1. Welcoming Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito
Melissa Mark-Viverito waged a strong, direct, and progressive campaign, becoming the first Latino woman to serve as NY City Council Speaker. The attacks by certain of NYC’s newspapers were unseemly. A real opportunity, and challenge for NYC to make a progressive agenda work, and I welcome her leadership.
2. NYC – A Tale of Two Cities
Giving recognition to people in our City who have been leading a hard life, and who have not had a voice, is a good thing. Incredible to watch the stir among those who have been in power the last number of years. My advice to them, get over it, and support a more inclusive, future NYC. The fact is that Bill DeBlasio has made many of us take off the blinders. NY is still the best City in the world!
3. The Sports Business in NYC
As the City celebrates hosting the SuperBowl with unaffordable ticket prices to most New Yorkers, and when everyday professional basketball, football, hockey, and even now baseball tickets are largely out of range for most NYers, it is time to relook at the obligations of team owners, and their millionaire players, to the fans who cheer them on, and are priced out of the stadiums.
4. The Miley Cyrus Syndrome
With twerking and less clothes, Miley Cyrus made a career branding choice that has boosted her to the top, and on that level, I may even admire it. However, if the shift was a corporate decision for profit inducing a young woman to offer her body up as a soft-porn image for her 8-15 year old fans, I have to ask, “what’s gone wrong in our society?”
5. Do You Understand the Fed’s $4 Trillion?
I just got to ask the question. In terms of our long-term obligations, what’s the difference between the U.S debt increasing, and the Fed’s buying $4 trillion of our Debt? Haven’t we printed $4 trillion to cover unfunded debt, and haven’t we just added additional obligations to our $17 trillion debt? Clearly, if we added directly to the debt, we would know what the money was spent on, and yet, with The Federal Reserve, where’s the “trickle down?”
6. New Thinking to an Israel-Palestinian Peace
With negotiations underway in the Middle East, in my recently-published article, Holding On to Our Homeland (listed under Articles in this Website), I make the case for Israel’s declaring sovereignty over Judea and Samaria, (the West Bank) and annexing the land now. The hard work of uplifting all the people there, and creating a vibrant new society that serves everyone, could then begin.
