From California To The New York Island, But For The Rest, The Firewall Holds

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Starhawk writing from California the day after the election reports that her state stayed dry above the red tide that swept most of the nation.  Jerry Brown after 30 years returned to the governor’s office and Barbara Boxer was returned to the U.S. Senate following their battles against wealthy opponents who spent fortunes trying to buy the seats.  The prodigal child of the west stood high on the liberal summit.

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The Deadly Mystery of the Disappearing Fishkill Bog Turtle

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The Town of Fishkill is suffering from diminishing open space as developers take the back hoe to woodland after woodland across the region even threatening at one point to pave over the graves of Revolutionary War soldiers.  In fact, development has destroyed precious animal habitat in Fishkill to such an extent that starving wild animals are showing up at the back doors of homes in search of food.

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A Jimmy Carter Future

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A Jimmy Carter Future  By Michael Boyajian 

Former President Jimmy Carter has a new book out consisting of excerpts of his recorded diary entries made while he was in the White House.  He is one of the most prolific presidents when it comes to writing rivaling only Theodore Roosevelt.

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A Night At The Theater On Election Eve

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A Night At The Theater On Election Eve

 

By Michael Boyajian

 

My wife and I just saw Vincent Price in Edgar Allan Poe’s The Pit and the Pendulum on the big screen at the grand old Bardavon Theater in Poughkeepsie.  The theater’s marquee was lit up in neon lights as if we were at Times Square.  The film was preceded by a ghoulish organ recital and each member of the audience received a Dover Press collection of Poe’s short stories.  All courtesy of the National Endowment for the Arts.

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Senate Candidate Didi Barrett Sprints to the Finish Line

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Senate Candidate Didi Barrett Sprints to the Finish Line

 

By Michael Boyajian

 

State Senate candidate Didi Barrett is sprinting to the finish line on Tuesday in her gallant Mid Hudson Valley race.  She kicks off the final drive of her campaign with an event at the Chill Wine Bar Thursday in Beacon hosted by noted community activist Mara Farrell.  Mara is the founder of the prestigious Friends of the Fishkill Supply Depot to whom Didi has pledged her support.  The Fishkill Supply Depot is the largest extant burial ground of Revolutionary War soldiers in the nation and is threatened by developers yet has received scant interest from her opponent Senator Stephen Saland.

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Dark Horse Alyssa Kogon Set To Strike Victory

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Dark Horse Alyssa Kogon Set to Strike Victory

 

By Michael Boyajian

 

Dark horse state assembly candidate Alyssa Kogon is ready to strike victory as her Republican opponent the incumbent Joel Miller begins to melt down.  Miller seemed to be a candidate with something to worry about recently as he went from a self assured campaigner to one who may be taking too aggressive a tact against his opponent reformer Alyssa Kogon.

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Would They Be Proud Of Us Today?

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Would They Be Proud of Us Today?

 

By Michael Boyajian

 

There is a question regularly featured in Greek publications and classrooms that asks would the Ancient Greeks be proud of us today?  So would they be proud of we Americans the descendents of the Western Civilization that they founded.  The idea warrants investigation.  Certainly they would be fascinated by the epic battles we fought in the Revolutionary War against the British Empire and the Second World War against those who threatened civilization much as they were threatened by Persia.   Perhaps though they would be ashamed by our Civil War because Greece lost its Golden Age in its war between Athens and Sparta but proud because we freed our slaves.  Ashamed too by our unjust wars that stained our honor.  But overall they would see Homer’s Iliad in our history.

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A Call For Military Reductions

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A Call for Military Reductions

 

By Michael Boyajian

 

The Obama Administration should follow the lead of the Cameron Government in Britain and begin reducing its own military expenditures.  Reductions would be a great cost saver and would perhaps super charge the economy.  Reductions would still leave the U.S. as the lead military power in the world as Britain’s proposed reductions leave it in its same ranking of military strength.  This would end the need for reductions in domestic allocations like social security, health care, education and infrastructure.

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The Spreading Poison of the New Conservatism

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The Spreading Poison of the New Conservatism

 

By Michael Boyajian

 

I am reading a book Dinner With Persephone by Patricia Storace and in it the author describes Greece as beautiful but the Greeks themselves as less than nice.  I will not know the truth of this assertion until I visit Greece on my next trip to Europe.

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