WE THE
PEOPLE
20 FEBRUARY 23 - MARCH 1, 2018 BROOKLYN MEDIA GROUP
MY TRUTH AGAINST
YOUR TRUTH IS A LIE
The NRA — which donated $30
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neque. Aliquam semper euismod
tempus orci pretium. Donec facilisis, odio et iaculis
iaculis, sem arcu rutrum mi, a vulputate erat
lorem porttitor metus. Mauris sagittis interdum
feugiat. Fusce laoreet vehicula laoreet. Nam
id accumsan magna. Vivamus a felis at lacus
tincidunt sodales quis sed nisl. Donec vitae dui
purus. Quisque eu nisi eros, et venenatis eros.
million to the Trump campaign
— is pushing its most extreme
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gun agenda to date after a 19-year old
murderer visited death upon a high
school in Parkland, Florida.
He pulled a semiautomatic AR-15
rifle from a duffel bag and began a
shooting rampage, fired more than
150 rounds and left 17 innocent people
dead. The AR-15 rifle and ammunition
were purchased legally, at a gun store
in Florida, according to an ATF official.
Thousands of mourners gathered
near the school and joined together
in a moving candlelight vigil to grieve
and ask how these massacres could be
prevented. Anguish gave way to anger
as the parents of some of those killed
prepared to bury their children.
Lori Alhadeff, whose daughter
Alyssa was killed, demanded action.
She asked, “President Trump, you
say, 'What can you do? You can stop
the guns from getting into children's
hands! Put metal detectors at every
entrance to the schools!"
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“Mayor de Blasio has ful lled an incredible
Gun advocates have responded that
if everyone in the high school had a
gun then the tragedy would have been
prevented. Others suggest that more
Americans are killed by hammers
than by rifles, which is based on a partially
amount of his promises in a very short
true tweet by Texas Governor
Greg Abbott, then attorney general of
Texas, in 2013. It was based on an FBI
report that did not include homicides
attributed to handguns and other
firearms.
The “hammers are more dangerous
than guns” half-truth is being recycled
in the aftermath of the Parkland massacre.
It is an insult to the memory
of the 13,286 people killed in the U.S.
by firearms and is a way to misdirect
BROOKLYN MEDIA GROUP • JUNE 5 - JUNE 11, 2014
WE THE
PEOPLE
BY BRIAN KERIN
WE THE PEOPLE
BY BRIAN KERIN
attention from the fact that the gun
murder rate per capita in the U.S. is
almost 30 times that of the U.K. This
is the time to push aside constitutional
interpretation so that action may be
taken on citizen safety.
The NRA has bought and paid for
the inaction of Congress. When we
allow dollars to count the same as
votes, we will find ourselves regularly
out-voted. It is unnecessary to
divine the intent of the framers of
the Constitution in order to get our
representatives in Congress take
some action.
We must withhold electoral and financial
support from every politician
that refuses to sign a pledge to support
a change to our national system
of gun regulation. The pledge should
not call for firearms to be banned. It
should demand that military style
weapons be closely regulated and
BY BRIAN KIERAN
that background and psychological
screening be made mandatory, nationwide,
in order to purchase or possess
a firearm.
Meanwhile, the NRA is feverishly
pushing the opposite agenda. It has
operatives pushing for a federal concealed
carry law that will have the
weakest state gun law in the country
nationalized so that it is forced upon
all citizens in every state and community
whether they like it or not.
The citizens of our nation suffer
because advocates with polar opposite
positions battle in the media and
in the halls of Congress while need of
regular Americans for consistent and
intelligent gun laws are ignored.
It is not fair that families send
children to school where they end up
being killed and no action is taken by
the federal government. Now, as parents
bury their children, the people
want action on gun regulation and
not a debate about gun safety versus
the Second Amendment.
