Letter to the Editor of the Journal News

December 26, 2008

In the other day’s Journal News we were witness again to the entertainment of another mindless diatribe by one of the most notorious haters that Greenburgh has produced. Mr. Ed Krauss has been railing against Supervisor Paul Feiner for years now. At every opportunity he comes to the Town Board, with his faux expertise to lecture the town on the law, ethics, the park system, insurance liabilities and the like. He has made a career out of constantly accusing Supervisor of imagined improprieties. The people of Greenburgh will not be fooled by this latest distortion of the facts, this latest barrage of inaccuracies and this latest attempt at character assassination. With regards to the new library, Supervisor had suggested a much more prudent and financially responsible course to take when the final library plan was rammed down the throat of the taxpayers by the former Board. The enabling referendum was cynically used as a political lever against the Supervisor. It was timed to characterize his concerns and opposition as being “anti-library” and a virtual book-burner. But his fighting for added use of the “bookmobile” put a “lie” to that specious claim.

The Supervisor was wholly in support of an orderly and calculated upgrade of the library, the sale of the extra land for needed senior housing or an assisted living facility, and the creation of an income stream to the town. That is the public record. He also wanted expert oversight of the library’s construction, but that was rejected by the former Board with support from people like Ed Krauss. The profligate spending of the reserve fund by the previous Board that created two years of zero tax increases flew in the face of reality and the protests of the Supervisor. When the economic profile of the region started to slide, Greenburgh was faced with a large tax increase that included the extra costs of the new library. Supervisor Feiner warned us this then, and Mr. Ed Krauss, who supported the library, and the referendum is well aware of that fact.

Richard J. Garfunkel

“The Advocates”

 With

Richard J. Garfunkel

 WVOX – AM Radio 1460- 12 Noon Wednesday

December 24, 2008

Neil Goldstein, who is the Executive Vice-President of Energy Alternatives for the 21^st century, had served as Executive Director of the American Jewish Congress from January 2002 until the middle of 2008. Mr. Goldstein also previously served at the American Jewish Congress from 1983-1987, first as Director of the New York Metropolitan Region and later as Assistant Executive Director. Mr. Goldstein is a graduate of MIT and has served on many committees, which include being on the New York State Advisory Committee on Human Rights and the Nanuet Board of education, along with his work with AIPAC, Chief of Staff for Representative Jerry Nadler and work with the US Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Meanwhile, the mission of the “Advocates” is to bring to the public differing views on current “public policy “ issues. “Public policy,” therefore, is what we as a nation legally and traditionally follow. Over the years, the “public policy” of the United States has changed or has been modified greatly. As an example, “free public education” is the public policy of the United States. Also, over time great struggles have ensued over the control of the direction of “public policy” For example: free trade vs. protectionism, slavery vs. emancipation, state’s rights vs. Federalism, and an all-volunteer armed forces or the “draft.”

Richard J. Garfunkel

“The Advocates”

 With

Richard J. Garfunkel

 WVOX – AM Radio 1460- 12 Noon Wednesday

December 17, 2008

All archived Shows at:

http://advocates-wvox.com

Wednesday, December 17, 2008, at 12:00 Noon, I am hosting “The Advocates” on WVOX- 1460 AM, or you can listen to the program’s live streaming at www.wvox.com.  One can call the show at 914-636-0110 to reach us on the radio.  Our special guest is Mr. Nick Taylor, the author of “American –Made, The Enduring Legacy of the WPA, When FDR put the Nation to Work.” Mr. Taylor was last on The Advocates on July 16^th of this year.  On December 9, 2008, Mr. Taylor wrote an Op-Ed contribution that was published in the NY Times, “FDR Knew How to Spend Carefully,”    (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/09/opinion/09taylor.html?_r=1& .)

Today we will be talking about the comparisons between March of 1933 and the emergence of the New Deal, and what the new Obama administration faces regarding our economic malaise.

Nick Taylor has written ten books of non-fiction, both solely and in collaboration, on a wide variety of subjects.  His history of the Works Progress Administration, American-Made – The Enduring Legacy of the WPA: When FDR Put the Nation to Work, was published last February to wide acclaim.

