20 FEBRUARY 24 - MARCH 2, 2017 BROOKLYN MEDIA GROUP PRESIDENT’S DAY I wonder if you feel like me that the creation of President’s Day as a Monday holiday works against the proper recognition of Lincoln’s and Washington’s birthdays. At one time, in many places, Lincoln’s birthday, February 12, was a holiday as well as Washington’s actual birthday, February 22. Now, of course, the day to honor all presidents, appropriately named Presidents’ Day, is the third Monday of February every year. I like the idea that we recognized the signifi cance of all the men who have served in the o ce of president, but still feel that Lincoln and Washington should receive their own distinct recognition. Of course, you cannot go out and haphazardly declare national holidays. They are at a minimum a day o for government employees and too many can become a problem. But in lieu of distinct federal holidays for Lincoln and Washington, I think a greater e ort should be made to honor them on their actual birthdays beyond a few extra TV dramas and/ or possibly a few minutes devoted in our schools. As an aside, I am looking at the daily white page calendar I own and see that Presidents’ Day is notated but Lincoln’s and Washington’s birthdays are not. United Nations Day and Administrative Assistants Day are marked. * * * I have never been a big circus fan, but I must say I feel bad about Ringling Brothers Circus making its last round of shows before permanently closing. COMMON SENSE A lot of reasons have been given, with a number pointing at a decision to end many of the animal acts including the elephant shows. I am sure this is at least partially true. There certainly are others including a general change in what we fi nd entertaining. Clowns, for one thing, are something many people, particularly kids, do not fi nd funny. Plus the competition for the attention of children and young adults has increased many fold in the past 20 years. For my part, I would still like to see the availability of a high wire act that is not a Cirque du Soleil presentation costing $100 a ticket and really designed for adults. Many people who traveled on one of those two red or blue mile-long trains will be out of work looking for another limited job in the entertainment fi eld. And many smaller cities WE THE PEOPLE and towns which are accessible to a rail line will no longer have this level BY JERRY KASSAR of professional entertainment coming to town each year. The big tent and three rings will eventually disappear from our vocabulary. Make no bones about it, losing the circus is a loss and a very real sign that times have changed. * * * One change for the better is a decision by the NYC Department of Education to encourage the teaching of cursive once again in our city schools. Cursive is script handwriting. Many probably did not know it had been stopped a few years back. Assemblymember Nicole Malliotakis pressed the issue in Albany with the schools chancellor. She agreed that it made sense to bring it back as an optional but encouraged lesson. Many teachers agreed and now it has returned to most schools. The assemblymember deserves a congratulations for her successful e ort and the chancellor a thank-you for making the change back. BROOKLYN MEDIA GROUP • JUNE 5 - JUNE 11, 2014 WE THE PEOPLE BY BRIAN KERIN WE THE PEOPLE Hospital situation need of triage sit amet, consectetur adipiscing urna in sem ornare blandit velit, volutpat nec vehicula neque. Aliquam semper euismod Pellentesque sem metus, College Hospital seems to be destined Victory Memorial Hospital, Peninsula condimentum nec, laoreet at dolor. Sed consectetur ac, suscipit quis Vincent’s Hospital. proposed plans are short on service to on dollars in the pockets of developers. to believe that, as the city grows, increases prospers, fewer health Do we chain bank on hospitals? the company that wins the proposal be obligated to provide a large facility to compensate for the service hospital it will replace. Congressmember Hakeem Jefferies opportunity to complain that the NYPD 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 BY BRIAN KERIN 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 sed consectetur ac, suscipit quis consequat felis tristique. felis cursus Ut libero, tortor. erat, rutrum non sapien ullamcorper vulputate id ante. Nulla varius, 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 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. 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. Double decked headline fit alloted space “Mayor de Blasio has ful lled an incredible Mayor amount Bloomberg of his promises continues in a very to push short a fantasy time. 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”. vulputate id ante. Nulla varius, congue euismod, eros odio vulputate nisi elit eu mauris. condimentum, erat eget posuere varius arcu, a rutrum mi Quisque ac massa nunc, id lacinia metus ac lacus fermentum tincidunt ligula non velit 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”. us never forget BY BRIAN KIERAN I like the idea that we recognized the signi cance of all the men who have served in the o ce of president, but still feel that Lincoln and Washington should receive their own distinct recognition. It is ba ing why the administration is xated on exaggerating the actual margin of victory. BELIEVE? Donald Trump urged Americans to believe him during the presidential campaign and said that a vote for him was a vote for a 100-day plan to restore prosperity to our country ... and ... make America great again.” A politician’s hyperbole is expected but we must be able to trust our president. Mr. Trump was elected. He is working hard to deliver on his promise of a School Choice and Education Opportunity Act to redirect federal education dollars to private, charter or religious schools. His choice of Betsy DeVos to be education secretary is part of the fulfi llment. She has doggedly promoted charter schools and stymied all attempts to regulate them in Michigan. This encouraged growth of for-profi t schools. DeVos admitted that she buys infl uence to achieve her goals; her family donated $4 million to Republicans in the U.S. Senate with more than $3 million donated in the 2016 election cycle. Michigan now has three of the 10 school districts with the highest percentages of students enrolled in charter schools, and Detroit has 55 percent of students in charter schools, but experts say school performance has “plummeted" since charter school expansion. Will this a ect New York City? If the federal education money used in city schools were eliminated or ‘redirected,’ 1.1 million students could lose $500 million a year in vital Title 1 funding. It would mean larger classes, fewer teachers and the loss of many a er-school programs. Among others, Fort Hamilton High School stands to lose more than $2.5 million in Title I funding. When you give away public school money, even if it is given to another school, you are diminishing all public school education. This plan o ers false hope; it is a smokescreen to create a for-profi t marketplace for education entrepreneurs. Meanwhile, Mr. Trump cannot seem to get past his election. He said, "We had a massive landslide victory ... in the electoral college." The truth is that Mr. Trump won the election and he is the president. Why must he repeat and confl ate information concerning the election when education and foreign policy issues must be addressed? Mr. Trump carried 30 states and received 306 electoral votes while Mrs. Clinton received 2.5 million more votes but lost the election. It is ba ing why the administration is fi xated on exaggerating the actual margin of victory. On Thursday, at a press conference, Mr. Trump continued to describe the election in incorrect and self-aggrandizing terms. He stated that his Electoral College win was the biggest since President Ronald Reagan. A reporter challenged him on the description since Presidents Obama and Clinton had larger margins of victory. Mr. Trump said, “I was given that information, I don’t know.” Why did he say it? Insisting that the president deliver accurate factual statements is not an attack. Mr. Trump then called a question about whether his team had discussions with Russian leaders on policy before the inauguration "fake news.” Shepard Smith, Fox News anchor, said it was “crazy” that Mr. Trump’s continued to use “ridiculous, throwaway lines that are not true at all.” He sensibly stated, "We have a right to know" and said that the president should not put down reporters “for asking questions on behalf of the American people." Smith is correct and Mr. Trump must focus on issues and answer reasonable questions honestly if he wants to be believed.
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