Hospital situation
need of triage
College Hospital seems to be destined
Victory Memorial Hospital, Peninsula
Vincent’s Hospital.
proposed plans are short on service to
on dollars in the pockets of developers.
believe that, as the city grows,
increases
prospers,
fewer
health
Do we
chain
bank on
time.
hospitals?
the company that wins the proposal
be obligated to provide a large
facility to compensate for the
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congue euismod, eros odio
vulputate nisi elit eu mauris.
service hospital it will replace.
condimentum, erat eget posuere
Congressmember Hakeem Jefferies
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opportunity to complain that the NYPD
Quisque ac massa nunc, id lacinia
low-level marijuana arrests in
hinted that this may be an indication
Blasio is really not serious about
following through on his campaign
promises to assure the NYPD scrupulously honors
individual citizens civil rights.
He stated that the “new administration promised
change but instead we get more of the same.”
That is not true. The number of arrests for low-level
marijuana possession
has dropped and NYPD
policy is not to force a
suspect to display small
amounts of pot in order
to make an arrest.
Governor Cuomo has
proposed decriminalizing
possession of 15
grams or less of pot whether hidden or in plain view,
which would take this controversy and its attendant
political baggage off the table. It would be nice to let
police offi cers perform their duties instead of being
pawns in a political chess game.
Mayor de Blasio has fulfi lled an incredible amount
of his promises in a very short time. He has imposed
the extra protection of an inspector general for the
NYPD and signed off on the laws passed by the City
Council which may leave police offi cers subject to
lawsuits for negligent performance of their duties.
He has provided universal pre K without a tax
increase. He is settling the outstanding municipal
worker contracts neglected by Mike Bloomberg for
the next mayor to handle. He is championing Vision
Zero to reduce traffi c fatalities to zero. It is unfair
to question his commitment to his ideals or to the
fulfi llment of his promises.
The City Council will pass 11 laws and four resolutions
to create a Vision Zero environment for our
streets. The new laws provide a lower speed limit for
city streets and enhanced penalties for reckless drivers.
The state legislature must approve the changes.
We also need the state legislature to provide a
reasonable number of speed cameras to enforce the
new laws. Let us hope that our legislators will work
together as a group to see that these changes and
improvements are made quickly.
Brian Kieran is an attorney who works as a Principal
Law Clerk in the Supreme Court of the State of New
York in Kings County and is a Democrat.
dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing
sed urna in sem ornare blandit
nunc velit, volutpat nec vehicula
neque. Aliquam semper euismod
luctus. Pellentesque sem metus,
condimentum nec, laoreet at dolor. Sed
consectetur ac, suscipit quis
felis
felis
Ut
rutrum
non
sapien
ullamcorper
vulputate id ante. Nulla varius,
metus ac lacus fermentum
tincidunt ligula non velit
vel nibh condimentum eu
pulvinar congue euismod, eros odio
vulputate nisi elit eu mauris.
condimentum, erat eget posuere
tellus varius arcu, a rutrum mi
Quisque ac massa nunc, id lacinia
vitae metus ac lacus fermentum
Pellenesque tincidunt ligula non velit
leo vel nibh condimentum eu
tempus orci pretium. Donec facilisis, odio et iaculis
iaculis, sem arcu rutrum mi, a vulputate erat
lorem porttitor metus. Mauris sagittis interdum
feugiat. Fusce laoreet vehicula laoreet. Nam
id accumsan magna. Vivamus a felis at lacus
tincidunt sodales quis sed nisl. Donec vitae dui
purus. Quisque eu nisi eros, et venenatis eros.
Proin non lacus
orci, eu ultrices tellus.
Vestibulum nec
nisl magna. Duis
tincidunt gravida
lorem, a dictum
leo imperdiet ut.
Sed eu massa in
leo eleifend viverra.
Proin eros sem,
convallis quis adipiscing
pulvinar,
mattis vel purus.
Fusce sapien sem, aliquet vitae tempor sit
amet, auctor id ante. Pellentesque vel vestibulum
sem. Cras lobortis lorem at lectus pretium
feugiat vel quis libero. Praesent consectetur
consectetur tortor vitae lacinia. Mauris turpis
nisl, rutrum ut condimentum eu, elementum
non neque. Vivamus eget vulputate mauris.
Vivamus elit tellus, euismod ut condimentum
vitae, molestie a lectus. Donec molestie, ligula
consequat venenatis lobortis, libero eros porttitor
diam, ac malesuada purus ligula nec mauris.
