|
Commentary,
Chronicle
and Breaking News
Breaking News
and commentary. Frank
X. Didik/Editorial Board
New
York City and important world News
Just
the facts. You decide what to believe.
The
"news" is an entertainment industry, with an added
function of forming public opinion.
It
is not a public information service.
In
1826, John Quinsy Adams, the president of the United States, was
asked about the freedom of the press. He responded "It wasn't
in the past, it isn't now, but I sure hope it will be in the future".
News Briefs
A
million plus people a month can't
be wrong!
May
8, 2023 It would seem that many national brand stores are closing
stores in crime-ridden San Francisco. This is most unfortunate,
considering that San Francisco was till relatively recently, been
considered one of the most beautiful city's in the United States.
May
7, 2023 Elon Must tweeted that the media misrepresents interracial
crime "to such an extreme degree". His tweet is sure to be
considered controversial in some circles.
May
7, 2023 Mr. Dmitry Rogozin, the former head of the Russian Space
agency "Roscosmos", stated that there is "No
Proof" that the USA landed on the moon. Russian propaganda?
May
7, 2023 King Charles III has been crowned King of England among much pomp.
May
6, 2023 U.S. Treasury Secretary and former Federal Reserve Chair
Person, stated that the USA is running out of measures to avoid
default, though she was only referring to the hesitation to
increasing the debt ceiling (and inflating the currency).
May
6, 2023 The City and State of New York has sponsored a Marijuana
event in Union Square! This is astounding considering that in the
past, the use and certainly the sale of Marijuana was completely
illegal. It is still illegal on the law books of the State of New
York to use or sell Marijuana
May
6, 2023 Kentucky Derby was held in Churchill Downs. A horse won.
May
5, 2023 The governor of Maryland has signed bills allowing abortion
and gender changing medical and drug "procedures".
May
4, 2023 It is "come out" that the U.S. Navy has appointed
a transvestite/transgender biological man, who dresses as as woman,
to be the new Navy Digital Ambassador.
|
|
|
May 3, 2023 In
Front of Cooper Union in Manhattan. These writers are demanding a
Union Contract while a particular speaker is giving a talk at this
distinguished college. |
|
|
|
|
There is an
underlying fear that writing and editor jobs are at severe risk with
the emergence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) computers. |
|
|
|
May 3, 2023 A violent man, threatening passengers and claiming that
he doesn't care if he hurts anyone and doesn't care if he returns to
prison, was restrained by several concerned citizens. Unfortunately,
while being restrained, the disruptive person died of asphyxiation.
May 3, 2023 Bank stocks declined as a result of fear regarding the
safety of banks.
|
|
|
|
These signs can be found around certain area's of the City. This
writer is not a gun enthusiast, however there is a strong question if
the City can circumvent the constitutional right to carry a gun. |
|
|
|
|
Apparently some U.S. Mail boxes are being closed down. This box in
Dumbo has a lock on it preventing the deposit of mail. |
|
|
May 2, 2023 Ukraine. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church is planning to
start to use the Gregorian Calendar, rather than the current Julian
Calender, when determining certain Christian Holidays (Holy Days).
Thus Christmas would be celebrated on December 25, rather than
January 7th.
May 2, 2023 The U.S. Federal Reserve has raised interest rates to the
highest in 16 years.
April 30, 2023 NYC Mayor Eric Adams has taken to the streets of NYC
in a media campaign to fill the thousands of vacant NYC City Jobs. It
is estimated that 20,000 City jobs need to be filled. The solution
seems obvious...pay more.
April 26, 2023 It has come out that President Biden had advanced
knowledge of questions being asked at his press conference, even
though on TV, it was orchestrated to look like extemporaneous questions.
|
|
|
|
April 21, 2023
Union Square. These protestors are protesting free enterprise and
capitalism. Unfortunately many people have high expectations of their
perceived abilities and when things do not work out as the expected,
the tend to blame others or institutions or businesses. |
|
|
|
|
There has been a
general collapse in the standard of living, over the past 50 years,
in the United States and perhaps elsewhere. At the same time, there
has been an increased feeling by people who have not accomplished as
much as they would like, to have a sense of entitlement. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Nonsense! Sadly, many people have traveled on the
wrong career path in life and now blame their lack of progress on others. |
|
|
|
|
April 21, 2023
Washington Square Park, NYC. This excellent High School Marching Band
performed and entertained the Sunday crowd. |
|
|
April 18, 2023 NYC will track the "carbon footprint" of
residents food purchases, when paying electronically by credit card
or debit card.
April 18, 2023 U.S. Senators have introduced a bill to create a
digital identify for all Americans. Some say that privacy will be
compromised and it is often thought that privacy equals freedom.
|
|
|
|
NYC has been under
constant rain for five days, that has also caused limited flooding
throughout the region. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
April 11, 2023
Dumbo, Brooklyn. Installing a new Belgium block road is both
extremely expensive as well as time consuming. |
|
|
|
|
In the 1800's,
till the early 1900's, the USA was a major exporting country,
exporting everything to Europe, but little came from Europe to the
USA. In order to properly ballast the empty returning ships, the
ships used "Belgium Blocks" as ballast. These blocks were
then used to pave EVERY street in New York City. Till the late
1950's, most streets still showed the blocks. Today, when roads are
being repaired, one can still see the blocks under the asphalt. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
This man is
wearing,...well...a bonnet! |
|
|
|
|
April 9, 2023 New
York City Easter "Parade" on Fifth Avenue in New York City. |
|
|
|
|
|
The Easter Parade
on Fifth Avenue is a 150+ year old tradition with women traditionally
wearing outlandish hats and extreme costumes. |
|
|
|
|
This hat looks
like something for the flat earthers! |
|
|
|
April
9, 2023 Wishing everyone a very Happy Easter.
New
York City on Easter, 1956
April
6, 2023 The famed, former Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz has
stated that he believes that former President Trump will be found
guilty of the charges that has been put against him, unless there is
a change in venue, but that he believes that the charges will be
dismissed upon appeal. He stated that if a judge in New York City was
to dismiss the charges, that would end the judges career in liberal
New York City.
April
6, 2023 Many financial and commodity trading markets as well as
businesses world-wide will be closed till Monday, April 10, 2023, in
honor of the Easter Holiday. Easter, which commemorates the
resurrection of Jesus, is considered the most holy day in the
Christian world.
April
5, 2023 Twitter has labeled National Public Radio (NPR) as
"government affiliated media".
April
5, 2023 Russia has officially stated that the arrest of Former
President Donald J. Trump is an internal matter, however the Russian
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova stated that Trumps
arrest represented a "crisis of liberalism".
April
5, 2023 Ukrainian President Zelensky has been closing down Christian
Orthodox Churches throughout the Ukraine, in what some perceive as an
anti-Christian campaign. During the Soviet era, particularly between
1926 to 1933, an estimated 9 to 12 million Ukrainians were
systematically starved to death and in particular, Christians were
targeted. President Zelensky's stated reason for closing down the
Christian Orthodox churches, of which an estimated 80% of the
Ukrainians are members of (the balance being primarily Catholic and
Protestant) is that Orthodox Christians are more likely to be
sympathetic to Russia, rather than the Ukrainian regime.
April
5, 2023 Today is Passover celebrated by Jewish people world wide.
This evening, most Jewish households will have the traditional Seder
which celebrates various aspects of Judaism and how God is said to
have protected the Jews in Ancient times.
April
4, 2023 Finland has joined NATO. Since Finland has an 800+mile
border with Russia, which means that now NATO has an additional 800+
miles border with Russia.
