajian

I am a real radio freak going back to my childhood when my late father and I would peruse the now non existent Radio Shack catalog.  We would find and purchase radio kits, shortwave radios, marine radios, police scanners and the new at that time FM radios.