Donec eleifend magna non justo fringilla fermentum.
Suspendisse potenti. Quisque eros arcu,
fringilla a blandit et, pellentesque sit amet risus.
Fusce iaculis magna vel felis scelerisque nec
suscipit nibh lacinia. Suspendisse potenti. Proin
sed interdum justo. Sed sollicitudin tristique
suscipit. Sed mattis, odio a imperdiet tempus,
orci tortor pellentesque nibh, sit amet aliquet
enim magna nec ligula.
Curabitur suscipit enim sed metus adipiscing
imperdiet. Praesent commodo scelerisque tellus
nec ornare. Integer sit amet volutpat turpis.
Integer congue condimentum urna, sit amet
aliquam ligula mollis sit amet. Maecenas odio
quam dapibus lectus sit amet arcu tempor
imperdiet.
Nullam porttitor posuere mi, fringilla laoreet
lorem semper idm ornare congue arcu, non interdum
mauris dapibus id. Aenean feugiat ultrices
metus a vulputate. Praesent luctus venenatis
purus sed viverra. Nulla rhonmentum tortor.
Aliquam tincidunt molestie mi, tincidunt vestibulum
sem rutrum bibendum. Integer malesuada
elit commodo vel vehicula quam ultrices. Sed at
massa sed lorem facilisis ultrices.
Brian Kieran is a community activist who works
for the State of New York and is a Democrat.
Double decked headline
fit alloted space
Mayor Bloomberg continues to push a
fantasy that, if he had more power,
everything would be okay. When so
much is at stake, it is not the time to
make political statements or play
games”.
County Memorial Day Parade was
The line of march was one of
years with literally thousands
lining Third Avenue enjoying the
COMMON
COMMON SENSE
SENSE
BY JERRY KASSAR
Double COMMON
cheering the marchers.
decked headline
Mothers were the grand marshals.
to hardly fit think of a more worthy
SENSE moms who wear the distinctive
have given to the alloted defense of our
space
protection of our freedoms their sons
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sed urna in sem ornare blandit
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neque. Aliquam semper euismod
luctus. Pellentesque sem metus,
condimentum nec, laoreet at dolor. Sed
sed consectetur ac, suscipit quis
consequat ante sed felis commodo
quis
massa
vestibulum. Ut
libero,
“Mayor Bloomberg continues to push a
Sed
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sapien
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vulputate
Nulla
pulvinar
euismod,
quam, a vulputate nisi elit eu
tempus orci pretium. Donec facilisis, odio et iaculis
iaculis, sem arcu rutrum mi, a vulputate erat
lorem porttitor metus. Mauris sagittis interdum
feugiat. Fusce laoreet vehicula laoreet. Nam id
accumsan magna. Vivamus a felis at lacus tincidunt
sodales quis sed nisl. Donec vitae dui purus.
Quisque eu nisi eros, et venenatis eros. Proin non
lacus orci, eu ultrices tellus. Vestibulum nec nisl
magna. Duis
t i n c i d u n t
gravida lorem,
a dictum leo
imperdiet ut.
Sed eu massa
in leo eleifend
viverra. Proin
eros sem, convallis
quis adipiscing
pulvinar,
mattis vel
purus.
Fusce sapien sem, aliquet vitae tempor sit amet,
BY JERRY KASAR
BY JERRY KASAR
lectus. Donec molestie, ligula consequat venenatis
lobortis, libero eros porttitor diam, ac malesuada
purus ligula nec mauris. Donec eleifend magna
non justo fringilla fermentum. Suspendisse potenti.
Quisque eros arcu, fringilla a blandit et, pellentesque
sit amet risus. Fusce iaculis magna
vel felis scelerisque nec suscipit nibh lacinia.
Suspendisse potenti. Proin sed interdum justo.
Sed sollicitudin tristique suscipit. Sed mattis, odio
a imperdiet tempus, orci tortor pellentesque nibh,
sit amet aliquet enim magna nec ligula.
Curabitur suscipit enim sed metus adipiscing
imperdiet. Praesent commodo scelerisque tellus
nec ornare. Integer sit amet volutpat turpis.