April
4, 2023 Though this is the first time that a former president has
faced felony charges, regardless of the validity, there were other
cases that almost happened. In the 1870's, former president Ulysses
S. Grant almost faced such charges when the investment company that
he was in charge of was accused of fraud. The top people of the
company were indicted, however the powers that be decided not to
indict former president Grant in order to save face for the nation.
April
4, 2023 Will the United States military act on this? While it is
true that the majority of the rank and file of all services of the
United States military are pro Trump, it is unlikely that there would
be essentially a coup. It did not happen during the Civil War nor any
other time in U.S. History though there was concern several times
over the past two hundred years. In 1973, a rumor was circulated in
the United States military might not follow certain orders by then
President Nixon, but this did not come to pass. During the Seminole
Indian wars, Andrew Jackson was ordered to stop fighting by the
United States Supreme Court. When Mr. Jackson heard this, he is said
to have asked "how many divisions does the Supreme Court
Have?". During Shay's Rebellion, soon after the Revolutionary
War, there was fear that the fledgling U.S. Army would not obey
commands. In all cases, the issues were quickly diffused.
April
4, 2023 Privately, many countries feel that today's weak indictment
of Donald J. Trump is a political vendetta, that is often seen in
small, unsophisticated countries, with weak rule of law. Further,
here in the United States, even Democrats are concerned about the
effect of this indictment on the nation.
April
4, 2023 The U.S. Dollar dropped today against most world currencies
by about 1%. Further, the U.S. Dollar dropped in terms of it's value
with precious metals with gold hitting over $2022 per troy once and
silver hitting $25 per troy once.
|
|
|
April 4, 2023 In
back of the New York State Supreme Court, on Baxter Street, next to
Chinatown. Trumps motorcade leaving after the indictment. |
|
|
|
|
|
April 4, 2023 In
back of the New York State Supreme Court, on Baxter Street, next to Chinatown. |
|
|
April
4, 2023 Former President of the United States, Donald J. Trump, was
indicted today on 34 felony charges stemming from a 2016 payment to
quiet a woman alleging that she had a sexual relationship with Mr.
Trump. Mr. Trump has perpetually denied this, but said that he paid
to protect his name from being soiled by the alleged false claims.
The indictment alleged that he claimed the payment as a business
expense and further, that the payment was to prevent the voters in
2016 from hearing the alleged "truth". Most legal scholars
say that the indictment seems to be very weak since first, the
statute of limitations has passed, depending on a few issues, second,
that international companies often make payments for certain
"business expenses" such as kidnaping ransoms, or
suppressing unfavorable news and deduct such expenses as business
expenses. It remains to be seen how the case will progress.
|
|
|
April 4, 2023 In
front of the New York State Supreme Court. There were many peaceful
pro Trump demonstrators. |
|
|
|
|
|
April 4, 2023 In
front of the New York State Supreme Court. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
April 4, 2023 In
front of the New York State Supreme Court. This individual dressed as
a banana implying that the USA has become a banana republic. |
|
|
|
|
April 4, 2023 In
front of the New York State Supreme Court. More pro Trump demonstrators. |
|
|
|
|
|
April 4, 2023 In
front of the New York State Supreme Court. The pro Trump
demonstrators were numerous but peaceful. Interestingly, many of the
pro Trumpers carried American flags, but the anti-Trump protesters
did not. |
|
|
|
|
|
April 4, 2023 In
front of the New York State Supreme Court. Anti Trump protestor with
a professionally printed sign and T-Shirt. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
April 4, 2023 In
front of the New York State Supreme Court. A sole protestor among a
group of spectators. |
|
|
|
|
April 4, 2023 In
front of the New York State Supreme Court. The NYPD did and excellent
job in separating the pro and anti Trump groups. |
|
|
|
|
|
April 4, 2023 In
front of the New York State Supreme Court. There was a mixed number
of pro trump and anti trump protestors |
|
|
|
|
April 3, 2023 In
front of Trump Tower in Manhattan. Far more press and security
services than demonstrators. |
|
|
|
|
April 3, 2023 In
front of Trump Tower in Manhattan. Two lonely protestors, though a
number of passers by said that they agreed with these two. The
gentleman protesting came to the USA in 1979 and said that what is
happening now in the USA with the pending indictment of former
President Trump is the same way that the former Soviet Union would
suppress opposition. |
|
|
|
|
|
April 3, 2023 In
front of Trump Tower in Manhattan. Many police and security officials
but few protesters. The NYPD was very polite, as always. |
|
|
|
|
April 3, 2023 In
front of Trump Tower in Manhattan. The NYPD was ready with many
police vehicles and "paddy wagons" ready, just in case. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
April 3, 2023 NYC
seems to be having a war against private ownership of cars. Many
roads have gone from four lanes to two lanes. Bicycle lanes, often
take up two lanes, when the buffer is considered. This has caused
massive automobile traffic jams. It should be noted that bicycle
lanes only benefits a small number of New Yorker's. This includes
primarily men, between the ages of 22 and 40 years old. Further,
bicycle lanes are hardly used in cold weather, and on rainy days.
Should the entire population suffer for a few? |
|
|
|
|
April 3, 2023 Washington Square Park is always buzzing with
activities. Here the yet to be filled water fountain has become a
temporary skateboard park. |
|
|
|
|
April 3, 2023 Music abounds in Washington Square Park. |
|
|
|
|
|
April 3, 2023 A
bicycle "meetup" in the park. |
|
|
|
|
April 3, 2023 Mr.
Joel McDonald is well known for many years for his interviews of the
common man and his opinions on various topics. |
|
|
|
|
Mr. Joel
McDonald's well produced interviews can be seen on TikTok and
instagram @JoelsInterviews |
|
|
March
31, 2023 The New York State governor has stated that the State
Police and the National Guard are prepared to suppress any protests
regarding the indictment of former President Donald J. Trump. Mr.
Trump has a huge following and many people, including a number of non
Trump supporters, feel that the indictment is a political maneuver to
prevent Mr. Trump from running and possibly winning the 2024
presidential election. Some are comparing the indictment to what one
might expect from so called Banana Republics in the 1960's or what
one might expect under a totalitarian regime. The United States is
clearly divided. Most American news outlets have been positive about
the indictment, however this may not represent the true feelings of
the people, particularly outside of the liberal cities. Much of the
United States military rank and file are pro-Trump. This unusual
indictment has divided the country even further.
March
31, 2023 It is believed that former President Trump will appear in
person on Tuesday, April 4, to be formally indicted.
|
|
|
March 31, 2023 The
well known local singer, performer Kaz performs at the popular Polish
Restaurant Karzma in Greenpoint Brooklyn. |
|
|
|
|
|
March 30, 2023
Dumbo Brooklyn. The Manhattan Bridge as seen from Dumbo Park. The
hideous, out of place monolith building in the background, is
actually in Manhattan on the old Pathmark supermarket site. |
|
|
March
30, 2023 In light of the indictment of former president Donald J.
Trump, the NYPD restricted access to parts of lower Manhattan, around
government buildings, this evening.
March
30, 2023 In a surprise move, former president of the United States,
Donald J. Trump was 26 counts related to a $120,000 payment that Mr.
Trump made prior to him being elected to the presidency in 2016, to
silence a woman who appeared in pornographic movies who was alleging
that she and Mr. Trump had a brief intimate relationship. Mr. Trump
has continually denied this but is said to have paid her off to
silence her and prevent her from harming his good name. The
indictment is not about this relationship or the payment, but rather
it is alleged that Mr. Trump deducted the payment as a business
expense. Most legal experts have stated that the case brought on by
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is very weak, but this
remains to be seen. Both the state and the Federal government was
aware of the situation but declined to bring the case to court,
allegedly because the potential case was very weak.