Taylor’s other subjects include tournament bass fishing, the Mafia, and life in a small church. His memoir, A Necessary End recounts a baby boomer’s growing concern and care for his parents in their final years.  His story of an intrepid Israeli’s journey into the German neo-Nazi underground, In Hitler’s Shadow, written with Yaron Svoray, was adapted as the HBO feature movie, The Infiltrator, starring Oliver Platt.  His account of a Mafia family in the government’s Witness Protection Program, Sins of the Father, is currently under a motion picture option.  Laser, published in 2000, tells the story of the laser’s true inventor and his thirty-year fight to win the patents that would make him rich.  And he worked with astronaut and Senator John Glenn on the bestselling, John Glenn: A Memoir.

His pro bono work includes four years as president of the Authors Guild, the oldest and largest organization of published writers in the United States, which advocates for authors’ rights.  He is a native of western North Carolina who today lives in Greenwich Village with his wife Barbara Nevins Taylor, who is an investigative reporter for Fox TV’s New York stations Fox 5 and My 9 News.

Mr. Taylor will address some of the following questions:

Mr. Taylor will address some of the following questions:
·        Are there any real comparisons between 1933 and today?
·        Can President –Elect Obama hope to live up to FDR?
·        Does Obama need another Harry Hopkins or Harold Ickes?
·        Are we better off letting the automobile industry collapse?
 Meanwhile, the mission of the “Advocates” is to bring to the public differing views on current “public policy “issues. “Public policy,” therefore, is what we as a nation legally and traditionally follow. Over the years, the “public policy” of the United States has changed or has been modified greatly. As an example, “free public education” is the public policy of the United States. Also, over time great struggles have ensued over the control of the direction of “public policy” For example: free trade vs. protectionism, slavery vs. emancipation, state’s rights vs. Federalism, and an all-volunteer armed forces or the “draft.”
 
One can find my essays on FDR and other subjects at https://www.richardjgarfunkel.com and one can also see and hear all of the archived shows at: http://advocates-wvox.com.  Over the next few weeks will be talking about predictions for 2009!
 
Richard J. Garfunkel

Letter to the Journal News

December 16, 2008

Speaking of shoes and how times have changed!

In 1651, writer George Herbert (not a relative of George Herbert Walker Bush) wrote “For want of a nail the shoe was lost, for want of a shoe the horse is lost, for want of a horse the rider is lost.” Of course in our more modern era, Ben Franklin and others added on the extra line that for, “want of a rider the battle and thence the war was lost.” On October 12, 1960, Nikita Khrushchev, the Premier of the Soviet Union and the Communist Party’s First Secretary pounded his shoe on his desk during a debate at the United Nations. This boorish action was universally condemned as conduct unbefitting a head of state. Most Americans and our Allies mocked Khrushchev’s crude behavior. His actions, and later statements, that the Soviet Union “would bury us” were widely seen as exacerbating the Cold War. Besides the fact that American no longer makes shoes, the world was “entertained” the other day by an Iraqi journalist throwing his shoes at George W. Bush, our lame duck leader. Was there American or worldwide indignation over this “shoe” incident? No! Throwing shoes at someone in the Muslim world is tantamount to a very high-level insult, and not only did the Iraqi people and their Arab brothers applaud this audacious act, but some have offered millions for one of those shoes! How remarkable is it that our president is now the target of “shoe throwing” and no one cares “a fig” here in America. As a result, this “Saturday Night Live” style event has become a world-wide “YouTube” joke, and the Arab-Muslim world finds it great theater. Maybe we all have learned a lesson about the calamitous career of George W. Bush, and that his long-awaited departure can only improve our standing abroad.

Richard J. Garfunkel

“The Advocates”

 With

Richard J. Garfunkel

 WVOX – AM Radio 1460- 12 Noon Wednesday

December 10, 2008

All archived Shows at:

http://advocates-wvox.com

Wednesday, December 10, 2008, at 12:00 Noon, I am hosting my show “The Advocates” on WVOX- 1460 AM, or you can listen to the program’s live streaming at www.wvox.com.   Our guest today is Mr. Anthony Rudel. Our subject is radio and how it evolved from a play toy of amateur enthusiasts to being the voice of FDR.

