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Current Events, Perspective, Poland - Polish - Polonia, Political

When is a deli more than a deli

A deli is not a deli when it represents the meddlesome level at which government planning boards and other such bodies interfere in free commerce.

Now I agree that planning boards are important in that they help to maintain the character of a community. Citizens generally would disagree with having a big box store dropped down into the center of their quaint downtown. At the same time these boards (often unelected) hold sway over the natural course of business. The story: New Hyde Park Village Reserves Decision on Polish Deli from the Illustrated News makes that fact pretty clear.

After just three months of opening, Polish Deli owner Grzegorz Bak, 916 Jericho Turnpike, New Hyde Park, came before the New Hyde Park Village Board to ask for a special use permit to allow for the ability to cook foods in his store.

And this is necessary because? Now I could see getting a permit from the health department or even an inspection from the fire marshal, but a ‘special use permit’ from an agency that has no business meddling in such things is beyond me. Anyway, if the area is zoned commercial and the establishment fits the zoning, why a permit?

The original permit was for the store to only be a Polish grocery store with no prepared foods and now Bak said he has had inquiries from quite a large number of customers who want him to provide hot Kielbasas, hot pirogies and sandwiches.

See a demand, meet the need – but that would be in a country that didn’t have a planned economy (oops, thought I was in the Soviet Union for awhile).

He explained he has a huge counter and it would be easy to prepare hot foods with a countertop grill. His hours are currently from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. but with the new permit he would also be asking for an extension of hours from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. so that he could provide breakfast foods such as kielbasa with egg sandwiches.

Mayor Daniel Petruccio said that he is always happy to see businesses succeed, but he said he was mindful of the fact that this store is located in very close proximity to Park Deli, which has been in business in New Hyde Park for 49 years.

So the mayor thinks that an older established business has a right of veto over newcomers? Who knew?

I do understand. We wouldn’t want Mr. Khrushchev coming in and pounding his shoe on the counter – oops, flashback again.

Deputy Mayor Robert Lofaro said that coming before the board shortly after receiving an initial permit puts the board in a very “awkward” position.

Of course politicians who make stupid, intrusive, overbearing, bureaucratic rules that require people to kow-tow every time they sneeze creates such an awkward situation. You makes the rules and people are going to have to follow them.

Bak said that most of his customers are of Polish descent and, for the most part, do not live in the New Hyde Park area, but rather come from other areas such as Glen Cove and Hempstead; and when they do they are looking for kielbasas, pirogies and stuffed cabbage.

When the meeting was open to the public, Artie Ruesch, representing his father who owns Park Deli, came to the microphone. He said he felt it was a very bad precedent of the village to allow a permit to be changed in such a short space of time. He pointed out that anyone could receive a permit for a facility and then within months come back to the board and change the conditions of the permit. When asked by trustee Donald Barbieri if he served kielbasa and pirogies he said he did so, but usually just for holidays. He also added that he felt sure that Bak had in the back of his mind when he first applied for the application that he would be coming back to change the conditions of the application.

He further pointed out that there are many food places in the vicinity such as an Italian deli, a diner and Blimpie’s, which closed because of the amount of competition in the area. He ended his short comments by saying, “I hope that you will consider my objections to this application.”

So Mr. Ruesch, who grew up fat and happy (of course I’m guessing, unlike Mr. Ruesch who is certain as to what was in Mr. Bak’s mind) because of his father’s hard work, wants to make sure dad has no competition. Free market and all why don’t you get yourself down to dad’s deli and cook up some pierogi? If Mr. Bak’s business model fails that’s his fault. If he succeeds maybe he’ll give you a job.

The next person to speak was David Peykar, who identified himself as the manager of the building at 916 Jericho Turnpike. He said he disagreed with Ruesch and that competition is good. He pointed out that many stores in the area sell foods, including the bagel shop, Umberto’s, Italian Deli, Pizza Shop and Chinese food store and he said that is good for the village. He said he did advise Bak to go the “extra mile” when he applied for the initial application so that would have been done in “one shot.”