March
30. 2023 Russia has arrested an American for espionage. Mr. Evan
Gershkovich, 31 years old, works for the Wall Street Journal and was
staying in the city of Yekaterinburg, which is about 1,000 miles east
of Moscow. Yekaterinburg is where the Tsar Nicholas and his entire
family was brutally murdered by the Bolsheviks in 1918 and to this
day, many Russians feel that the killers were pushed by outsiders.
The United States state department has denied that Mr. Gershkovich is
a spy. It should be noted that since 1977, it is illegal under U. S.
Federal Law for any government employee to falsely claim as a cover,
that they are a journalist or a religious person.
March
30, 2023 According to the journal, American Military News, the
United States weapons stockpile is thirteen years behind in Stinger
missile production, since apparently a large quantity of America's
stockpile has been sent to the Ukraine. Unrelated to the article,
there is also concern that many key military and electronic and
production components are no longer being manufactured in the United States.
|
|
|
March
29, 2023 In front of the Brooklyn Navy Yard that is now used as
spaces for small and medium sized businesses and workshops. This
experimental robot is one of many new and frightening automated
machines and our soon Artificial Intelligence (AI) world. |
|
|
|
|
March 28, 2023
Police helping a stranded motorist on the Manhattan Bridge. |
|
|
|
|
March 28, 2023 Central Park on a warm, pre-spring day |
|
|
March
28, 2023 Republican Senator Mr. Josh Hawley has stated that the
recent Nashville massacre should be viewed as an anti-Christian hate crime.
March
28, 2023 Deep concern is emerging regarding the introduction of the
Artificial Intelligence (AI) robotic program called AI ChatGPT can
greatly and quickly alter society and may well make obsolete, many
middle class jobs, with some saying that as many as 80% of higher pay
middle class jobs in jeopardy. Jobs such as web designers, legal
secretaries, data managers and Journalists were specifically
mentioned, but one must assume that any information and logic based
professions, including the legal and medical profession, may well be
in jeopardy It would seem that certain workman trades,such as
electrician, carpenters, repairmen and similar have a better chance
of continuing to make money in the emerging AI world.
|
|
|
March 28, 2023 The Cherry Blossoms are in full bloom
in Central Park. |
|
|
|
|
March 28, 2023 The now famous bronze Alice and
Wonderland statue in Central Park. |
|
|
|
March
28, 2023 A U.S. Senate bill entitled "The Restrict Act (S.686)
and also called the Ban TikTok Act will also be allowed to give the
Federal government access to all data and private devices, such as
cell phones, home security apps and Ring type devices. Further,
certain privacy methods, such as VPN would not be allowed and would
have stiff penalties if used.
March
27, 2023 A huge strike is taking place in Israel in protest against
the recent conservative Israeli government proposals of changing the
basic elements of the Israeli Supreme Court. Essentially the liberal
factions, representing 46% of the country, which recently lost the
election to the conservatives, representing about 54% of the people,
do not want the change. Israel does not have a constitution. The
Israeli Supreme court justices are chosen by the existing Justices
and some feel that the court system has become a closed system,
favoring one group of people. The proposed changes would allow the
executive branch and the Knesset to make proposals for new court
justices. Presently an Israeli supreme court justice is appointed for
life, till the retirement age of 70 years old.
March
27, 2023 The strike in Israel has extended to the closure of
hospitals, except in extreme emergencies, the closure of Ben Gurian
Airport and the closure of many, though not all, Israeli embassies
around the world including the Israeli embassy to the USA, and
France, though the Israeli Embassy to Britain remains open.
March
27, 2023 A 28 year old transgender man (a biological woman who now
identifies as a man) named Audrey Hale entered into the Christian
Academy in Nashville Tennessee and murdered three 9 year old children
and three adults, before the police shot and killed her. Apparently
she had attended the academy as a child.
March
25, 2023 A transgender woman (a biological man) claims that a TSA
agent JFK airport, punched her in her testicles causing her pain,
during a routine aircraft screening.
March
23, 2023 Ford Motor Company announced that its electric car division
has lost approximately 2 billion dollars last year. It should be
noted that most electric cars manufactured use extremely expensive
batteries that cost upwards of $20,000 or more and must be replaced
every 6 years or so. Further, it takes eight hours to fully charge
the batteries, though a so called quick charge, amounting to between
60 and 80% charge, takes about an hour. Quick charging requires
special equipment and electric service. By contrast, a gasoline
vehicle can be fully fueled in less than 5 minutes, and goes farther
with a full tank of gasoline than a fully charged electric vehicle.
March
23, 2023 Canada's President Trudeau has declared that the government
must censor the internet.
March
22, 2023 Uganda, which is primarily a Christian country, unanimously
passed an "anti-homosexual" bill that codifies stiff jail
sentences, ranging from 7 years to life and even the death sentence
for certain homo-sexual activities.
March
22, 2023 Prince William of Great Britain, who is next in line for
the throne, dined at a gar restaurant in Poland during his recent
trip there.
March
22, 2023 A whale rammed and sunk a sailboat. Luckily everyone was
saved. On a yearly basis, whales sink a number of boats around the
world. A whale tends to sleep, while floating on the surface and if
they are struck by a boat, they become violent. Since hunting whales
has been illegal in almost all countries since 1971, the whale
population has vastly increased and we now have as many whales
roaming the oceans as we had in the 1870's.
March
21, 2023 Home prices have declined for the first time since 2006.
The medium home price today is $360,000.
March
20, 2023 The possible indictment of former president, Donald J.
Trump may not happen this week or ever. There has been a massive push
back against such an action and people on all sides of the political
spectrum feel that the entire affair is politically driven and may
well divide the country with unknown consequences.
March
20, 2023 Congress is demanding that the Manhattan District Attorney,
Mr. Alvin Bragg, appear before them to explain his possible actions
of indicting former President of the United States, Donald J. Trump,
for paying off a former lover to keep quiet, in an improper way. The
Congressmen have stated that the entire episode is political and that
such an action will greatly divide the country. If Mr. Bragg does not
voluntarily appear before Congress, he could be subpoenad.
March
19, 2023 New York, New York New York City has deployed police to key
areas, including in front of court house buildings, and Trump
buildings fearing possible civil unrest if former President Donald J.
Trump is arrested this week under rather dubious charges of paying
off a former lover to keep quiet.
March
19, 2023 Basel Switzerland A merger has been made Between the huge
Swiss bank Credit Swiss and Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS) averting
a potential run on Credit Swiss and the global banking industry as a
whole. Credit Swiss stock holders, who were not given an opportunity
to vote on the merger, will be given one share of UBS for every 22.4
shares of Credit Swiss, that they may have had. This represents a
massive decline in the value of their original investment value. Bond
holders of Credit Swiss will lose 100% of their investment. UBS is
paying approximately 3.2 Billion dollars for Credit Swiss plus
various financial guarantees.
March
19, 2023 New York, New York. New York State attorney general Letitia
James hosted a "Drag Queen Story Hour" for children, with
transgender women reading to the children. Over 100 protesters
protested this event claiming that the Drag Queen Story Hour's are
grooming young children. There were also LGBT groups protesting in
support of this event. There was a significant police presence.
