The Sociological Aspects of CB Radio

By Michael Boyajian

I am a real radio freak going back to my childhood when my late father and I would peruse the now non existent Radio Shack catalog.  We would find and purchase radio kits, shortwave radios, marine radios, police scanners and the new at that time FM radios.

So we have now had the usual circus of everyone showing up and yelling at the “unaccountable MTA.” Why isn’t there any similar circus at which people can yell at the New York State Legislature? After all, that is the group of people who sold out the future. Well, they created the MTA to take care of that for them. It’s what the MTA is for, to be held accountable for what others have done and they are expected to go along with.

I guess it was just too much for me to hope that the quality of black and Hispanic electeds will get better in a post-Obama USA. After all, there was really nothing to base that on. And after years of frustration with the quality emerging from New York, I guess I was just grasping at straws, in hope that we could elect people, who are not only intellectually developed to tackle real issues facing the polity, but also possessive of the moral character and courage to do the right thing when the right time comes.

Look, there are no perfect politicians. In fact there are no perfect human beings anywhere. If we were all perfect, we would have nothing to strive for; so hopefully we keep reaching for the good within, hoping that one day we get to become the best we can be. I know that I am not perfect, but I do strive to be a better human being every day of my adult life. I also try to learn from my mistakes and not repeat them: to me, this is basic; this is fundamental for trying to live a decent life.

LIZ BENJAMIN (from “O'Donnell Considering Congressional Run”): I asked [Assemblyman Daniel] O'Donnell if he thought the fact that the composition of the district and the fact that the seat has been considered a "black seat" would pose a problem for him. He noted that the composition of his AD "almost mirrors" that of Rangel's district, and he performed well across all voting blocs in 2002. 
 

Of Snow and Buffalo

By Michael Boyajian

The snows that recently hammered our region seem to be overwhelming with 100,000 losing power in the mid-Hudson Valley while politicians conveniently disappeared and ever frugal Mayor Bloomberg closing New York City’s schools for the seventh time in thirty two years but this is nothing compared to the typical snowy winter in Buffalo, New York.

According to this article and another in the Wall Street Journal (subscriber only), California's public employee pension system might be prepared to admit that its projected 7.75% rate of return is nonsense. That means that it will also admit that even more devastating tax increases and service reductions and eliminations will be required. Required to pay for the unfunded pension enhancements of the past 12 years, resulting from deals between politicians and unions to increase their pension benefits (even as most workers get little or nothing), and deals to cut pension contributions (paying for two decades of special tax deals). New York's projected rate of return? Eight percent plus. Fraud, I as wrote here.

Last January, after the Supreme Court overturned the ban on corporations’ spending money on federal campaigns, the Times Editorial Board got angry.

Here’s some of what they wrote –

With a single, disastrous 5-to-4 ruling, the Supreme Court has thrust politics back to the robber-baron era of the 19th century…

The majority is deeply wrong on the law. Most wrongheaded of all is its insistence that corporations are just like people and entitled to the same First Amendment rights.

It was a fundamental misreading of the Constitution to say that these artificial legal constructs have the same right to spend money on politics as ordinary Americans have to speak out in support of a candidate.

GRATEFUL DEAD: Rich man step on my poor head,
When you get back you better butter my bread.
Well, do you know it's like I said,
You better head back to Tennessee Jed.

Always check the blogs before that second glass of wine.

If I’d checked the blogs earlier, I’d of been able to write a decent piece about tonite’s main event.

Of course you all know the story.

An African-American political wannabee carpetbagger, born far away, and barely residing in his purported constituency, a man who was utterly clueless about how to win a New York election, and lacked anything approaching a coherent rationale, but who nonetheless attracted attention bordering upon hype from those obsessed with classless chattering, has finally shown his true colors by ending his latest political endeavor almost before it ever really started, complete with a disingenuous Op-Ed piece spouting self-serving excuses and rationalizations not even he believes.

Nothing to Fear from Labor Union Card Check

By Michael Boyajian

My father was a big labor union man.  The unions put food on our table, gave us healthcare, put us through college and provided my dad with a pension when he retired.  He had one rule for the family.  We could talk about any politics that we wanted to around the kitchen table but we could never bad mouth the unions.

Last week, I handed in my resignation to Ms. Darlene Mealy (NYC council member of the 41st District). I assume that most of you are aware that I have been working with her since December -as the part time Communications Director.  Hopefully, my last day in this role will be on the 26th of March (as per my resignation letter).

The main reasons I have chosen to go this route are what necessitate this column. I want to make it clear that this is my choice -and mine only. I was not forced to walk the plant, nor given any subtle shoves out the door. I have given her enough notice (4 weeks) so that she can hire someone to replace me without her small staff being strained, stressed and/or stretched.