Integer congue condimentum urna, sit amet aliquam
ligula mollis sit amet. Maecenas odio quam
dapibus lectus sit amet arcu tempor imperdiet.
Nullam porttitor posuere mi, fringilla laoreet
lorem semper idm ornare congue arcu, non interdum
mauris dapibus id. Aenean feugiat ultrices
metus a vulputate. Praesent luctus venenatis
purus sed viverra. Nulla rhonmentum tortor.
fantasy that, if he had more power,
everything would be okay. When so
much is at stake, it is not the time to
make political statements or play
games”.
They
more. Always
respect
offi -
Congressmember
Michael
Senator
Assemblymembers
Nicole
Alec Brook-Krasny as well as
Vincent Gentile all participated.
Kings County Conservative Party
Democrats.
Recchia had individuals handing
literature as they attempted to
to vote. Considering the overwhelmingly
positive reception the Conservative
received, the liberal Recchia group
the wrong parade to conduct a
Live and learn.
***
The Conservative Party’s 31st
consecutive POW/MIA ceremony
held at Look Out Point at 81st
Street and Shore Road was very
well attended. The party for the
past several years has been joined
by the St. Anselm’s Boy Scout troop
which boasts one of the largest numbers of Eagle
Scouts of any troops in the nation. This year
two Eagle Scouts were in attendance.
There are 1,642
individuals who remain
missing and
unaccounted for
from the Vietnam
War. This is six
fewer than last year
due to successful efforts
in identifying
the remains of a
handful of individuals that had been located and
returned. The process of identifying remains is
painstaking and can take many months.
The last soldier identifi ed was Captain Douglas
Ferguson, USAF, shot down over Laos on December
30, 1969.His remains were recovered on April
13, 2013 and identifi ed on February 14, 2014.
***
We are seeing more and more homes in Dyker
Heights enclosed in stainless steel bars on all
fl oors and heavy stainless steel security doors.
I fi nd this trend extremely disturbing. The community
remains as safe as ever. The new protections
seem to appear only on recently purchased
homes and refl ect a different cultural view on
security. Homes like this have existed in great
numbers in the Sunset Park area for many
years and are really not positive additions to
any community.
The homes themselves look horrible and,
worse yet, they make the whole area around
them appear trashy. And, frankly, instead of offering
additional security protection, they more
than likely attract unwanted attention from potential
burglars who fi gure these homes contain
the greatest number of valuables.
Community outreach by civic and government
groups as well as elected offi cials explaining
the disadvantages of the heavy security from
both an aesthetic as well as security perspective
is necessary, or we will be confronted with large
sections of our community looking like safety
deposit box holding cells.
Jerry Kassar is the chairperson of the Kings
County Conservative Party. He is a longtime
community activist who has served as an offi cer
or member of many organizations. He works for
the state of New York.
“There are 1,642 individuals who remain
missing and unaccounted for from the
Vietnam War.
Proin non lacus
orci, eu ultrices tellus.
Vestibulum nec
nisl magna. Duis
tincidunt gravida
lorem, a dictum
leo imperdiet ut.
Sed eu massa in
leo eleifend viverra.
Proin eros sem,
convallis quis adipiscing
pulvinar,
mattis vel purus.
Fusce sapien sem, aliquet vitae tempor sit
amet, auctor id ante. Pellentesque vel vestibulum
sem. Cras lobortis lorem at lectus pretium
feugiat vel quis libero. Praesent consectetur
consectetur tortor vitae lacinia. Mauris turpis
nisl, rutrum ut condimentum eu, elementum
non neque. Vivamus eget vulputate mauris.
Vivamus elit tellus, euismod ut condimentum
vitae, molestie a lectus. Donec molestie, ligula
consequat venenatis lobortis, libero eros porttitor
diam, ac malesuada purus ligula nec mauris.
Donec eleifend magna non justo fringilla fermentum.
Suspendisse potenti. Quisque eros arcu,
fringilla a blandit et, pellentesque sit amet risus.