March
17, 2023 Former President Donald J. Trump has stated that he expects
to be arrested this coming week, possibly on Tuesday, March 21, 2023,
because of an alleged payment of about $130,000 to his alleged lover,
Stormy Daniels, to keep quiet about their affair. The payment itself
is not considered illegal, but the way he paid it is said to violate
the spirit of a law. It should be noted that in 1997, former
president Bill Clinton paid Paula Jones $850,000 (about 2 million
dollars in 2023 money) for a similar situation. This is while Mr.
Clinton was being investigated by Congress for allegedly lying about
his relationship with the young Whitehouse intern, Monica Lewinsky.
Many are viewing the possible arrest as a strictly political maneuver
to prevent former President Donald J. Trump from running or winning
the 2024 presidential election. Some say that the USA has fallen to
the level of a "banana republic" or is something that has
never been seen in any advanced western country. Others claim that
this represents the end of American exceptionalism and the
"American Dream". The United States is certainly entering
into unknown territory.
|
|
|
A permanently
closed Protestant Church in Greenpoint Brooklyn, still displaying the
American flag and the LGBT+ Transgender flag |
|
|
|
|
Dumbo, Brooklyn
March 17, 2023 Happy Saint Patrick's Day! These lovely, festive
ladies are enjoying St Patrick's day in Dumbo Park, in Brooklyn |
|
|
|
|
Mott Street at
9PM, which is the main street in Manhattan Chinatown, is almost
completely deserted. Prior to the Covid 19 pandemic fears, this
street was always packed with people and had many 24 hour
restaurants, including the globally famous Wo Hop. Today, almost
every restaurant there is closed by 10PM. Why? What happened? For
history buffs, Mott Street, before 1895, was primarily a Hungarian
neighborhood, that had many Hungarian restaurants and was famous for
romantic "gypsy music" (violin). |
|
|
March 16, 2023 The
Federal Reserve may be introducing their digital payment system known
as "Fednow" as early as this July. It will allow the rapid
payment of bills and money transfer by individuals. Questions of
privacy and the purpose of banks have not been fully addressed, as of yet.
March 12, 2023 New
York State Department of Financial Services has announced that it is
taking over Signature Bank. Signature bank has total assets of
approximately 110 Billion Dollars of which 88 Billion are deposits.
Normally deposits are insured by the FDIC for up to $250,000 per
person or entity, however the FDIC has stated that all amounts will
be covered.
March 12, 2023 The
FDIC has announced that it will insure ALL accounts in the Silicon
Valley Bank. It is hoped by this action, that other banks do not
experience bank runs.
March 10, 2023 The
Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) has been taken over by the FDIC. It is the
17th largest bank in the United States with deposits of approximately
300 billion dollars. Accounts holding up to $250,000 are fully
insured. Those over may get some of their money back, beyond the
insured amount over time.
|
|
|
February 23, 2023
"Chateau Blank" or rather "White Castle". White
Castle, started in 1921, is by far the oldest hamburger company, with
over 377 restaurants throughout the United States. White Castle
invented the hamburger bun and thus, the modern hamburger. The
restaurants are a college student favorite. Prior to 1921, most
people were very reluctant to buy chopped meat since it had a
reputation of being unclean and unsafe to eat. The two founders of
White Castle made sure that their restaurants were ultra clean, with
polished stainless steel counters and glazed white walls. White
Castle also essentially invented the takeout food system. To this
day, it is entirely privately owned by the family of one of the founders. |
|
|
|
|
It is always sad when a century old building is torn down making room
for something new. Here is a large lot on the north west corner of 46
Street and Fifth Avenue. |
|
|
|
|
Electric cars are being pushed as the wave of the
future. Actually up to 1912, there were more electric cars than
"hydro carbon" (gasoline) powered cars. Though the range of
electric cars has improved from an average of 70 miles per charge to
now slightly over 200 miles per charge, the annoying charging time
remains. I spoke to one person in this lot who was patiently sitting
in his car as the vehicle was being charged. He told me that for a
70% charge, it takes one hour and that will get him about 180 miles
at a charging cost of about $20. This of course does not take into
consideration the cost to replace the batteries every five years at a
cost of over $10,000 or about $1,000 per year. Most people are
annoyed if it takes more than 5 minutes to fill up their gasoline car. |
|
|
|
|
|
New York, NY
Metropolitan Museum of Art February 19, 2023 People enjoying the
extremely warm weather. |
|
|
|
|
New York, NY Next
to the Metropolitan Museum of Art February 19, 2023 People enjoying
the extremely warm weather. |
|
|
|
|
New York, NY
Metropolitan Museum of Art February 19, 2023 People enjoying the
extremely warm weather. This winter may be the warmest winter since
1933. Of course, a thousand years ago, between 700AD and 1000AD, the
weather was much warmer and it did not snow in Europe. A warmer world
would be excellent for society in that it will open up new areas for
farms, particularly in the northern parts of the world, such as
Alaska, Siberia and northern Canada. |
|
|
|
|
|
Here we see a
single bicycle rider in a bike lane. The bicycle lanes has been a
disaster for traffic and increased travel times for the majority of
people. The vast majority of people riding bicycles are men under the
age of 40 years old. The bicycle lanes has not benefited the majority
of New Yorkers. |
|
|
|
|
Manhattan,
February 19, 2023. A motorcycle gang? No, it is just the NYPD headed
to an assignment. |
|
|
|
|
February 18, 2023
The foot of Manhattan Avenue in Greenpoint Brooklyn. This park and
the emergency dock clearly states "No Mooring" yet there
are four, unregistered boats, who have been moored here for months
without repercussions. NYC is becoming like the wild west. |
|
|
|
|
|
February 18, 2023
Newtown Creek looking towards Queens. There are perhaps over fifty
unregistered boats who have made this waterway there permanent
location. NYC is becoming both lawless and is beginning to resemble
Shanghai China in the 1920's. |
|
|
|
|
The Holland Tunnel
going from Houston Street in Manhattan to Jersey City in New Jersey
is being closed on weekends after 11 PM for repair work. |
|
|
|
|
February 17, 2023,
Manhattan on lower Fifth Avenue. If the under utilized bicycle lanes
were not already a burden enough for travelers, New Yorkers are now
faced with perpetually double parked vehicles to slow traffic down.
The worse offenders are the car services that routinely stop in the
middle of the road to pick up passengers, often blocking many
vehicles behind them and further slowing down traffic. Where is
enforcement when you need it? |
|
|
|
|
|
February 15, 2023.
Manhattan on Fifth Avenue. A criminal attempted to smash the window
at this Best Buy store on Fifth Avenue, but only succeeded in
breaking the glass. When will the law protect the innocent from
criminals, rather than letting such thugs continue to roam the streets? |
|
|
|
|
|
Road repair is
always a tough job, particularly in the cold on a busy street. |
|
|
|
|
|
February 9, 2023
Manhattan A "rest room" located at 383 Fifth Avenue. This
new for NYC are small pods for people to rest and take a nap for a
few hours. It is an excellent idea, that is rather common in Asia,
particularly Japan. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Hunter Mountain,
Green County in Upstate New York. There has been very little snow
this year. The snow on the slopes is man made using remarkable equipment. |
|
|
|
|
February 7, 2023 An alleged Chinese spy balloon floated over
sensitive United States sites for days, according to the Pentagon.
