Privatizing Social Security Is Pure Nonsense

By Michael Boyajian

The Republicans’ plan to privatize social security has raised its ugly head again only this time voters know it’s a stinker of an idea.  If social security had been privatized during the Bush Administration then many of our seniors would be out on the street because the financial meltdown would have erased most of their investment in an instant.

The President Stands For the Mosque

By Michael Boyajian

The President of the United States, the leader of the free world, Barack Obama, has weighed in on the building of the mosque in lower Manhattan and rather than blowing in the wind with the opinion polls he made a firm stand in support of the mosque and American Muslims wishing to practice their religion in peace.  His command of the bully pulpit was reminiscent of another strong leader, Theodore Roosevelt.

"That is who we are fighting against. And the reason that we will win this fight is not simply the strength of our arms – it is the strength of our values. The democracy that we uphold. The freedoms that we cherish. The laws that we apply without regard to race or religion; wealth or status. Our capacity to show not merely tolerance, but respect to those who are different from us – a way of life that stands in stark contrast to the nihilism of those who attacked us on that September morning, and who continue to plot against us today."

Gatemouth has never been more proud of his President, or more worried about his country.

Of course, some may ask, but what doth it profit you if you gain your soul, but lose the Congress?

India

By Michael Boyajian

I remember in the early 1980s when the Psychedelic Furs landed in the U.S. with their big hit India.  That song, that musical arrangement hypnotized me and carried me away to that far off country.

Then there was the photograph in the New York Times Book Review a couple of years ago of Alan Ginsberg feeding a monkey on the balcony of his home in India.  The hazy luminosity of the light made you feel that it was the early morning of what would be a very hot day.

The Sailor Who Kissed The Nurse

 By Michael Boyajian

The New York Times today had a story about the iconic photograph of the sailor kissing the nurse in Times Square at the moment World War II ended. This picture symbolized that generation’s journey from the Great Depression to ultimate victory over Fascism. A moment of instant joy, relief and triumph.

 This leads to a question when does my generation, the Baby Boomers, have their moment of joy, relief and triumph? When do we get to kiss the nurse? Is it not enough that we have fought wars on and off for 60 years, landed a man on the moon, revolutionized American society with the Woodstock festival, launched the ages of the PC, Internet and Cell Phone, brought a criminal president to his knees while elevating another, an African American, into that white house?

There will always be politicians you like, and there will always be politicians you dislike; and then there are some that fall in between like and dislike: that’s just the way the cookie crumbles. Many, you may like, not because of their sterling accomplishments, but more because of their personalities: and this is the category in which I placed Charlie Rangel years ago. He has done a few good things in Congress but he is overrated like hell.

This leftie write about why Americans are afraid of Mosques and Muslims. I personally reject the premise.

I would think mosques themselves are not terrifying, as the likelihood of being the victim of a suicide bomber when you're near one is probably pretty close to nil (although the JDL still apparently exists). As to Muslims, most I know don't scare me (except perhaps that six foot three wannabe Italian from Carroll Gardens who helped lead the fight against the battered women's shelter), and besides, they generally make better falafel than the kosher places.

I've been outspoken in my belief that those making an issue about the Young Men’s Islamic Association proposed for The Holy Mother Coat Factory facility are dead wrong, and un-American to boot. However, that being said, this article is total crapola.

First of all, I don't know if "fear" is quite the right word, and while I do think garden variety ignorance and xenophobia are part of the problem, let's face facts; the issues most Americans have with Islam do not stem from being brainwashed by "government policy and actions since the attacks of 9/11," they stem from those attacks themselves, and are further amplified by a well justified revulsion towards other actions taken by fanatics in the name of Islam.

But that doesn’t make the opposition towards this facility and other Islamic projects right; it just makes the author of this article a jerk. Why Americans Are Terrified of Mosques and Muslims – uprisingradio.org uprisingradio.org