Arizona, Your Cadillac Has Got a Wheel in the Ditch

By Michael Boyajian

Chris Matthews of MSNBC reports that Arizona is now removing ethnic and racial studies programs from its school curriculums.  This follows its notorious racial profiling immigration law.

Hudson Valley Gay Mobilization

By Michael Boyajian

I remember just a few years back when Marriage Equality New York decided to expand the battle for same sex marriage out of New York City and into the Hudson Valley and elsewhere around the state.  We organized a rally for Riverside Park in Beacon, New York and launched a press blitz to turn out support for the event.

A Legal Declaration to Governor Patterson

By Michael Boyajian

As the former labor judge for the State of New York I can tell you this about Governor Patterson’s furlough plan, it is simply an illegal violation of the terms of the collective bargaining agreement between New York State and government workers.  It is a fundamental question of basic contract law that any first year law student can tell you the answer to or predict the judicial outcome of.  No Governor Patterson, contracts are not made to be broken.  People of honor are legally bound by them and to violate this sacred trust with state workers in order to save nickels and dimes is downright nonsensical.  Governor Patterson, rescind this furlough law because it will be the easiest decision any judge can make when ruling on its legal validity and striking it down.

Good Government: Contested Terrain

By Michael Boyajian

Paul Krugman in a recent New York Times column states that we need politicians who believe in good government because there are some jobs only government can do.  Of course he is talking about the Gulf oil spill and preventative measures that could have been taken.

Of Kings and Queens

By Michael Boyajian

I just read a colorful book on the kings and queens of England.  It occurred to me that I would very much like to meet a royal.  Looking at their portraits in the book makes you wonder if perhaps they did not possess some sort of divine authority.

City Outsourcing Jobs

By Michael Boyajian

Reports by city workers have surfaced stating that not only has the Bloomberg Administration refused to hire qualified workers from nearby Long Island and Westchester not to mention Dutchess, Orange, Putnam and Rockland, but are unable to fill positions from the pool of people living in the city.

Real Politicians Don’t Eat Quiche

By Michael Boyajian

There was a popular book in the 1980s titled Real Men Don’t Eat Quiche and it was meant to bolster the macho strength of Republicans.  My how things have changed and nowhere is this more apparent then when comparing Mayor Michael Bloomberg to Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.

Reparations for the Exploited

By Michael Boyajian

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. in a recent edition of the New York Times argues that there can be no reparations for the descendents of slaves because Africans took part in the slave trade.   Therefore there are no innocent parties to this tragedy.

Need Based Immigration Reform

By Michael Boyajian

The country is in an uproar over the immigration problem and those with a racist bend seem to be pushing through their own harsh and most likely unconstitutional solutions.  One wonders if they would care at all about immigration if those crossing the border were white.

Time to End School Bullying

By Michael Boyajian

My fondest memories of childhood were of joyously finger painting in New York City kindergarten.  Then mid-term my family moved to Long Island where I entered another kindergarten class as the new guy in school and my happy world came crashing down to a sad end.

The Crossroads of America:   A Family History

By Michael Boyajian

There is a great deal of talk about immigration as of late but what does it mean to be an American?  I have been recording an oral history of my extended family for some time now.  I have learned that my family represents a cross section of global civilization all of whom settled in America at one time or another.

Suburban Chic and Teabagging the Teabaggers

By Michael Boyajian

When we first moved from Brooklyn to our new home in the Hudson River Valley the first thing we noticed was that our neighbors had reflector rods planted on their front lawns where they border the road.  The thinking was that this would keep cars from parking on the lawn because there was no sidewalk.

Middle East Union and Ensuing Peace

By Michael Boyajian

Turmoil in the Middle East threatens peace there and elsewhere with no real solution in sight.  Much of the problem goes back to the partitions made after World War I by the European powers.  These powers created artificial nations not based on historical basis but on the convenience of these powers.

The Burning Bush of Same Sex Marriage

By Michael Boyajian

I heard a very interesting baptismal sermon by Father Richard Visconti of the Caroline Church on Long Island this past weekend.  He spoke of the risks we take in life.  There is monetary risk, recreational risk like bungee jumping, occupational risk like being a fireman, and there is ideological risk which he specified by mentioning same sex marriage.

The Silencing of the Lambs

By Michael Boyajian

With the abrupt termination of conservative David Frum from his employment at the American Enterprise Institute the Republicans have stepped up their efforts to kill off their own dissidents signifying an inglorious end to what was the illusion of the party’s Open Tent platform from the 1990s.