Fusce iaculis magna vel felis scelerisque nec
suscipit nibh lacinia. Suspendisse potenti. Proin
sed interdum justo. Sed sollicitudin tristique
suscipit. Sed mattis, odio a imperdiet tempus,
orci tortor pellentesque nibh, sit amet aliquet
enim magna nec ligula.
Curabitur suscipit enim sed metus adipiscing
imperdiet. Praesent commodo scelerisque tellus
nec ornare. Integer sit amet volutpat turpis.
Integer congue condimentum urna, sit amet
aliquam ligula mollis sit amet. Maecenas odio
quam dapibus lectus sit amet arcu tempor
imperdiet.
Nullam porttitor posuere mi, fringilla laoreet
lorem semper idm ornare congue arcu, non interdum
mauris dapibus id. Aenean feugiat ultrices
metus a vulputate. Praesent luctus venenatis
purus sed viverra. Nulla rhonmentum tortor.
Aliquam tincidunt molestie mi, tincidunt vestibulum
sem rutrum bibendum. Integer malesuada
elit commodo vel vehicula quam ultrices. Sed at
massa sed lorem facilisis ultrices.
Brian Kieran is a community activist who works
for the State of New York and is a Democrat.
Double decked headline
fit alloted space
“Mayor Bloomberg continues to push a
fantasy that, if he had more power,
everything would be okay. When so
much is at stake, it is not the time to
make political statements or play
games”.
dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing
sed urna in sem ornare blandit
velit, volutpat nec vehicula
neque. Aliquam semper euismod
luctus. Pellentesque sem metus,
condimentum nec, laoreet at dolor. Sed
consectetur ac, suscipit quis
consequat ante sed felis commodo
quis
massa
Ut
libero,
Sed
sed
rutrum
sapien
ullamcorper
vulputate
Nulla
pulvinar
euismod,
quam, a vulputate nisi elit eu
condimentum, erat eget posuere
tellus varius arcu, a rutrum
Quisque ac massa nunc, id
vitae metus ac lacus fermentum
Pellenesque tincidunt ligula non velit
tempus orci pretium. Donec facilisis, odio et iaculis
iaculis, sem arcu rutrum mi, a vulputate erat
lorem porttitor metus. Mauris sagittis interdum
feugiat. Fusce laoreet vehicula laoreet. Nam id
accumsan magna. Vivamus a felis at lacus tincidunt
sodales quis sed nisl. Donec vitae dui purus.
Quisque eu nisi eros, et venenatis eros. Proin non
lacus orci, eu ultrices tellus. Vestibulum nec nisl
magna. Duis
t i n c i d u n t
gravida lorem,
a dictum leo
imperdiet ut.
Sed eu massa
in leo eleifend
viverra. Proin
eros sem, convallis
quis adipiscing
pulvinar,
mattis vel
purus.
Fusce sapien sem, aliquet vitae tempor sit amet,
auctor id ante. Pellentesque vel vestibulum sem.
Cras lobortis lorem at lectus pretium feugiat
vel quis libero. Praesent consectetur consectetur
tortor vitae lacinia. Mauris turpis nisl, rutrum
ut condimentum eu, elementum non neque.
Vivamus eget vulputate mauris. Vivamus elit
lectus. Donec molestie, ligula consequat venenatis
lobortis, libero eros porttitor diam, ac malesuada
purus ligula nec mauris. Donec eleifend magna
non justo fringilla fermentum. Suspendisse potenti.
Quisque eros arcu, fringilla a blandit et, pellentesque
sit amet risus. Fusce iaculis magna
vel felis scelerisque nec suscipit nibh lacinia.
Suspendisse potenti. Proin sed interdum justo.
Sed sollicitudin tristique suscipit. Sed mattis, odio
a imperdiet tempus, orci tortor pellentesque nibh,
sit amet aliquet enim magna nec ligula.
Curabitur suscipit enim sed metus adipiscing
imperdiet. Praesent commodo scelerisque tellus
nec ornare. Integer sit amet volutpat turpis.
Integer congue condimentum urna, sit amet aliquam
ligula mollis sit amet. Maecenas odio quam
dapibus lectus sit amet arcu tempor imperdiet.