The Chinese balloon was finally shot down by a missile fired from an
American F22 fifth generation fighter, from an altitude of 45,000
feet (approximately 9 miles high). The balloon, said to be 200 feet
in diameter, and was floating at 65,000 feet (13 miles) and weighed
over 2,000 lbs (800kg). Balloons of this size can float at up to
120,000 feet (24 miles) and are difficult to shoot down since fighter
planes fly at a much lower height. Further, a missile hitting the
balloon, may well go right through the balloon and the hole would not
necessarily bring down the balloon immediately. A balloon spy craft
is better than a satellite for several reasons. For one thing, the
balloon can be programmed to linger around the area being spied upon,
while a satellite flies at about 17,000 miles per hour and is over
the target for only a few moments. Further, a balloon at 20 to 24
miles high has a better view than a satellite ten times higher at 250
miles. This writer is familiar with balloons since he had owned a
Raven 77RX hot air balloon that had an "envelope of 77,000 cubic
feet (about 1/10th the volume of the Chinese balloon, which was
helium filled).
February 6, 2023 A large earthquake, believed to be 7.9 on the
Richter scale, has devastated several cities in Turkey and Syria. It
is believed that hundreds may have perished, with the possibility of
many thousands still under the ruble.
February 6, 2023 FTX, the disgraced crypto "currency"
company, is demanding the return of Sam Bankman-Fried's political
donations. It is believed that he donated over 40 million dollars to
democratic politicians and 2 million to republican politicians. Some
politicians have already been making arrangements to return the donations.
February 6, 2023 An off duty NYPD officer, who has been on the job
for 5 years, was shot in the head today in East New York (Brooklyn),
while going to inspect and buy a used vehicle. Apparently the officer
saw an advertisement on Facebook Market Place and brought a
substantial amount of cash with him to purchase the vehicle, that was
simply a rouge by the assailant to rob the officer.
February 5, 2023 A new beach will be opening up in Greenwich Village
on Manhattan's west side this summer. The "beach" is on
reclaimed land and is about one square block.
February 4, 2023 Taylor Swift, the country-pop music singer has
caused controversy when she stated "I am Christian" and
that people with real Christian values are pro-choice.
February 3, 2023 A large Chinese balloon has been spotted over
Montana. China claims that it is a wayward weather balloon, but most
feel that it is a spy balloon.
February 2, 2023 Most of central Chinatown in Manhattan, including
Mott Street and numerous side streets were closed for the filming of
a new movie called "Unicorn" which features the actor
George Clooney and Brad Pitt. The closure of Chinatown has caused
significant consternation by the local residents and businesses
because Thursday evenings tend to be a time that tourists and locals
go to enjoy the food that Chinatown is famous for. Further, tomorrow
and Saturday, there is a major Chinese festival and their annual
parade that is expected to draw large crowds. It is not known how
much money the City of New York businesses lose every year because of
the inconvenience of the various film productions. Historically, a
road could not be closed off for more than 5 minutes and that if a
driver or a pedestrian refused to stop, that they would be allowed to
travel on the road of sidewalk. Apparently the rules are being
flaunted, just as the motorcycle and bicycle and many other laws are
ignored. In 2017, it was estimated that the State of New York spent
650 million dollars and film "credits" to production
companies, that amounts to $31 for every man, woman and child in the
state. New York State has a tax credit program that pays for an
astounding 30 percent of the cost of producing the film. It is not
known if the production companies are audited or what safeguards are
employed to make sure that the taxpayer's are not over charged.
February 2, 2023 Russian President Vladimir Putin made a speech
stating that it is stunning that for the first time since World War
Two, German tanks are threatening Russia again. Many people in Europe
and around the world are concerned about the potential for an
expanding war between Russia and the West.
February 1, 2023 Bulgaria and Hungary have stated that additional
arms supplies to the Ukraine will not help resolve the
Russian-Ukrainian war.
January 31, 2023 The American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy
(ACEEE) has stated that large Electric Vehicles (EV's) pollute more
than smaller gasoline powered cars. The new Hummer EV causes 341
grams of carbon, while the gasoline powered Chevrolet Malibu causes
320 grams of carbon.
January 30, 2023 Another mass shooting in California has left 7
people dead. All of the dead as well as the gunman is said to be Asian.
January 27, 2023 It is rumored that Thailand may drop the indemnity
of the vaccination medical companies.
Monterey California January 22, 2023 A man shot and killed 10 people
and left an other 10 people injured, some critically, at a ball room
dance studio/club. Most of the patrons were seniors of Asian
background, celebrating the Lunar New Year of the Rabbit. The accused
Asian gunman, a senior himself, has been located.
|
|
|
Dumbo, Brooklyn,
January 21, 2023 It is 4PM and our playgrounds are empty but our dog
runs are full. It shows that people are no longer having children and
to fill this void, people rely on pets. |
|
|
|
|
Dumbo, Brooklyn,
January 21, 2023 Tourism is slowly coming back to NYC.
Unfortunately, the United States is the last western country to
require all foreigners to have taken the controversial Covid-19
vaccination. Since accurate estimates shows that less than 50% of
foreigners have taken this shot, the maximum number of tourists (and
the money that they spend), can only be 50% of the pre-Covid days. |
|
|
|
|
Dumbo, Brooklyn,
January 21, 2023 Building scaffolding is never an easy
job, but it is compounded when the weather is cold. |
|
|
|
|
|
Brooklyn, January
21, 2023 Signs like this to prevent motorcycles (including electric
powered "bicycles" from using bicycle paths are completely
ignored. The Vehicle and Traffic laws of the State of New York must
be enforced for all motorcycles of all types including having
insurance, registration, and properly and clearly visible license
plates, as well as proper motorcycle driving licenses. |
|
|
|
|
Long Island New
York, January 21, 2023 It is always sad when a 75 year old, 1950's
style dinner is torn down, as is the case of this dinner on Long Island. |
|
|
|
|
Under the Hudson
River, New York, January 13, 2023 Here is a reasonably well dressed
"beggar", asking for money in the middle of the Lincoln
Tunnel connecting Manhattan with New Jersey. Where is the enforcement
to stop this dangerous act? |
|
|
January 21, 2023 The Toronto Sun has reported that Health Canada
considers the 400 deaths of people after receiving a Covid-19
vaccination to be low. Some report the numbers of vaccine related
deaths to be be much higher, with vaccine related injuries to be
considerably higher than the number of deaths.
January 21, 2023 Buzz Adrin, the second astronaut to step on the moon
on July 20, 1969, has married his long time girlfriend. Mr. Aldrin,
who is 93 years old, has been married three times before and his new
wife is 69 Years old.
Washington DC January 20, 2023 A huge Pro-Life, anti abortion protest
was held in Washington DC today. Over 100 thousand people protested,
demanding to end all abortions. This is the first major pro life
protest since Roe vs Wade was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court.
January 20, 2023 Ramstein Germany. The Ukraine is demanding to be
given the most advanced tanks that NATO has including the most
advanced German tanks. Germany and most NATO countries are reluctant
to do this. The idea of German tanks fighting against the Russians,
is reminiscent of World War Two.
January 20, 2023 A U.S. Navy Seal is said to have been killed in the
Ukraine. The U.S. Government has stated that this individual was
AWOL, meaning that he left his military duties without authorization
and apparently went to fight in the Ukraine. The United States
government has stated repeatedly that no U.S. military people are
fighting in the Ukraine. Some U.S. military analysts have questioned
how advanced western weapons and missiles can be operated by
inexperienced Ukrainian soldiers when it takes months, if not years
to master some of the weapons.
January 19, 2023 New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Arden has
resigned. She was highly controversial since she locked down New
Zealand completely with only one known Covid-19 case, causing untold
hardship among the citizens of New Zealand. Her approval rating was
extremely low.
