BRONX TIMES REPORTER, JULY 9-15, 2021 35
BTR
BY BRONX TIMES
By Joe Mondello
A little rain didn’t keep
the Sam Young Booster’s BBQ
from being a wash out last Saturday.
The brave ones stayed
outside and the smart ones
stayed inside. Plenty of food,
refreshments and fun was had
by all in attendance. Great to
see our Cindy is back working
the bar. Congratulations
Grandma! Thank you goes
out to all those who helped
in setting up the place. Also,
thank you to those who donated
the food, yummy. Glad
to know our column is being
read. (I myself had always enjoyed
reading the weekly Post
620 column by Doc Paul. He
would always end it with a bit
of trivia.)
Some members who attended
our function said the
reason they knew about it was
because of the Bronx Times
Reporter. Thank you Laura!
The comradery among our
members and friends who attended
the BBQ was wonderful.
Ages ran from 20-90, with
all dancing to the music provided
by Bill Viger. Some said
it’s been a long time coming.
As we approach the American
Legion’s new year, don’t
forget to start sending in your
annual membership dues. Do
you know that you can pay
your dues online at mylegion.
org. County Offi cer Peter Del
Debbio dropped off the new
Post 620 American Legion
2022 Membership cards. Come
visit the Post to pick up your
card and get to meet your new
Cmdr. Bill Franklin. If you
can’t stop by, we’ll be mailing
them out soon.
I will confess that last years
pandemic shut down caused a
strain on the Post and put us
little behind. This is a call
out to our membership who is
willing to give a little time and
lend a hand. We’re still lagging
on some of our Post paperwork
and could use some
assistance.
We have a Post member
who is a 70-year member of
the American Legionand we’ll
be presenting him with a certifi
cate. A 98-year-old member
wrote us a letter recently
checking up on us, along with
a few of our Korean era veterans,
wondering how the Post
is doing. You don’t realize the
comfort that our members
have when they proudly walk
into their Post and know that
they belong to the American
Legion. We’re always looking
for a few new proud veterans
to join. No job skills required.
We are working on opening
the Post a few more days
a week. We are now open on
Wednesday 3 p.m.-10 p.m.
Come in and say hello to Jeanette.
She’s famous for her
Bloody Mary’s.
On the weekend, our hours
are: Friday door opens at 3
p.m..; Saturday door opens at
1 p.m.; and Sunday 12 p.m.-4
p.m. for cocktails. We are planning
an outdoor family movie
night in August. Stay tuned..
In closing remember,
“Freedom’s just another word
for nothin’ left to lose, Nothin’
it ain’t nothin’ honey, if it ain’t
free.” For God and Country.
FRANK VERNUCCIO
Google is the predominant
vehicle for research. That presents
key challenges to a nation
in need of objective information.
According to a study by Pew
Research, educators report that
students overwhelmingly use
Google for research, to the extent
that “Research = Googling.”
Teachers told Pew that 94% surveyed
said students were likely
to use Google or similar search
engines for their work.
Even a cursory search of
Google results during the 2020
election cycle revealed its prejudices.
USA Today reported that
there was overwhelming evidence
that the Big Tech giant
tilted its results to show those
sites that agreed with its corporate
biases.
Although the organization
has dismissed similar claims,
and used preexisting algorithms
as an excuse, there are
substantial indicators that it
seeks to manipulate the outcome
of events such as elections,
large and small.
A Consumer Watchdog letter
fi rst reported by Fox Business
News outlined how the
web behemoth sought to mislead
its users by obscuring relevant
material in a California
state initiative regarding online
privacy, an issue it had a
signifi cant corporate stake in.
“A search for Prop 24 at
Google serves up a link to the
offi cial voter guide at the Secretary
of State’s website. Most voters
would reasonably assume
this is a link to unbiased information
provided by the government.
Instead, the snippet of text
Google includes with the link is
not the title of the measure, or
the nonpartisan state summary
of the measure, but the “CON”
or No on 24 argument…,” the
letter stated.
The internet research organization
Can I Rank reports
that Google search results are
almost 40% more likely to contain
pages with a “Left” or “Far
Left” result. The organization
goes on to note that 16% of political
keywords contained no
right-leaning pages at all within
the fi rst page of results. Google’s
algorithm makes it easier for
sites with a left-leaning viewpoint
to rank higher in Google
search results compared to sites
with a conservative viewpoint.
A Breitbart review discusses
“The Good Censor,” an 85-page
briefi ng leaked to Breitbart
News, admitting that under the
leadership of Google and other
tech giants, the internet has
moved away from its original
ideals of unfettered free speech,
and towards a “European”
model of speech that “favors
dignity over liberty and civility
over freedom.”
In 2019, according to Mindmatters.
ai. “senior Google engineer
Gregory Coppola contacted
watchdog group Project
Veritas to talk about the Google
bias that affects the information
users get about political
choices… According to Coppola,
Big Tech’s agenda is dangerous,
in large part, because it is hidden
… widely published behavioral
research psychologist Robert
Epstein (who described
himself as ‘center/center-left’
before a Senate committee) testifi
ed ‘Data I’ve collected since
2016 show that Google displays
content to the American public
that is biased in favor of one political
party… No private company
should have either the
right or the power to manipulate
large populations without their
knowledge. If you were to examine
the data I have been collecting
over the past 6-and-a-half
years, every one of you would
put partisanship aside and collaborate
to reign in the extraordinary
power that Google and
Facebook now wield with unabashed
arrogance.”
There may be another alternative.
Conservatives rightly
objected to the dangers of government
control inherent in
classifying internet providers
as “common carriers.” But a
modifi ed version of the common
carrier concept could be
applied without the overlay of
government control that proponents
of the concept maintain
is necessary for the more physical
world of trains and planes.
That highly modifi ed common
carrier concept could warrant
–without any other government
intrusion, regulation or oversight
— that monopolistic internet
giants such as Twitter and
Google treat all users equally.
CIVIC CENTER
Community Action
Civic Association
BY BRONX TIMES
By Tony Salimbene
So much to think about on
the Fourth.
Imagine a small band of
citizens telling a major world
power to %@%$@!! They knew
it would be considered treason,
they knew they could be
hanged.
Take a moment to read, even
a short version of our Founding
Fathers documents, the amazing
concept that we can choose
our governing body, that we can
choose a religion, that (within
certain laws) we can say, read
and write whatever we wish.
You take our freedoms for
granted? Need I remind you of
the price paid for those freedoms?
Talk to someone from North
Korea when someone thinks our
country is a horrible place. One
young refugee attending a prestigious
U.S. university said her
school’s ideology was “crazy”
and worse than what she experienced
in North Korea. So what
are we teaching young people?
American Legion Boys State is
doing the right thing.
Reminders: Support the
Troops Bingo returns on Sept.
10. This 9/11 will be the 20th anniversary
of the sneak attack on
our country. I hope for a large
and professional showing by
Post 253 and supporters on this
sacred day. More info to follow.
Until Next Time: In Congress,
July 4, 1776, think about
it.
CIVIC CENTER
Korony Post 253
CIVIC CENTER
Sam Young AL
Post 620
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