 With the publication of Hello, Everybody! The Dawn of American Radio, Anthony Rudel’s careers as a writer and broadcaster have been united.  Rudel began his radio career on October 15, 1977 when, at age twenty he became the youngest on-air personality in the history of WQXR AM and FM, the Radio Stations of the New York Times. Rudel remained at WQXR for nearly ten years, after becoming Vice President of Programming.  While at WQXR Rudel wrote his first book, Tales From the Opera, published in 1985.
After leaving WQXR in 1986 Rudel held positions in the arts world, including stints at the New York International Festival, Lincoln Center, and the Kennedy Center.  He then worked for Hearst Magazines before leaving to launch Classic CD Magazine, the first title in the US to include a free CD.

In 1994 Rudel moved to SW Radio Networks to create the first nation-wide classical music network with a ‘younger appeal.’ The format was highly successful in markets as diverse as Tulsa and Monterey.  While at SW, Rudel wrote Classical Music Top 40.

In 1998 Rudel began his career as a radio and music consultant and has worked for many of America’s leading public and commercial radio stations.  In 2001 he wrote Imagining Don Giovanni, a novel published by Grove Atlantic, and in 2003 began a career as an adjunct professor of communications and writing at Manhattanville College in New York.

He has written for many magazines and is a frequent lecturer on music and broadcasting.  Mr. Rudel lives in Chappaqua, N.Y. with his wife Kristy Rudel and their two daughters.

Meanwhile, the mission of the “Advocates” is to bring to the public differing views on current “public policy “issues. “Public policy,” therefore, is what we as a nation legally and traditionally follow. Over the years, the “public policy” of the United States has changed or has been modified greatly. As an example, “free public education” is the public policy of the United States. Also, over time great struggles have ensued over the control of the direction of “public policy” For example: free trade vs. protectionism, slavery vs. emancipation, state’s rights vs. Federalism, and an all-volunteer armed forces or the “draft.”

One can find my essays on FDR and other subjects at https://www.richardjgarfunkel.com. One can also listen to all of the archived shows at: http://advocates-wvox.com.

Richard J. Garfunkel

“The Advocates”

 With

Richard J. Garfunkel

 WVOX – AM Radio 1460- 12 Noon Wednesday

December 3, 2008

All archived Shows at:

http://advocates-wvox.com

Wednesday, December 3, 2008, at 12:00 Noon, I am hosting my show “The Advocates” on WVOX- 1460 AM, or you can listen to the program’s live streaming at www.wvox.com. The show will be taped, so this week and next week there will be no live call-in.  Today I will be talking to Ms. Allegra Dengler about our “national voting system and is your vote being counted?”

 Allegra Dengler was a former Dobbs Ferry Village Trustee, is a member of the Sierra Club, serves on the New York Democratic Lawyer’s Council HAVA Committee (Help America Vote Act), and is a member of the Progressive Democrats of America Election Protection Working Group.  She was a candidate for the Greenburgh Town Board in 2005 and narrowly lost election for Mayor of Dobbs Ferry.  She is constantly working, along with the League of Women Voters, and other groups, to insure that New Yorkers have the proper paper ballots when the current lever machines are replaced under our new law.  Ms. Dengler, who has been an active watchdog regarding the Hudson River and Indian Point, is currently the co-coordinator of the Greenburgh Office of Energy Conservation.

Meanwhile, the mission of the “Advocates” is to bring to the public differing views on current “public policy “issues. “Public policy,” therefore, is what we as a nation legally and traditionally follow. Over the years, the “public policy” of the United States has changed or has been modified greatly. As an example, “free public education” is the public policy of the United States. Also, over time great struggles have ensued over the control of the direction of “public policy” For example: free trade vs. protectionism, slavery vs. emancipation, state’s rights vs. Federalism, and an all-volunteer armed forces or the “draft.”

One can find my essays on FDR and other subjects at https://www.richardjgarfunkel.com. One can also listen to all of the archived shows at: http://advocates-wvox.com. Next week, I will be talking to Mr. Tony Rudel at Manhattanville College, about his new book, “Hello, Everybody! the Dawn of American Radio.”

Richard J. Garfunkel