January 17, 2023 Japan has launched an official investigation into
the alleged millions of mRNA vaccination deaths.
|
|
|
Under the Hudson
River, New York, January 13, 2023 A "beggar" in the middle
of the Lincoln Tunnel begging for money. |
|
|
|
|
New York, NY
January 13, 2023 Macy's Department store on 34 Street in Manhattan
has one of the oldest escalators in the country. The hand grip
however was updated at some point after the 1960's to rubber. Prior
to this, the grip was tubular and looked similar to BX cable. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dumbo, Brooklyn,
New York, January 13, 2023 Enforcement for illegal parking is strong,
however it is non existent for much more dangerous unlicensed,
uninsured and unregistered motorcycles. This must stop. |
|
|
|
|
January 8, 2023 The United States TSA has extended the Covid 19
Vaccine requirement to enter the USA for foreigners from today till
April 10, 2023. This makes the USA the industrialized western country
to have this requirement.
January 7, 2023 In Brasilia, the capital of Brazil, hundreds of
thousands of supporters for ex-president Jair Bolsonaro have stormed
their supreme court, their Congress and other Brazilian government
buildings. The protesters claim that the current president, Lulu da
Silva stole the election. President da Silva has vowed to punish the
protesters. What is happening in Brazil is similar to what happened
in the USA on January 6, 2021.
January
6, 2023 Christmas Eve for 1.2 Orthodox Christians around the world.
January 7th, which is the day of Orthodox Christian Christmas is also
celebrated by tens of millions of Catholic and other Christian
denominations as the Epiphany and also the "Three Kings Day".
Photographs
of Christmas Eve in the St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church on East
97 Street, between Fifth Avenue and Madison Avenue.
January
5, 2023 President Vladimir Putin of Russia has proposed a 36 hour
cease fire in honor of the Orthodox Christian Christmas. President
Zelensky of the Ukraine rejected this proposal. Mr. Zelensky said
that the only cease fire that he would honor would be if the Russian
troops occupying Russian speaking, eastern Ukraine were to leave the
country. It should be noted that President Zelensky recently closed
Orthodox churches and arrested priests and nuns.
January
3, 2023 Sam Bankman, the former head of the now failed crypto
currency trading company FTX, accused of massive fraud, arrived for
his first hearing in a California courthouse
January
3, 2023 The New Republican controlled House of Representatives, has
failed to agree on a Speaker for the second time.
January
3, 2023 Gold and silver hits 6-month high
January
3, 2023 Tesla stock value has declined by 70% since October 2022
January
2, 2023 The New York City Department of Sanitation is experimenting
with 6 electric powered garbage trucks, that cost over 500,000
dollars each. The trucks have proven to be a complete failure since
they only car run for about 4 hours before the batteries are
depleted. It is essential that garbage trucks run for a minimum of 12 hours.
January
1, 2023 Buffalo Bills player collapses on Monday Night
Football&ldots; CPR administered on the field. He is now in hospital
in critical condition. Cause was said to be blunt trauma to the
chest. &ldots;
January
1, 2023 Churches in Beijing China have finally been allowed to open
January
1, 2023 President Lulu inaugurated as president of Brazil. Mr. Lulu
had been convicted of various crimes in Brazil, but was released by
Brazil's supreme court. Former Brazil President Bolsonaro did not
attend the ceremony.
January
1, 2023 The annual "polar bear" swim in normally icy
waters at Coney Island is a little easier today with temperatures in
the mid 50s (F).
January
1. 2023 Happy New Year! Wishing all of our readers peace, health and
happiness throughout the new year.
Happy
2023!
------------------------------------
An excellent selection of photographs
and commentary, primarily from
New York City:
Main
Page and index to more recent months
2022
Full Year
Christmas
season 2021
Holloween
October
2021 September
October 2021
July
August 2021 Defeat
in Afghanistan, NYC Vax passport, new rules to prevent unvaccinated
from entering restuarants, social events
June
2021 New York Opens up for summer and about the Tokyo Olympics
Late
May 2021 NYC
is coming back to life.
Early
May 2021
Covid hysteria is dying down and people are beginning to live life
April
2021 NYC and the World
March
2021 Life
in NYC getting back to a new normal
February
2021 Snow,
cold, people getting used to the so called "New Normal".
Relative calm in NYC
January
2021
Protests around the United States including in Washington DC, NYC
Snow storms, eating outside in the cold in NYC
Christmas
Time 2020 Christmas
time 2020, election results between Donald Trump and Joe Biden,
Protests and more
Summer
and Fall 2020
Happenings around New York City in relative calm
May
and June 2020 Massive
protests, looting and rioting by the groups Antifa and Black Lives
Matter. Also shows the after effects of a boarded up city.
March
and April 2020
An empty, silent New York City from March and April, 2020
Earlier
months and years
Photographic
Index from around the world
Early
New York City Building Photographs from 1995 to 2005 (Pre Street view)
|
OP-ED
It is time
for the New York City to take action to control bicycles Lets
face it, the quality of life in New York City is suffering
from bicycles, electric powered bikes and scooters. The riders feel
that they are above the law or don't even know the law. These vehicle
almost without exception, never obey traffic laws, go through red
lights and even go through crosswalks while people are crossing. It
is time to start requiring all bicycles to have registration, and
clearly visible license plates, and insurance. If cars and trucks
have to "share the road" with bicycles, bicycles must also
pay their fair share and obey the law. read
more
Is it wrong for
a company to make
a payment in order to protect the reputation of the company? Large
international companies often make payments for certain
"business expenses" such as ransoms paid to pirates to
release ships, kidnaping ransoms, or suppressing unfavorable news, or
paying off people who make false allegations and then deduct such
expenses as business expenses. The companies make a business decision
to determine if it is better to fight an allegation in court, that
may generate bad publicity and damage the company's reputation, even
if the allegation is completely false.
It is
essential to maintain law and order in New
York City There
has been a type of collapse of law and order in NYC. Shoplifting is
rampant, with little chance of punishment, even if caught.
Shoplifting is so prevalent that some stores have simply closed their
businesses. Unfortunately, the recent state law that removes the bail
requirement for many smaller crimes has given the green light to
criminals to continue their criminality.
Besides the
shoplifting and new bail rules, New York City has become like the
wild west when it comes to motorcycles. Today, very few motorcycles
seem to even have license plates, which means that they are probably
uninsured, unlicensed, and unqualified to even be riding. Further the
motorcycles rarely obey traffic laws and almost always go through red
lights, ride on the sidewalk or ride the wrong way down one way
streets. In the past, Police commissioner Bratton and others
maintained that by enforcing smaller regulations, the larger laws
also benefit.
We must have
reasonable police enforcement in New York City and certainly let us
not even consider reducing funding to the NYPD.
Vision
Zero is without vision. Is the well
intended Vision Zero New York City program started under former Mayor
DeBlasio to reduce pedestrian deaths from vehicles working? Some of
the actions taken was to reduce the speed limit in NYC from 30 miles
per hour to only 25 miles per hour. In addition, when the cross walk
light says walk, the traffic light for cars changes a few seconds
later, allowing pedestrians to start to cross before cars start. In
some areas, there has also been guides put on streets so that cars
must make a larger diameter turn. Has these measures work? Actually
these measures have not helped at all. Our speculation as to why
these measures have not worked are as follows. The crossing
pedestrians have come to take it for granted that the cars will
always allow them to cross and unfortunately, the pedestrians do not
look both ways. Further, many pedestrians are oblivious to their
surroundings because they are staring at their smart phones and do
not take a moment to carefully look to see if all is clear to cross
and also many pedestrians wear ear buds playing music or talking on
the phone that further reduces their attention to traffic. It should
be noted that many years ago, the brother of this writer was hit and
killed by a car.