David Peykar, the only person who made any sense in the whole matter. Hey, this guy succeeds my rents go up – cool.

The board reserved decision on the application because it now has to return to the Nassau County Planning Commission; and when their reply is received, in about 30 days, the board will vote on the application.

Uh, yeah…

Current Events, Perspective

Ban this

Jimmy Blue posts a commentary at The Daily Evergreen regarding the recent decision by the NY City Board of Health that bans tans-fat from restaurants.

In my opinion his post nails the issue straight-on. Here’s an excerpt from Trans-fat ban neglects responsibility

More than a year ago, when the smoking ban was passed in Washington, I had mixed feelings. As a nonsmoker, I was first a proponent of the ban, I was tired of sitting in restaurants inhaling second-hand, cancer-causing, smoke. But I also realized the ban made things much more difficult for smokers and pushed smoking onto the streets and sidewalks where it still affected nonsmokers.

Today, I am unsure passing the smoking ban in Washington was the right choice. I would not be so unsure if Washington took the steps New York City has recently taken in banning the use of trans fats in all restaurants.

The New York City Board of Health voted last week to ban the use of artificial trans fats by restaurateurs in the hopes of promoting healthier eating. This is a problem for restaurants as well as people who oppose restrictions on their rights. I am in favor of helping those in need, but a ban on certain foods seems ridiculous.

There is a fine line to government intervention in the marketplace.

For instance, your ‘right’ to drive is not a right at all, but a government privilege. Government can and does restrict what you are able to do with and in a car. For example, you cannot use a cell phone while driving, you must wear a seatbelt, you must drive the posted speed, you must be licensed, you cannot use your car as a hammock when you’re out getting drunk. These are all well and good and provide for the safety of everyone.

As to smoking, well I’m happy because I don’t have to sit in a cloud in a restaurant, bar, or at work. Other people’s enjoyment ruins my enjoyment, my clothes, and my health. I shouldn’t be forced to smoke if I do not wish to smoke, and no, you cannot create an effective, efficient, or perfect smoking/non-smoking divide in any building.

Never-the-less, there must be limits to the government’s regulation of our lives. I would also agree that government is wont to go too far. Government bans related to food products (no we’re not baking pot brownies – but why should that be a problem either) are repugnant to responsible freedom.

Banning trans-fat, pate, foie gras, szmalec* or any other item from a menu is utterly invasive. It passes into the realm of government meddling and control in areas where government has no business. Can these things be bad for you – sure, as can beer, wine, eggs, red meat, fish, pie with a crust made from lard, or escargot if you eat them every day non-stop. If you’re shoving down 50 Twinkies a day there’s nothing government can do to help you.

Where government can be effective in in the area of education. With knowledge and appropriate consumer awareness (look at the massive decrease in the number of smokers – and it’s not because you can’t smoke at the local bowing alley) the market will regulate itself. Unfortunately, we as Americans want the quick fix and the short-cut. Pass a law and we think the problem will miraculously disappear (like we’re all so law abiding). Rather, invasive and nonsensical laws will end like prohibition, with the majority ignoring such laws.

As Christians we are taught (or should have been taught) to be stewards of the earth. We are given the earth’s gifts for our benefit and enjoyment. We are also commanded not to kill (that includes killing yourself). With Christian awareness and an appropriate education we can indulge once-and-a-while without tending to an unhealthy lifestyle.

I’ll enjoy a cigar once in a blue-clouded moon, drink a few too make vodka shots, eat the charred fat off my steak, and slather my Polish rye with szmalec. For dessert I’ll down a Dunkin’ Donut saturated with trans-fat plastics. In the end I’ll enjoy them and I’ll enjoy them responsibly. That’s part of the richness of God’s gifts, and God’s requirement that we be responsible, i.e., stewards, of what we have been given – and that is an area that government has no business regulating.

