Author: Judge Michael Boyajian

The New Capitalism

By Michael Boyajian

The banks in the United States have stopped lending money.  This leads one to ask what then is their purpose, to operate ATM machines?  What this actually signals is the end of the economic system known as private enterprise capitalism.  Government must step in, not entirely but in many instances, to fill the void left behind by banks.  The government must start to offer low interest short term loans to small businesses, loans for homeowners and even loans for people to start a business to name but a few products abandoned by the banks.

Spending Priorities: Super Trains vs. Manned Space Program

By Michael Boyajian

With concern growing about our government’s deficit spending many are wondering if we have to chose between government programs.  Two programs that may face each other for federal dollars are the super train network and the manned space program.

The National Pastimes

By Michael Boyajian

Let me apologize in advance to fans of other teams, but my father was a lifelong Yankee fan and I am a lifelong Yankee fan.  So I know a little something about baseball.  I also know a bit about politics.

Crucifying Celebrities

By Michael Boyajian

There is a Beatles song about John Lennon and Yoko Ono where John sings, “they’re going to crucify me.”  And that is what we do today, we crucify celebrities.

Why do we do this to people who entertain us, who make us happy and sad, who bring emotion into our lives and do little to harm to the planet like say our elected officials and corporate executives?    Look at Tiger Woods, a golfer.  No threat at all to the planet.  Yet the media went after him as if he were a family values politician who was caught soliciting sex in a bathroom while calling for the president to declare war on say someone as revered as the Dalai Lama.  I mean he was just a golfer.  He hit a little ball around on the grass for a living.

Super Trains: An Infrastructure Priority

By Michael Boyajian

For years politicians have vowed to revive upstate New York’s beleaguered economy.  In reality they did little more than rest their hopes on a few casinos and some business zones.  Still, the upstate economy remains in bad shape with jobs and population bleeding out of the state.  Why Buffalo alone was once a city of 600,000  people and is now reduced substantially to a mere 200,000.

The Economy of Global Demilitarization

By Michael Boyajian

With the real or imagined threat posed by hostile nations and terrorism so prevalent in the American mindset it is hard to convince many of the need to reduce the nation’s military spending in order to super charge the economy.  However, if you were to reduce all the world’s military expenditures than nothing is lost because those with the advantage still have the advantage yet valuable monies are freed up for more productive economic pursuits.

The Hydraulic Fracturing of the Catskills

By Michael Boyajian

The Catskills are a place of vast beauty preserved by New York State’s Constitution as “forever wild.”  Weary New York City residents find solace here on weekends free for a time from the grind of the city while year round residents find a nature escape from our ever urbanizing world.  And most importantly, according to Craig Michaels of Riverkeeper in a recent radio interview, is the fact that eight million New Yorkers get their water from the region.

Piercing the Corporate Veil

By Michael Boyajian

Corporations are a creation of the people through the government that serves the people.  Corporations were given certain privileges that would allow them to raise capital to build things that would benefit the public good.  They are designed to shield their directors and officers from liability so they can effectively raise money.

Pitched Preservation Battle to Save New York’s Valley Forge

By Michael Boyajian

There is a scene in a Sherlock Holmes story where Holmes turns to Watson as their train passes through a country village and says this is where the real crimes take place.  That might be the story of the scenic Hudson Valley Town of Fishkill where preservationists under the direction of Mara Farrell and the Friends of the Fishkill Supply Depot ( http://www.fishkillsupplydepot.org/ ) along with the likes of Senator Chuck Schumer are engaged in a pitched battle to save New York’s Valley Forge from the back hoes of commercial developers.

Brooklyn Attorney Helps Forgotten Victims of the Haitian Earthquake

By Michael Boyajian

America is not a perfect place but it is a generous country and there are many heroes here whose stories go untold.  I would like to tell you about one hero in particular, Brooklyn attorney T.K. Small.  T.K. has Muscular Dystrophy and spent a good portion of his early life in a children’s hospital in Westchester County.  The plan there was that once he turned eighteen he would be sent to an out of state nursing home where he would be warehoused for the rest of his life.