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Same Sex Marriage Senate Battles Heat Up
By Michael Boyajian
Making good on their promise to roll out of the pubs and into the streets gay rights activists are taking the battle for same sex marriage to the senate ballot box. Some races are a long shot but there are many that have a chance of knocking out opponents of same sex marriage.
Senate Candidate Launches Campaign of New Ideas
By Michael Boyajian
Didi Barrett will make it official as she declares her candidacy against State Senator Stephen Saland in the Hudson Valley’s 41st Senate District on this sunny Wednesday in April.
New York’s Secession Talk
By Michael Boyajian
There is a lot of talk from various windbags about certain states like Texas seceding from the United States of America apparently ignorant of the fact that 600,000 on both sides gave their lives in the Civil War.
On Sliwa
By Michael Boyajian
The first time I encountered Curtis Sliwa the founder of the Guardian Angels was at a Rudy Giuliani political event and all the star gazed Young Republicans from New York and around the country were blindly brushing passed the outstretched hands of local Republican leaders as they headed to shake Sliwa’s hand.
The Hegemony of the Cats
By Michael Boyajian
We have three cats in our household. When we first moved to the Hudson Valley we had just two, Winston and Brigid who go everywhere together like two peas in a pod.
Then one day a few weeks before the start of winter we rescued a third cat, Malachy. He had been abandoned. We tried to acclimate him with the other two cats but it did not work out. Malachy loves humans but does not like other cats so we have to keep him in a separate room. The room is small, and he became an outdoor cat after his abandonment, so we occasionally have to let him out into the yard knowing the risks involved but aware that it would be cruel to keep him locked up in a small room.
The Roses of FDR and Obama
By Michael Boyajian
The Poughkeepsie Journal recently reported that scores of people braved a frigid cold winter day to attend a graveside ceremony commemorating FDR’s 128th birthday. This was a testament to the enduring legacy of one America’s greatest presidents.
The Armenian Genocide: A Biblical Story?
By Michael Boyajian
My friend Harlan thinks about the Holocaust and is able to live with what happened by thinking of it in Biblical terms. Millions were killed but now the Jewish people have a homeland, Israel, for the first time since Roman times two thousand years ago. A modern day Passover story is how he describes it.
The Third Testament
By Michael Boyajian
I know I am going out on a limb of controversy here but I feel compelled to go forward. There is much talk among Christians of a second coming of Jesus Christ or a savior. Well, what if the savior came but it wasn’t one Christ but eight and each was crucified. For arguments sake let’s just say they were saviors or prophets rather than Jesus.
The Hour of the Deer
By Michael Boyajian
Dusk for the city dweller is a time between night and day when existence takes on a mellow air free from the frustrations of the work day. It is a time for decompression before the beginning of evening. But it is a different feeling for the suburbanite for it is the hour of the deer. This is the time when deer come out to forage for food and frolic often leaping in front of your moving car causing total damage.
Same Sex Marriage Election Victory
By Michael Boyajian
After the New York State Senate’s failure last year to pass the same sex marriage bill Marriage Equality New York and other LGBT groups vowed to field candidates sympathetic to the measure. The gay community had its first opportunity with a special election in Queens, New York recently for the seat held by disgraced Senator Hiram Monserrate, a vocal opponent of same sex marriage. MENY supported Jose Peralta who handily won the race against Monserrate and a Republican running up huge numbers.