Nullam porttitor posuere mi, fringilla laoreet
lorem semper idm ornare congue arcu, non interdum
mauris dapibus id. Aenean feugiat ultrices
metus a vulputate. Praesent luctus venenatis
purus sed viverra. Nulla rhonmentum tortor.
Aliquam tincidunt molestie mi, tincidunt vestibulum
sem rutrum bibendum. Integer malesuada
elit commodo vel vehicula quam ultrices. Sed at
massa sed lorem facilisis ultrices.
Brian Kieran is a community activist who works
Double decked headline
fit alloted space
“Mayor Bloomberg continues to push a
fantasy that, if he had more power,
everything would be okay. When so
much is at stake, it is not the time to
make political statements or play
games”.
munity protec-
us never forget
BY BRIAN KIERAN
BY KASSAR
We must withhold electoral and
financial support from every
politician that refuses to sign
a pledge to support a change
to our national system of gun
regulation.
A KILLING FIELD
A number of members of my
family moved in the ‘90s to
Coral Springs, Florida. a community
of 100,000 people or so usually
described as being several miles west
of Fort Lauderdale. Last week, it was
known as the city closest to Parkland,
Florida. In fact, Marjory Stoneman
Douglas High School serves Coral
Springs as well as Parkland. Cruz was
captured in Coral Springs.
My cousin Jimmy, now a college professor,
taught at Douglas for a number
of years starting in the late ‘90s. Both
of his daughters — now married with
children — went to Douglas.
Wednesday night, they were in
shock — shock that very much reminded
me of how we felt in New York the
night of 9/11. They were having trouble
finding the words to make sense
of the tragedy. Frankly, there really
are none.
In fact, the information that came
out in the days following the shooting
made the devastation even more
senseless and unnecessary. Many
will point to Cruz’s access to weapons.
Inasmuch as he was clearly mentally
ill, with numerous visits by law
enforcement, there is validity to the
argument that he should never have
been sold or legally allowed to own
a weapon.
Of course, the cause and effect does
not stop there. How could the mental
health system have been so ineffective?
How could the Broward County
sheriff have visited Cruz over 39 times
without stronger action taken?
In the fallout from the killings,
Cruz’s brother — who apparently
has also exhibited mental instability
— was removed from the place where
he was staying and brought to a mental
institution.
Talk about law enforcement and
mental health agencies, in an effort
to prevent future violence, doing
too little, too late when it mattered
most.
Then there is the FBI. It just does not
seem to be able to get anything right
lately. The warning it received from
a person with first-hand information
was irrefutable. And there had apparently
been other warnings.
The FBI director has apologized for
failing to notify the Miami office. An
apology does not cut it in this situation
– and never will.
The FBI is planning an intensive
investigation of what went wrong.
Personally, I believe firings are called
for at the highest of levels.
The world is a dangerous place with
all sorts of individuals and groups
looking to hurt Americans. My confidence
in the FBI’s ability to protect us
after a variety of botched efforts in the
past year is very low.
* * *
Heroes who began their day as ordinary
people often come out of events
that test us to the core. The mass shooting
at Douglas was no exception. Once
again, teachers and school staff were
the heroes.
Certainly, many more would have
died or been injured if not for the
efforts of the staff that immediately
responded to the fire alarm intended
to draw the students into a killing
field with shouts of Code Red to alert
students that they needed to return to
their classrooms and take cover. Some
of the faculty and staff lost their lives
through their efforts.
There were also many students who
took action, rushing young people
into classrooms or away from the
building, certainly saving lives. In one
highlighted case, one student had the
soundness of mind to cover a group
with a Kevlar blanket.
The 17 students and staff that lost
their lives as well as the many physically
recovering should be in all our
prayers. May they Rest In Peace.
The countless others who will be
psychologically affected by the events
of February 14 should also be in our
prayers. Hopefully, the mental health
providers that are working with them
now will have the skill to ease their
pain.
Inasmuch as he was clearly mentally
ill, with numerous visits by
law enforcement, there is validity
to the argument that he should
never have been sold or legally
allowed to own a weapon.