Category: News and Opinion

Generation Greed has promised itself so much that it has been unwilling to pay for, there are only three ways out. Tax younger generations to poverty while denying them public services and benefits. Refuse to pay the debts and pension obligations older generations have promised themselves, with the conflict going extra-legal and perhaps extra-constitutional depending on how deeply the system is rigged. And inflate away the debts, so they are paid back in less valuable dollars. Economist Paul Krugman, looking at the Greek situation, seems to be catching on to this, and coming to terms with inflation as the least bad alternative in the wake of Generation Greed, as you can read here.

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.

Gotham Gazette has a story on New York City's goal of creating a green economy. As it happens, I had solar panels installed on my roof last year, receiving massive federal, state and local subsidies for doing do. But part of the subsidy was absorbed by the cost of bureaucracy. From the time I signed a contract until the time the final inspection was completed, the solar project took nearly a year. But the actual installation of the solar panels and equipment took just ONE DAY, in part because the contractor was good, and in part because I had planned for it, timing solar installation with the need for a new roof.

To know Eliot Spitzer is to come to the realization that there was just no way he was ever going to spend the rest of his life on the sidelines.

The former "Sheriff of Wall Street" talked to interviewer Peter Elkind, author of "Rough Justice: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer," in a piece currently in Fortune Magazine.

More than just missing politics, Spitzer is described as talking "with friends and advisers about political targets."

“The proclamation issued by this Office designating April as Third Reich History Month contained a major omission. The failure to include any reference to the Holocaust was a mistake, and for that I apologize to any fellow German who has been offended or disappointed. The abomination of the Holocaust divided our nation, deprived people of their God-given inalienable rights, and led to the Second World War. The Final Solution was an evil, vicious and inhumane practice which degraded human beings to cadavers, and it has left a stain on the soul of this nation. In 2007, the Bundestag approved a formal statement of “profound regret” for the Nation’s history of anti-Semitism, which was the right thing to do.

As Germans we carry with us both the burdens and the blessings of our history. German history undeniably includes the fact that we were the Third Reich, the site of more concentration camps than any other nation, and the home of the War Crimes Trails at Nuremberg. Our history is perhaps best encapsulated in a fact I noted in my Inaugural Address: The nation that served as ground zero for the Holocaust was also the first in the world to pay reparations. The world’s history has been written in Germany. We cannot avoid our past; instead we must demand that it be discussed with civility and responsibility. During the commemoration of the Second World War over the next few years, I intend to lead an effort to promote greater understanding and harmony in our nation among our citizens.”

It appears we should again start practicing the words. “Gov. Cuomo.”

Not the Democratic icon Mario, but his son Andrew. Andrew’s time has arrived.

To have ever covered the younger Cuomo—one would almost have to know this day would inevitably come. It was clear going back more than 10 years ago and meeting with him in his Washington office as HUD Secretary. Even in private, you could tell from his smile, his confidence, and his political moves. Yes, Andrew Cuomo’s ambition almost cost him his career when he challenged Carl McCall in the race for Governor—but even his critics have to admit the discipline Cuomo has shown rebounding since them.

This race is Cuomo’s to lose.

How can one make such a prediction months in advance. Under normal circumstances, It’s tough for republican candidates in New York, even when the stars are perfectly aligned—but this year in particular the republican contest is shaping up as a bad episode of “All my Children.”

This is the Easter weekend: the most holy in the in the Christian calendar. Holier than the Christmas celebrations even, because -if research serves me right- what now passes as the Christmas holiday, was originally a pagan holiday co-opted by Christian tradition(s). Research even goes as far as suggesting that December 25th is nowhere close to the day or season of Christ’s birth.

Many believe that Easter celebrates the period when Christ rose from the dead (for reasons nebulous to non-believers of course), and is the most important aspect of the ideology. In Christian theology, it is supposed to be symbolic of a major sacrifice made for the eternal redemption of believers. In a country like this -which claims to laud religious freedom- people are entitled to their religious beliefs. As such, protections of these beliefs are enshrined in the constitution, and have been upheld by the highest court of the land (Supreme Court) many times over, but sometimes you wonder why most people refuse to objectively analyze the things they claim to believe in.

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.

In the tabloids, I watch with interest the articles we as a society show the most interest in, the ones that are most emailed from one friend to another. Those articles are often the ones about total nonsense.

Articles that are not going to put food on the table, help lower the high unemployment rate, pay the rent, or enlighten us in any serious way. I wonder why we don’t show the same interest when it comes to giving back to the community.

It breaks my heart on a personal level that in NYC—and in cities across America—40 percent of children do not graduate from high school, and that figure is much higher in some states. Yes there are inequities in life all around us. But when we are done with the long line of pointing the finger at someone else….what are we doing about the problem? “We” in this case is defined as you and I. What are we doing to better our communities. Where is our passion for what really counts.