Szmalec is a type of Polish lard created from rendered pork fat. Homemade szmalec is typically imbued with pork cracklings, chopped and fried onion, marjoram, salt, pepper, and other seasonings. It is a classic peasant dish typically used as a substitute for the ‘rich man’s butter’ and is spread on bread. Approx. equal to one month’s supply of cholesterol on a single slice of bread. My pastor notes that szmalec and bread were the daily ration for seminarians in Poland during the dark days of communist oppression.

Current Events, Perspective

Miscellaneous silliness

The Conference

From the AP via the Houston Chronicle: Iran opens Holocaust conference

TEHRAN, Iran —” Iran on Monday opened a Holocaust conference that it said would examine whether the genocide took place, claiming the meeting was an opportunity for discussion in an atmosphere free of Western taboos…

I’m trying to ascertain what all the fuss is about. If Harvard, or Oxford, or anyone that mattered opened such a conference I would think that people would have a perfectly legitimate reason to protest. Being that this is an outlaw state with an obvious agenda… I think protests are like yelling into the wind.

For my part I firmly believe what the good Felician sisters taught me, never burn books or criticize someone’s right to speak their opinion. If you do, you have taken the first step down the same road dictators have trod. Idiotic opinions spoken openly are subject to sound Christian judgment and will soon be refuted.

The Menorah Wars

The Colonie Center Mall, quite nearby to me, and the Seattle Airport have been made part of the holiday wars (note NOT the Christmas wars)

From CBS News: Seattle Airport Removes Christmas Trees: Rabbi’s Request For A Menorah Ignored; Instead, Officials Take Down Christmas Display

(AP) All nine Christmas trees have been removed from the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport instead of adding a giant Jewish menorah to the holiday display as a rabbi had requested.

Maintenance workers boxed up the trees during the graveyard shift early Saturday, when airport bosses believed few people would notice.

“We decided to take the trees down because we didn’t want to be exclusive,” said airport spokeswoman Terri-Ann Betancourt. “We’re trying to be thoughtful and respectful, and will review policies after the first of the year.”

Rabbi Elazar Bogomilsky, who made his request weeks ago, said he was appalled by the decision. He had hired a lawyer and threatened to sue if the Port of Seattle didn’t add the menorah next to the trees, which had been festooned with red ribbons and bows.

“Everyone should have their spirit of the holiday. For many people the trees are the spirit of the holidays, and adding a menorah adds light to the season,” said Bogomilsky, who works in Seattle at the regional headquarters for Chabad Lubavitch, a Jewish education foundation…

Good, take down the trees, and who cares. You can close the Santa (cha-ching $25 for the picture with Santa) booth at the mall as well. As a writer stated in his letter to the editor at the Times Union:

—Please honor us Christian customers by having a nativity (the real symbol of Christianity).—

If you want, you could but up an Advent wreath, right next to the Menorah, and put up the crèche, without the baby Jesus, until Christmas day. Put Him in there on Christmas. When Easter gets near, put up a cross.

To the rabbi’s points: —trees are the spirit of the holidays, and adding a menorah adds light to the season—

Uh, NO! Trees have little if anything to do with the ‘spirit’ of the holidays. The spirit is recognizing the undeserved salvation that was begun with the incarnation of Emmanuel, God among us. That’s the only —light— anyone needs.

If Christians and Jews actually cared about the —holidays— they would be busy preparing themselves spiritually rather than engaging in battles over retail symbolism.

I suppose the new question for those believers is: How many angels can dance on the keys of a cash register?

Current Events, Perspective, Political

Who said it?

Who said the following in rejecting the proposals made by the Iraq Study Group:

“The attempt to create a linkage between the Iraqi issue and the Mideast issue — we have a different view.”

Could it be Osama, the leadership in Iran, Syria, or Hamas? Perhaps Hezbollah? Maybe it was the Germans or the French, you know, our allies who ‘never’ support us? Could it even have been Mr. Stay the Course, President Bush.