Are
people really living longer today, than in the past? Time
and time again, we are told that people today liver longer than in
the past, but is this true? The answer is that people have about the
same life expectancy as people had 200 years ago. As proof, one only
has to go to a 200 year old cemetery, and look and see how old the
average person was when they passed on. You will find that the
average was between 75 and 85 years old. Also of interest, This
writer purchased an English cookbook from 1795 and discovered that
most recipe required heavy cream, butter or lard. Seed oil, such as
olive oil was very expensive and not widely used back then. Most
dishes were meat or dairy based with very little vegetables, since
vegetables were only available for a few weeks per year. They did
have dried vegetables and also jams. Many nutritionist today would
object to the diet of 200 years ago, but the fact is that as per the
tomb stones, people seemed to have lived as long then as they do
today. Life was arguably less stressful back then and also their work
day was not organized and the people probably worked considerably
less than today's 9 to 5 job. If we go back a thousand years, the
number of days people worked in the fields or work shops was much
less than today, being on average, 150 days per year because of the
numerous "Holy Days" or holidays! It is true that during
the industrial revolution, the factory workers were extremely over
worked, often working 12 to 14 hour days and lived under very dire
conditions. Essentially those workers were worked to death and thus
the average life expectancy did decline during that period.
Plastic
clothing? Have you noticed that it
is getting more difficult to find clothing made with 100% cotton or
wool? Even most shoes are no longer made from leather but rather only
leather upper, if that. In most cases, except in the most expensive
stores, clothing is made either from cotton and polyester or rayon
blends or in some cases, 100% polyester or rayon. Some have argued
that such plastic based clothing may not be as healthy as natural
fibers, with concern that over time, the plastic may leach into one's
body, though there have been very few studies on this. Of course,
even all natural materials may potentially be compromised, depending
upon the dye that is used to color the cloth.
|
Are
"Yoga" pants sexy or are they vulgar? |
|
Yoga
pants/leotards/long underwear leave little to the imagination and
curiously in this day and age, serves to objectify women. |
|
Under wear or
sports wear? Some compare the use of "yoga pants" in public
to a some women who in the 1960's, who sometimes wore hair curlers
and even slippers when they went shopping. Inappropriate? |
Happy New
Year! --or is it? As we enter into 2023,
there seems to be apprehension and fear, rather than excitement, as
was often the case in most prior new years. Something is afoot. As
one walks down the street, we can see a type of anger that many
people seem to suddenly have. Christmas is no longer Christmas. The
stores were hardly doing any business. There is fear that the
Russian-Ukrainian war may expand to a regional or perhaps even a
world wide war. There is fear that China may attempt to unify with
Taiwan through the use of force, in which the USA is all but expected
to intervene in. Perhaps people feel that America is no longer as
free as they thought. For one thing, for the first time, the USA is
filled with censorship. Censorship was always something that happened
in communist or third world countries, yet over the past three years,
censorship has become rampant in the USA. People are afraid to say
what they feel, which is similar to how people reacted in the past in
repressive communist countries.
Perhaps people are
fearful of the economy. Inflation is sky high, in fact, the highest
it has been in 40 years. The official inflation rate is now 8.9%
however food has inflated by over 30% in just one year.
The Freedom
of travel was always considered a right for American's and yet for
three years, travel has been vastly curtailed for Americans and
others worldwide. Perhaps people no longer feel that they own their
own bodies, since they are forced to take an experimental vaccine in
order to maintain their jobs or eat in a restaurant or even travel.
What ever happened to the notion of "my body, my choice".
We now know that the emergency use vaccinations did almost nothing to
limit the spread of Covid, nor to protect a person from getting it,
and yet the vaccination and masks continue to be forced upon people,
in certain parts of the country. Today, from all quarters, people are
questioning why the lockdown happened in the first place, how come
people were forbidden to travel or work and how come the untested
vaccinations were allowed to be used.
Young people no
longer seem to be planning for the future, but rather only live for
the moment. People no longer consider getting marries, having
children, buying a house, cars, planning for the future. Instead,
people live in shared apartments, commute by bicycle or skateboard
(what ever happened to flying cars and jet packs?) and only worry
about what they might do the next weekend.
Whatever the cause
of this apprehension, we must hope and strive for the best.
We wish you peace,
health and happiness in the new year.
NEW: FACT
CHECKING: News1.net has instituted a fact
checking system determined by News1.net. Facts in politics and social
issues may in fact be opinions. News1.net will indicate on certain
articles if News1.net deems the article or issue to be accurate.
Share
the road: This NYC sign says "Share the road".
Good idea! Perhaps it is time for bicycle riders to obey traffic laws
and also pay a road tax, just as the car drivers have to do. Indeed,
share the road!
App based taxi ride services often block traffic
traffic while picking up customers. read
more
Time
to start enforcing the laws covering motorcycles,
powered bicycles and powered scooters:
  
Time
to start enforcing the laws covering motorcycles,
powered bicycles and powered scooters: The laws covering
motor vehicles (gas, steam, electric), must be enforced including
having proper registration, insurance and make sure that the driver
has a proper drivers license and skill to drive the motorcycle. NYC
has become like the wild west. Here we see unregistered, uninsured,
motorcycles and their unlicensed riders, using the bicycle lane over
the Manhattan Bridge. Electric scooters are extremely dangerous but
are very popular. They really are unlicensed, unregistered
motorcycles. Originally the State of New York, Vehicle Traffic and
Safety Laws permitted human/motorized hybrid vehicles, primarily
wheelchairs, for disabled people, including veterans after the
Vietnam war. But now the rule is completely abused.
Time
to remove
these unpopular
garbage cans. Who approved of these
these expensive, but highly disliked monstrosities? Most
people do not like the idea of having to pull a dirty garbage can
handle to open a small door and then push their garbage inside.
Many
people fear energy
shortage this winter however there are many natural
gas substitutes
Before 1947 in the
USA and late 1960's in Europe, countries used first wood gas and then
later coal gas, as this plant in Seatle, Washington prouced till the
mid 1950's read
more
Natural
Gas. Europe and
many other countries around the world are concerned about shortages
of natural gas but there are many
substitutes for read
more
Wood gas was also
used to power cars, trucks and buses when gasoline was not available
in Europe and Japan during World War 2. read
more
Can
a draw bridge be an example of true democracy? read
more
Fads
come and go. Today,the fad is clown
colored hair, body graffiti, extensive facial shrapnel and torn jeans,
ultra tight "yoga pants" read
more
Have
you noticed that our playgrounds are empty, but our dog runs are full?
A sizable portion of the population are no longer getting married and
forming families, but read
more
Down
Syndrome.
Did you know
that there are some people with Down Syndrome who are geniuses? read
more
The
"Frank Didik" penny theory to
analyze the state of the economy read
more
Either
gold
is over valued or silver is under valued,
based on historic ratio's read
more
Libraries
have lost their purpose. read
more
1.2 TRILLION
DOLLAR INFRASTRUCTURE PROGRAM
Infrastructure
program: New York City is about to receive billions of
dollars of the enormous money that has been granted by Congress (and
paid for by the taxpayers). Cable
Cars: One proposal is to build a
series of cable cars, similar to the Roosevelt Island cable car, to
make additional connections between Brooklyn and Manhattan, Manhattan
and New Jersey and Brooklyn and Staten Island. Further, it is
proposed that a cable car going along the east side of Manhattan,
from the East Village up to the upper east side of Manhattan. While
this is an interesting proposal, such issues as cost verses benefit
and perhaps safety comes to mind. Will this billion dollar project
really improve NYC transportation? Will a cable car dangling over the
Hudson River or over New York Harbor between Brooklyn and Staten
Island in the high winds of winter really be safe? We recommend that
this project be very carefully analyzed and put to public scrutiny
before being adapted.
