BY FRANK VERNUCCIO COYOTE SPOTTED NEAR CITY ISLAND TRAFFIC CIRCLE
The recent obituary in
Action
Association
the Washington Post describing
the planet’s most horrendous
terrorist as “an austere
religious scholar” stands in
marked contrast to the purple
prose it has used to describe
President Trump.
Politically motivated excesses
are not new, but the extremes
to which the left-leaning
news media, and those
with similar views in Hollywood
and academia now subscribe
to are true concerns for
worry. The reality is increasingly
clear and deeply troubling:
much of the America’s
leftist establishment feels
more in common with Karl
Marx, Mao Zedong, and Nicolas
Maduro than they do with
Thomas Jefferson, James
Madison, or all those people
that believe in the U.S. Constitution.
Listen to Bernie Sanders,
Elizabeth Warren, or Alexandria
Ocasio-Cortez. Review
the lecture notes from most
political science departments
at colleges when describing
comparative governments.
Follow the actions of some
American institutions, such
as the National Basketball
Association, as they immediately
genufl ect towards Beijing
as teams trade away their
beliefs in the Bill of Rights in
return for the chance to make
a fortune in China. Observe
the employees at Google who
seem more comfortable dealing
with Xi Jinping than the
U.S. military.
A free republic like America
can easily withstand the
abandonment of its ideals of
personal liberty by some who,
for monetary, psychological,
or ideological reasons have
drifted towards authoritarian
philosophies, even those, like
socialism, which have failed
completely and repeatedly
across the globe for nearly a
century. But what is happening,
indeed, what has happened,
is not the intellectual
defection of disaffected individuals,
but the wholesale
abandonment of America’s
ideals by major institutions,
including much of the news
media, almost all of academia,
and the entertainment establishment.
The entertainment industry
has abandoned traditional
ideals for the most obvious of
reasons. Beijing has poured
vast amounts of its great
wealth into that business.
Whether in the production
and distribution of shows in
the TV and movie enterprises,
or the ability to market and
capture sporting audiences in
the vast Chinese population,
the barons of sports and entertainment
have openly and
shamelessly sold their souls
for cash.
The leftist tilt in journalism
is, ultimately, a product of
the extreme bias in academia.
Academia has been dominated
by those on the left to an
extraordinary degree. Writing
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, NOVEMBER 2 56 9-DECEMBER 5, 2019 BTR
A coyote was spotted by a City Island resident who was on his way to work at about 5:15 a.m. on the
morning of Friday, November 15. The coyote had an orange, brown and white complexion.
Photo courtesy of Anthony Durante
in Inside Higher Ed, Samuel
Adams notes:
“…higher education is now
ruled by an ever-growing professional
class of administrators
who call the shots outside
the classroom. They not only
have deep infl uence over campus
politics and student life
via offi ces such as the Dean
of Students, Offi ces of Diversity
and Inclusion, Student
Success, and Engagement and
Leadership, but they are also
more liberal than any other
occupational group in the nation…
Two-thirds of administrators
self-identify as liberal,
with 40 percent of that liberal
pool stating that they are far
left. A quarter of them call
themselves middle of the road,
while only 5 percent say they
are on the right. That makes
for a liberal-to-conservative
ratio of 12 to one.”
A Forbes article by George
Leef reports that “A good many
educators take seriously the
idea that teaching is a political
activity and accordingly feel
justifi ed in using their classrooms
as platforms for spreading
their social, economic, and
philosophical beliefs. They
want to act as “change agents”
who will improve the world…
Most of those educators have
been imbued with a leftist cast
of mind – hostile to capitalism,
private property, and anything
that stands in the way of
their utopian visions of a just
society brought about through
government power. Instances
like the …ones at UC Santa
Barbara (where a professor
physically attacked a student
who was peacefully protesting
abortion) and eastern Connecticut
(where a writing professor
went off on a rant about
how evil Republicans are) are
pretty common.”
Journalist come from journalism
schools, which share
the same extreme-left bias as
the rest of the universities to
which they are attached.
The salient question is
whether America, as a nation
guided by a Bill of Rights and
a Constitution that so many
on the left consider irrelevant,
and a nation that requires at
least some degree of unity in
the face of threats from terrorists
such as the late al-Baghdadi
and powerful national
enemies such as China and
Russia, can survive in a disunited
state?
BY GENE DEFRANCIS
“I’m going to tell everyone
that Allerton won’t have a BID
and it will be Gene DeFrancis’
fault,” Richard Bassik (BID
organizer) said at a breakfast
function for the Westchester
Square Business Improvement
Disrict.
My group and I have been
protecting our merchants
from the ill prepared and ill
advised business improvement
district.
The BID would charge our
small businesses $40 per foot
of their store frontage. A 20-
foot store front would look at
an additional $800 tax each
year for services we already
provide - graffi ti clean up,
events and holiday lights.
We never forced or threatened
our merchants to participate
in our events. We ask
that you join us at the fraction
of the cost the BID would provide.
Directly or indirectly,
whether you know it or not,
you have benefi ted from the
Allerton International Merchants
Association.
AIM represents the merchants
and the residents of
this community. We have
worked incredibly well with
many of the property owners
here. If you want real change
in Allerton and you want to
thrive and stay in Allerton,
then a volunteer-based payment
system is best for now.
Small businesses are already
taxed too much and barely
getting by.
AIM has done everything
it legally can to help our community
and we will continue
to do so.
Holiday light collection
has begun. If you have already
contributed to the lights this
year, we thank you. For those
who have not, I can’t express
enough how important it is
and how much the community
notices. We anticipate a
high participation rate this
year and years to come.
AIM was there for our restaurants
when they expressed
concerns of inequalities in
the city’s grading system.
AIM was there when the city
wanted to shut off your water
during peak business hours.
Those who attended our meetings
and Facebook page were
kept up to date on all the construction
activity in the community.
AIM spoke up for more patrols
and police presence on
Allerton. Restoring police
community relations, which
lead to more 911 calls when
crimes are committed, more
arrests, and more prosecutions
when a crime is committed
in Allerton.
When lighting was requested
between Paulding
and Hone avenues, we asked
and we received.
We still have much work
to do. Repaving our streets,
eliminating the drug activity
inside our NYCHA properties
and other residential buildings,
and bringing more dynamic
small businesses to Allerton.
Join our Facebook page -
Allerton International Merchants
Association Inc. Attend
our meetings every fi rst
Tuesday of each month at the
Sanz or watch the meeting on
Facebook live.
Email us at AllertonMerchants@
gmail.com.
And donate to the holiday
lights. Suggested donations:
property owners $500; merchants
$100; and residents
$50
If everyone did a little, together
we can accomplish big
things.
Whether you celebrate the
holidays or not, the lighting
keeps shoppers on the street
longer when the sun sets
sooner.
And a reminder that Allerton
International Merchants
Association Inc. is a 501(c)3.
Again, thank you from the
bottom of our hearts for your
support.
/gmail.com