News & Politics
Islam in America
A New York developer wants to build an Islamic culture center and mosque within two city blocks of the World Trade Center site. An amusement park is sponsoring an Islamic Day on September 12. Both issues are igniting debates in social media and on the 24 x 7 cable news. How dare they? What a [...]
A Hill Too Far
Over the weekend Lance Armstrong fell to 39th place in the Tour de France, ending all hope of winning an 8th title in his last tour. The King of Cycling retired in 2005 after his seventh Tour de France victory, an amazing achievement. Despite repeated tests and accusations, Lance left the sport clean. Now, as [...]
Employers – The Best Illegal Immigration Wall
The Justice Department is suing to stop the new Arizona immigration law. Politicians and pundits are debating border protection, amnesty, and other immigration issues with increased ferocity. Very little is mentioned about those that employ illegal immigrants. Conservatives want the federal government to finish the three-story wall along the US-Mexican border, some of the most [...]
Flemish 1 – Vatican 0
The Vatican was shocked and outraged as Belgium police took aggressive steps to halt child sexual abuse by priests in their country. Last week authorities raided Church offices; confiscated documents and computers; detained a number of conferencing bishops; and drilled into two tombs of former cardinals. The Flemish government is apparently tired of the delays [...]
Organ-Izer
Richard Brodsky, candidate for New York Attorney General, wants more than taxes out of us. He wants our organs. Brodsky, whose daughter received two kidney transplants, is promoting a law, called ‘presumed consent,’ that assumes all New Yorkers will provide livers, kidneys, hearts and corneas upon our death unless we opt out. In 2009, according [...]
Memorial Day In Hornell, NY
Like hundreds of communities, Hornell, New York will celebrate Memorial Day with a parade and veteran ceremonies. The event in this Southern Tier village is a bit more personal for the town’s people. It is the first Memorial Day since Zach Smith died in Afghanistan. It is now a little over four months since his [...]
Saving Baby’s
Good news and bad news about our children. Around the world 7.7 million children below the age of five will die in 2010. This is down 35% from the 11.9 million children that perished in 1990. The bad news is the United States child mortality is not keeping pace. It is incredible that the richest [...]
A Senior Moment
At the local YMCA I observed a magical senior moment. Rather than sermonize or over-analyzing it, allow me to describe it with the hope all of us will follow the same path. An elderly gentleman approached the front desk in a dripping bathing suit. He needed help. Embarrassed, his eyes stared at his wet toes [...]
Explosive Ethics
What if I told you there is a foreign operation with a wide network in the United States that is responsible for a number of explosions killing a couple dozen Americans? What if you knew the same organization is accountable for three major environmental disasters in North America? Call Home Security? Don’t expect a reply. [...]
2 Canals
The Erie Canal is a couple miles from our home. When walking along the towpath past cafes and gift stores I think about my ancestors that either dug this canal or traveled along this water highway to Buffalo, Cleveland, Chicago and West. Immigrants, like the Weber’s, Clark’s and Ryan’s, landed in New York, went North [...]