Subway
Safety Gates: We firmly recommend that the City Of New
York finally adapt Frank X. Didik's proposal for subway safety gates.
The entire project to put subway gates on all subway and elevated
train platforms would cost an estimated $600 million dollars and
would ultimately save countless lives and would prevent hundreds of
people a year
from losing limbs and being permanently disabled. Read more about
this remarkable proposal here
- read more.
Subway
Safety-Subway Gate Every year
hundreds of people are killed or severely injured when they fall onto
the tracks of trains and subways. The prevention is cost efficient
and greatly reduces liability ...
read
more ...
Subway
Noise: In
addition to the much needed subway
gate proposal an additional proposal to
greatly lower subway noise could be achieved over several years and
would cost an estimated 500 million dollars. This would make riding
the subway much more pleasant and bring NYC up to the standards of
the Tokyo, Hong Kong, Moscow and most modern subway systems.
Presently, NYC's subway system is aged and and far below the current
global standards. Read
more here about reducing subway noise.
Greatly
reduce train noise A
significant amount of train noise is caused by the train wheels
rolling over the expansion joint of the tracks. This vibration
creates noise, vibrations, an less pleasant ride and also reduces the
life cycle of the train. The solution is relatively simple and cost effective..read
more ...
A
$40 per hour minimum
wage? ...Frank
X. Didik, September 22, 2021
In
1962, the average 35 year old working man was able to support a
wife, 3 or 4 children, own a house in the suburbs, have 2 cars and
had enough money to go on a vacation once or twice a year. Today, it
takes two highly educated people working to buy a small one or two
bedroom coop or condo, car ownership is rare and they can only afford
to have one or two children at best. To achieve what a man in 1962
made per week and to regain the standard of living of that time, the
minimum wage must be increased to $40 per hour. The gradual decline
over the past 60 years should be changed. Perhaps "shock
treatment" that was recommended to the former communist
countries in Eastern Europe by "experts" from leading
American Universities, should be the guide for this sudden increase
in the average (minimum) wage. Several things would happen. First,
people would initially spend much more money and this would almost
instantly create huge demand. At the same time, it is very possible
that prices would go up, though perhaps not as fast as one might
expect, since production efficiency is much greater today than in
1962. Finally, it might be necessary to implement trade barriers.
This of course would run counter to the direction of globalism.
Perhaps it is time to modify the notion of globalism and take into
account the different global cultures, work ethics and achievements. read
more
Private helicopters landing in New York City
must come to an end since their noise is disruptive and
pose a significant safety issue for all citizens. read
more
There is a war on private car ownership
in New York State . read
more
It is now time to eliminate all
emergency Covid laws in the country. Now
that we understand that the fear of a massive death rate due to
Covid was completely wrong..read
more
Is it selfish for a woman to seek
a career
and also have children? read
more
Private ownership and strong
goals are on the decline.
Grown men in their 30's still live in shared apartments, ride a
skateboard or a bicycle instead of owning their own home and car and read
more
We seem to be living in a fake world.
Everywhere you go, you see people walking down the street, staring at
their cell phone, often with "ear buds", completely
oblivious to the outside world. ...read
more
Brief Comments
News
and opinions on the Corona Virus and it's effect on society and the economy
has moved to the following page: Click
Here
"Northern Eastern Circle"
A fact finding
1,500 mile road trip
through rural north eastern USA. Click
here for details.
"Southern
Circle"
A fact finding
3,000 mile road trip
through the deep south. Click
here for details.
Olympic
Note:
We decided not to cover the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics because
of the severe restrictions and a possible 14 day hotel quarantine.
Defund?
Some anti-police groups have called for the defunding of the police
around the country. Question: late at night, if you are traveling in
an empty subway car and two police officers come on, do you feel
threatened or are you relieved and hope that they stay on for the
duration of your trip? The answer is obvious. The police are
essential to maintaining order in any society.
Corona Paycheck
program read
more
Remote
salary protection read
more
Internet
censorship read
more
People
should be responsible for themselves and carry their own weight in society read
more
Career
first and family later? read
more
Frank X. Didik aboard "The
Futurist", anchored in a New York Harbor.
Thoughts
on science, business and society today
By
Frank X. Didik - News1.net editor.
What
if and what can or might be.
The
1956 Firebird was
to be self driving.
Self
Driving Cars? If
you have an accident with a self driving car, who is at fault? The
car manufacturer, the owner of the car or the occupant
"driver" of the car? I
have enjoyed owning and driving some of the most interesting cars
made and have always enjoyed the freedom of driving without
impediments or restrictions. Nevertheless, if self driving cars can
help reduce accidents and enhance society, I am for them. Besides the
technical aspects, there are many other issues that must be worked
out. My concerns regarding self driving cars including liability,
safety, morality and effectiveness. ...read
more ...
 
Bicycles?
What ever happened to jet packs, flying cars and advanced technology
that in the past, was predicted that we would be using by today? Why
are bicycles being pushed by cities world wide?...read
more ...
What about? ..
Old
Computer Formats and the longevity of our digitally stored
knowledge. Are
we entering into a "pre-history" era? How can we preserve
our computer written records, books, photographs, video and
knowledge? We must have an international agreement and an
organization, perhaps under auspices of the United Nations, dedicated
to preserving our global digital records so that future generations
can access the information and knowledge that we store on computer
readable formats.
If
you wanted to, would you be able to read a:
3
1/2" or 5 1/4" or 8" floppy?
cd-rom
or a dvd?
12"
optical disk?
9
track tape?
IBM
punch card?
Paper
punch tape?
If
you can not read these one or two generation old formats today, how
will society be able to read these documents in 200 years from now?
In a few years, our latest computer formats and storage devices, such
as USB drives, will also be obsolete. I have deep concerns about the
longevity of our knowledge and of computer records, ...read
more ...
What
if the decay rate of elements varies rather than being a constant? Imagine,
if this is the case, it would mean that all archeological dating is
in question. How old are artifacts? When in fact did the dinosaurs
really die out? Further, consider that ...
read
more ...
What
is the speed of gravity? If it is instantaneous, then what if
gravity can be modulated? Today
most scientists, assume that the speed of gravity is the same as the
speed of light, but what if the speed of gravity is instantaneous?
Further, if gravity can be modulated, it might allow for
instantaneous universal communication. Thus it might be possible to
communicate with space craft instantly, rather than waiting for
minutes for transmissions to reach the craft or earth. Perhaps
computer chips can be made to operate vastly faster. And this is just
the beginning since ...read
more ...
|
Frank
X. Didik with former NYC Mayor Bill DeBlasio and first lady Chirlane
McCray, at Gracy Mansion. Former
Mayor DeBlasio served two terms in office and then as per term
limits, had to leave office at the end of his second term. Mr
DeBlasio original birth name (May 8, 1961) was Warren Wilhelm Jr. and
later used the name Warren de Blasio-Wilhelm and then finally adapted
his mother's maiden name DeBlasio and today is commonly known as Bill
DeBlasio. Mr.DeBlasio was succeeded as mayor on Jnuary 1st, 2022 by
new mayor Eric Adams, who became New York City's 110 mayor.