Nope!

These were the words of our most faithful and trusted ally, the friend who gets every bomb and every dollar we can’t afford – the Prime Minister of Israel, Ehud Olmert.

See: Israel Rejects Iraq Study Group Proposals

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Thursday rejected a U.S. advisory group’s conclusion that a concerted effort to resolve Israel’s conflict with its neighbors will help stabilize the situation in Iraq, saying there is no connection between the two issues.

Olmert also rebuffed the group’s recommendation that Israel open negotiations with Syria, but said Israelis want “with all our might” to restart peace talks with the Palestinians.

Admitting the connection would mean admitting that our support of Israel facilitates the two-tiered apartheid system that fuels the fires of hatred toward the United States.

Christian Witness, Current Events

Creative or true solutions?

Could Schenectady County be the first NY State County to have no hospitals providing abortions? We can only hope, but the murderers are ringing the gong.

Based on an article in today’s Times-Union it appears that the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany is taking a firm stand on the issue of hospital mergers. The Times-Union does a pretty good job of providing the contrast between affirming life and engaging in the business of death.

See: Merger poses clash of values: Abortion issue splits Catholic St. Clare’s, secular Ellis

When Troy’s Leonard Hospital merged with St. Mary’s Hospital more than a decade ago, Leonard’s doctors suddenly were prohibited from writing prescriptions for birth control pills.

Likewise, the proposed merger of Schenectady’s St. Clare’s Hospital, a Catholic institution, and secular Ellis Hospital raises an array of conflicts over institutional values, including policies on abortion, birth control and when a feeding tube can be removed.

Capital Region obstetrical doctors expressed doubt Wednesday that St. Clare’s and Ellis can merge their values. They also doubted that the institutions, merged or not, could handle the increase of volume if Niskayuna’s Bellevue Woman’s Hospital is forced to close.

The hospital-closing commission, also known as the Berger Commission, recommended merging Ellis and St. Clare’s and closing Bellevue, which has a 40-bed maternity ward and delivers 2,200 babies a year. Ellis Hospital, a 368-bed hospital, closed its maternity ward eight years ago. St. Clare’s Hospital, a 200-bed Roman Catholic hospital, has a 12-bed maternity ward and delivers 800 babies a year.

St. Clare’s does not perform abortions, while Ellis and Bellevue allow them. Bellevue has performed 180 abortions this year, according to the hospital administration. The number of abortions performed at Ellis was not available Wednesday.

The Berger Commission gave St. Clare’s and Ellis a deadline of December 2007 to merge, and if they fail to, one must close.

“It’s probably not going to work because of the religious background,” said Dr. David Cryns, a Latham OB/GYN doctor. “I think St. Clare’s will have to close. I don’t think the diocese will cave.”

The religious differences and the union issues — Ellis nurses are unionized and St. Clare’s are not — will be difficult to surmount, said Dr. Elaine Cheon-Lee, who is chief of obstetrics at St. Clare’s.

“Those are tough issues to resolve and there’s not a lot of middle ground,” Cheon-Lee said.

Dr. Fe Mondragon, of Mondragon McGrinder Medical Associates in Schenectady and Clifton Park, said if St. Clare’s policies prevail, options for women in Schenectady will be minimized.

The U.S. Conference of Bishops dictates health care policies at Catholic hospitals like St. Clare’s and St. Peters in Albany in a document called “The Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services.”

The document lays out 72 rules for Catholic institutions that encourage serving the poor and administering to the spiritual needs of patients but prohibit artificial fertilization, tubal ligation, vasectomies, the use of condoms or birth control and abortions.

Bishop Howard J. Hubbard of the Diocese of Albany chided the Berger Commission at a hearing before the state Senate Health Committee on Friday for not protecting religious values in the proposed mergers.

“Religiously-sponsored hospitals and nursing homes provide a unique and distinctively different approach to the planning for and delivery of health care services, especially in ministering to the spiritual component of illness and recovery,” he said. “We are concerned that this is a fundamental element of care that was not mentioned, or even alluded to in the criteria.”

