BxArts Factory’s participant
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, J 60 UNE 28-JULY 4, 2019 BTR
Action
Association
On Friday, May 10, Aquinas
High School sophomore,
Chira-Nicole Thompson, was
selected to be the new participant
in the BxArts Factory’s
Think/Create/Share Lab.
Chira was chosen
amongst a selected group of
high school students that are
passionate and committed to
their artistic creation.
This hands-on experiential
seven-week program
will guide and prepare Chira
to develop artistic life skills,
prepare a college competitive
art portfolio and eventually
prepare her to conduct
interviews with higher education
institutions that will
lead her to join an arts program
as a career path.
BxArts Factory is a grassroots,
non-profit organization
that connects Bronxbased
artists and their
community in experiences,
events and opportunities
for connection, development
and healing.
Chira has expressed her
artistic talents throughout
the school year and was chosen
to design the 2018 Christmas
greeting card.
For further information
regarding Aquinas High
School visit the school website
at www.aquinashs.org. Chira-Nicole Thompson Photo courtesy of Aquinas High School
BY FRANK VERNUCCIO
The left is fond of saying
that “There are two Americas.”
The slogan is meant
to inspire class and race rivalry,
but there is little justifi
cation for the concept.
But there are, indeed, two
Americas. The U.S. has become
split between the majority
of the citizenry who seek
to live a life concentrated
on raising families, earning
a living, and pursuing
myriad personal interests on
one side, and, on the other, a
group that is wholly focused
on politics, and the ‘fundamental
transformation’ (as
Barack Obama termed it) of
the nation
To most Americans, politics
means choosing candidates
and campaigning for
them in an election. But to
the hyper activists on the
left, it involves every element
of society and culture. It involves
altering the curriculum
taught in schools from
fi rst grade through graduate
level, to refl ect leftists beliefs
to the exclusion of everything
else. It means the transformation
of news reporting from
the classic mandate of objectively
describing “who, what,
when, where,why” to what is
essentially editorializing all
the time.
Entertainment, in this
all-encompassing effort, is
merely a vehicle to broadcast
propaganda. No comedy show
is complete without digs at
moderates and conservatives.
Dramas are vehicles to cast
the other side as villains.
There is a major behavioral
difference between moderate
and conservative elected offi -
cials and their opposite numbers.
The former generally
seek offi ce to resolve specifi c
issues, the latter, to pursue
ideological goals. (Unfortunately,
there are also careerists
on both sides.)
Consider illegal immigration.
No convincing case has
been made that ignoring a
massive infl ux of unskilled,
impoverished people who
require public support, and
present dangers of increased
crime and disease in any way
helps the citizenry. Yet, because
they are expected to
eventually vote, legally or illegally,
for Progressive candidates,
the left insists on ignoring
the crisis.
Similarly, the
numerous’virtue signaling’
environmental regulations
advocated by Progressive offi
cials do nothing to alter the
climate but they do set a precedent
for allowing greater
governmental control of private
affairs, a major leftwing
goal. The government
of New York State has roadblocked
vital energy development
and infrastructure so
severely that portions of the
state will soon be incapable
of fueling new buildings with
natural gas.
In Los Angeles, the emphasis
on the alleged rights
of those living on the streets
to engage in acts such as defecating
on public thoroughfares
has resulted in typhoid
cases. One publication called
this leftwing policy the
‘death’ of that city.
Justice itself has been a
casualty of the Left’s determination
to place their ideology
over everything. To protect
their standard bearers, clear
criminal acts have been intentionally
ignored. Consider the
foul acts of Hillary Clinton in
the uranium to Russia deal,
and her email coverup. Partisan
bureaucrats such as Lois
Lerner have been allowed to
kidnap whole agencies, in her
case the IRS, to use as partisan
attack vehicles. No punishment
resulted from either
acts which blatantly violated
the law.
An entire portion of the
judiciary, the Ninth Circuit,
has continued to issue rulings
based on Progressive politics
in defi ance of the Constitution
and statutory law.
The moderate/conservative
portion of this split has,
essentially, engaged in unilateral
disarmament. No substantive
effort has been made
to challenge progressive dominance
in entertainment, education,
or network news. Despite
howls of protest, little
has been done to address the
growing censorship by non
leftists on social media.
The Left’s pursuit of ideology
over common sense,
the good of the nation, and
the safety of the citizenry,
announced so clearly by
President Obama when he
rendered his “fundamental
transformation” comment
divided the nation in a manner
not seen since the Civil
War. It’s time to recognize
the danger.
BY AL D’ANGELO
The governor is pondering
a bill which would allow illegal
immigrants to get drivers
licenses. They must follow
the same criteria as any other
American to receive their license.
Doesn’t anyone see the hypocrisy
here? They followed
no rules to get here when they
illegally crossed the border
but now we’re telling them
they must follow the rules to
obtain a driver’s license.
Are we a country which expects
people to follow its laws
or are we a country that allows
political parties to decide
which laws to obey and which
laws to ignore?
The cost of illegal immigration
for the American tax
payer $116 billion a year or
$500 a year for everyone over
the age of 18. Just think what
that money could do for education
or our infrastructure.
How about this for a novel
idea 1) we build a wall and
enhance our border security
and stop all illegal immigration,
2) We allow all those illegals
to register with the government
and receive a work
visa, allowing them to come
out of the shadows and work
and pay taxes in the U.S. 3) Allow
them an appropriate time
to apply for citizenship, this
would preclude anyone with a
felony conviction. 4) at the end
of that period any one hiring
a worker without a work visa
would face a fi ne or imprisonment.
Everybody wins.
We shouldn’t blame the
law-abiding immigrants for
looking for a better life; our
parents and grandparents did
the same but there was a process
built into our system for
that purpose. We show disrespect
to those immigrants
who followed the rule of law
and came here legally.
Some states have gone as
far as protecting criminals
from deportation. Maybe they
forgot “I do solemnly swear
that I will support and defend
the Constitution of the United
States against all enemies
foreign and domestic; ….. “It
doesn’t say they have the right
to choose what to support and
defend.
You want to become an
American, start by doing it legally
the same way you would
have to apply for a driver’s
license. They have been trying
to solve the immigration
problem for years, both Democrats
and Republicans, but
God forbid we give the opposing
party credit. I think the
immigrants are viewed as
pawns for the political expediency
and that’s a crime of
immense proportion.
Congresswoman Alexandria
Ocasio-Cortez likened
the holding centers at the border
to concentration camps
and people are defending
her position. The illegal immigrants
coming across the
border know exactly what to
expect and of their own free
will. They know they will be
fed and given medical attention
if needed. They also know
they will be given a hearing
date and then released into
our country. How is this like a
concentration camp?
Were they taken across
the border by force, are they
forced to work, are they starving
or being mistreated or denied
medical attention? To
compare these centers to concentration
camps is reprehensible
and irresponsible.
Maybe the congresswoman
should speak to a holocaust
survivor to enlighten her as
to what a concentration camp
really is. I wonder how many
times the Congresswoman
has been to the border or is she
just spouting political talking
points.
While political parties are
feuding people are suffering
and no one seems to care, if
they did, they would come together
and solve the problem,
but that would mean putting
people before party.
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