Transatlantic Network 2020

By Michael Boyajian

The British Council’s Transatlantic Network 2020 is a network of young emerging leaders from Europe and North America who are interested in establishing transatlantic and global links.

The group includes people like Anabel Knight who works in London for Lisbon’s Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and who believes communications are the key to success.  As a global citizen she has spent 9 months in Portugal and has traveled to the U.S. and Chile.

Close Encounters of the Gulf Coast Kind

By Michael Boyajian

New York photographer Kevin Downs reporting from the Gulf Coast tells of  a surreal situation reminiscent of the frightening contamination of the alien landing area in the film, Close Encounters of the Third Kind.  Only this time it is not faked and it’s the greatest environmental catastrophe in history and it is the press that is being kept away from the horrid scenes of BP’s calamity.

Angry Teabaggers Look the Other Way at Local Taxes and Spending

By Michael Boyajian

Some angry teabagger types have set up shop by the Fishkill post office with loud angry signs that call for the impeachment of President Obama because of among other things his spending.  Let’s not even bother to argue that President Bush was the original big spender with his bailout bill.  Let’s just look at what is going on under the nose of these protestors.

Town of Fishkill $50,000 in Arrears

By Michael Boyajian

My recollection of growing up on Long Island and living in Brooklyn and the Catskills was that when you moved into a new place you went around and met your neighbors or they called on you.  In the summer everyone got together and had a block party.

Fishkill Water Problem Could Cost Millions

By Michael Boyajian

The tiny Village of Fishkill (population 1,700) is a tenuous link supplying water to over 50,000 people spread out over places that include the Town of Fishkill, Beacon, Philipstown and Cold spring.  Now the village aquifer is threatened by the construction of 200 mobile home units three feet over the aquifer’s water table resulting in contamination by pesticides, radiator fluid, motor oil and fertilizer.

State Comptroller’s Audit of Fishkill May Conclude in Ten Days

By Michael Boyajian

The New York State Comptroller’s Office has reported that “its audit of the Town of Fishkill is still underway,” going on to say more information will be available in ten days leaving many to believe it will conclude at that time.  It has also been reported that New York State officials met behind closed doors with the Town over its financial woes.

An American Hero Activist Betsy Malcolm

By Michael Boyajian

Political activist Betsy Malcolm was politically dormant since the 1960s a time when she likes to say “politics was in the air.”  Then came the Bush Jr. years and by the second term she had jump started her activism.

The GOP Economic Strategy

By Michael Boyajian

The GOP under Richard Nixon developed what is called a Southern Strategy where they would appeal to voters in the south who were unhappy with President Johnson’s civil rights legislation.  The strategy worked in this Democratic stronghold and the Republicans were launched into the White House.

Supreme Court Battle of the Sexes

By Michael Boyajian

The Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival put on another brilliant performance at Boscobel of their interpretation of a William Shakespeare play, this time the Taming of the Shrew.  The initial dialogue between Katherina and Petruccio as performed by Gabra Zackman and Richard Ercole enshrines Shakespeare as the greatest writer in the history of Western Civilization.

How Fishkill Can Avoid Bankruptcy

By Michael Boyajian

The Poughkeepsie Journal reporting on Fishkill’s financial crisis says that scrutiny is required for the $6.5 million bond legislation to move forward.  Fishkill has been too secretive in the past and the public has a right to know why so much is being borrowed, what it means for our children and why the municipality is borrowing to pay for operating expenses, a relatively unheard of proposition.  The Journal called this an “extraordinary circumstance.”

Art from the Renaissance to the Contemporary:  A Mirror of Civilization

By Michael Boyajian

Before one studies Renaissance art one must look at the Gothic Art that preceded it and which ruled most of the Dark Ages after the collapse of the Roman Empire.  In a word this art celebrated religion and the greatness of God, man was a mere backdrop.

Bridge to Peace Developing Between Europe and North America

By Michael Boyajian

I had written previously that the establishment of regional unions around the world based on the European Union model would eventually lead to peace when each regional union was joined with another through a bridge.  For instance Turkey could bridge the EU with the Middle East and Russia Asia with Europe.

Went Back to the City But My City Was Gone

By Michael Boyajian

My wife and I recently spent some time in New York City after I had been away from it for some time.  The water was ice cold and still the best I had ever tasted and the streets were still filled with a feeling of youth mixed with dapper and sometimes eccentric seniors.

The Afghan War, the Afghan Tragedy

By Michael Boyajian

Let’s not even discuss how the Bush Administration let the Afghan War fester while they romped around Iraq or how Afghanistan is the graveyard of empires.  Let’s not even speculate that General Petraeus will somehow pull off a heroic military miracle there.  Let us talk about the current reality.

Republicans Want to Halt Spending on Elections

By Michael Boyajian

In perhaps the greatest challenge to democracy in the history of the United States of America Dutchess County Republicans want to halt spending on elections.  A New York City Republican leader once made a similar statement and was unceremoniously drummed out of the party in that locale.