Meanwhile, an Ellis Hospital spokeswoman said Wednesday that Ellis is committed to providing health care services for women in the Schenectady area.

“A hospital merger is like a marriage, and all of the issues that come up in a marriage come up in hospital mergers,” said Lois Uttley, director of the MergerWatch Project. “How will the kids be raised, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish? When the two partners are different, there can be quite a lot of questions about that.”

No, it is not. Neither in business nor in marriage should one be required to loose his or her sole for the purpose of attaining the goal. Better to be single or out-of-business than to loose your everlasting soul.

MergerWatch, an affiliate of the Family Planning Advocates of New York, was created in response to the loss of contraceptive services after the Troy hospitals merger.

“The health care landscape is littered with divorces of hospital mergers that failed,” Uttley said. “A lot of them failed over these cultural and religious issues.”

MergerWatch does not oppose the consolidation of religious and secular institution, but it advocates for protecting women’s health care services. That can be done, Uttley said, by creating a “hospital within a hospital.” In Austin, Texas, for example, one floor of a Catholic-run hospital is incorporated under a different name. It has its own staff and its own funding, and doctors there can offer birth control, abortions, tubal ligations, and family planning advice.

“People in Schenectady need to go into this with their eyes open,” Uttley said. “When the community is aware that a merger is being proposed and gets a chance to have a say, then very creative solutions can be devised.”

…

Again, being creative is wonderful, but being creative doesn’t require that you loose your soul. The ultimate solution to any problem is the solution that is consistent with faith in Christ and His Church. That’s the sort of faith we must live by.

Current Events, Political

…and on the issue of abortions

Not a word mentioned.

It appears that Ellis Hospital and St. Clare’s in Schenectady, NY have agreed to merge based on the findings of the Berger Commission.

Ellis, which provides abortions (God have mercy on us) and St. Clare’s, a Catholic hospital, have accepted the State’s merger recommendation.

Will St. Clare’s demand that all abortions cease? I see no other alternative. I can’t imagine that a Catholic institution would simply agree to moving abortion services next door (not out-of-site, but out-of-mind). Let’s see how strong Christian witness will be in the face of government. For my part I’m guessing that we already know who’s in charge – the State.

From today’s Times-Union: Rivals bow to state panel: Ellis, St. Clare’s hospitals agree to merge in Schenectady

SCHENECTADY — Ellis and St. Clare’s hospitals have accepted the recommendation of a state commission to merge, both facilities announced Tuesday.

The hospitals released a joint statement in response to recommendations from the Berger Commission, the nonpartisan panel charged with undertaking an independent review of health care capacity and resources statewide.

The recommendations, released Nov. 28, were aimed at cutting costs in the health care industry.

“We approach this challenge together with a shared commitment to ensuring that the people of our community continue to receive the high quality of care they expect and deserve,” the joint statement said. “We face a great deal of work ahead to determine how together, St. Clare’s and Ellis can best deliver the full range of health care services our community expects. While a difficult and complex undertaking, we believe this is a positive step toward strengthening health care in Schenectady County, for generations to come.”

…

Ellis Hospital opened with five beds in 1885, according to the hospital Web site. The facility bears the name of John Ellis, who founded the Schenectady Locomotive Works. Today, Ellis employs 380 physicians and dentists, in addition to support staff.

On the other side of the city of Schenectady, two community leaders had approached the bishop about opening a hospital in 1942. Seven years later, St. Clare’s Hospital opened, according to the hospital’s Web site.

Christian Witness, Current Events,

The blood of martyrs

From various news sources: Priest and three children burnt alive

A RUSSIAN Orthodox priest and his three children were burnt alive in their home in what could be a case of arson to stop his efforts to combat alcohol abuse.

Police have opened an investigation into the death of Andrei Nikolayev and his children at his home on Saturday in a village outside Moscow.

“At the time of the fire, presumably, Andrei Nikolayev himself, his wife Oksana and three young children were in the house,” prosecutors were quoted as saying.

Police found the remains of the priest and his children but the fate of his wife remained unknown.

Village residents and church representatives were quoted as saying Mr Nikolayev may have been killed for trying to stop alcohol abuse in the village.

Some said alcoholics have stolen icons and other religious objects from Mr Nikolayev’s church and then sold them to buy drink.

Eternal rest grant onto them O Lord, and may the perpetual light shine upon them.

May the blood of martyrs be the seed of the Church. May the Lord have mercy on us.

Current Events, Political

—¦and on historical revisionism

From the BBC: Row erupts over Israeli textbooks

Israel’s education minister has said school textbooks should show Israel’s pre-1967 borders, prompting a storm of criticism from right-wingers.

Yuli Tamir said changes were needed to give Israeli children a proper understanding of their history.

Currently, schoolbooks show Israel’s territorial conquests in the 1967 war – the West Bank, Gaza, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights – as part of Israel.

International law deems them occupied land that Israel has illegally settled.

The dovish minister is reported to have ordered the books to be changed. There has been no immediate comment from the prime minister’s office.

…

Ms Tamir’s position is seen as a direct challenge to the Jewish settlement movement, which is a powerful interest group in Israel.

Settlers and their supporters have fought hard against any attempt by governments to withdraw from occupied land, either to foster peace with the Palestinians or enhance Israeli security…

Of course historical revisionism works for the settlers. Actually, if they want to be historically and biblically accurate they should claim all the land from the sea to the two great rivers.

Am I correct in assuming that the use of historical revisionism is a sin only when it is done by ones’ enemies?

Current Events, Media, Political

Some people don’t get it

The NY Times is carrying an article about a man who has erected a protest site, filled with crosses, which doubles as a memorial to those killed in Iraq. The following excerpt from Homemade Memorial Is Stirring Passions on Iraq sums up the situation:

LAFAYETTE, Calif., Nov. 30 —” The tranquil suburb of Lafayette hardly seems the most likely place in the Bay Area for a battle over the First Amendment and the war in Iraq. Liberal Berkeley is just over the hill, after all, and nearby San Francisco is always spoiling for a fight.

But over the last few weeks, it is Lafayette —” an affluent bedroom community 20 miles east of downtown San Francisco —” that has become the scene of a passionate debate over the place of political speech in suburbia.

At issue is a hillside memorial, made up of some 450 small white crosses and a 5-by-16-foot sign that reads: —In Memory of 2,867 U.S. Troops Killed in Iraq.— The memorial was created by Jeff Heaton, a building contractor and antiwar activist, who said it was meant —to get people involved on a local level— and talking about Iraq.

Sure enough, people here have become involved, including more than 200 people and a half-dozen television news crews and reporters who crammed into the usually sparsely attended City Council meeting last week to voice their opinions about the memorial. And while many there said they found the crosses deeply moving, others called the memorial unpatriotic, disrespectful or just plain ugly.

That camp included Jean Bonadio, a former Marine sergeant who said she was so offended that she stopped her car and climbed the hill to dismantle the sign, which sits with the crosses on private property of a fellow advocate just north of Highway 24, a major Bay Area thoroughfare, and the Lafayette light-rail station.

—My first reaction was, ‘What a disgrace to those who have sacrificed,’ — said Ms. Bonadio, 53, a dog trainer. —I had no tools with me, so I removed it with my bare hands and feet.—

So, free speech, and protecting the rights of all United States citizens (the alleged motivation of every soldier, and the alleged justification for every foreign venture) becomes exhibit A in the land of irony. Former Marine sergeant Jean Bonadio invades private property, destroys private property, and denies a fellow citizen his free speech rights, because he has no right to say it. Semper Fi Sgt. Bonadio, Semper Fi.

The retired sergeant qualified for the ‘Some people just don’t get it award.’

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