Peter's Place

 Why Veterans Day Lost Its Meaning to the Bottom Line By: Peter C. Frank November 11, 2025 Veterans Day , November 11th, has always been special to me. Today, my bank is closed and the post office is silent. Yet, many local businesses are open, college classes are running, and life moves on with barely a pause. What makes this day even more profound for me is that my own father is a veteran. We observe Veterans Day, but we don't seem to observe the service or sacrifice it represents. Why? Because today, a federal holiday no longer holds its original meaning— national day of rest or reflection . It means only that federal employees get the day off . This erosion of observance is a quiet tragedy for which no one weeps. It speaks volumes about what we, as a nation, prioritize: Commerce always wins, especially over solemn reflection. The History: From Armistice to Acquisition Our confusion is rooted in the history of Veterans Day. It began as Armistice Day in 1919, marking the ...

NYC Council Elections, Bronx CD #18, Part 2 One freezing frost-filled February night in 2013, I first met Elvin Garcia in the back corner of a too-small greasepit of a Bronx diner to enlist his support in our work to build a new LGBTQ community center for The Bronx, he with his friend, I with mine. If it weren't for my friend, I never would have known what actually had been said during that meeting. Thus was my introduction to the insane world of Bronx politics. Both it, and the turkey burger (my standard diner fare) left a bad taste in my mouth. At the time, Garcia worked for NYS Senator Gustavo Rivera as an aide. More importantly, Garcia was an out gay man in Bronx politics, something of a rarity (even to this day). Garcia declined to join our efforts to build an LGBTQ community center. In fact, when he moved to NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio's office to a position where he would have direct influence representing LGBTQ Bronxites' interests, he did little—if a...

NYS Senator Rev. Ruben Diaz Sr NYC Council Elections, Bronx CD #18, Part 1 It was a hot, steamy, sultry summer afternoon in 2014 and we were having difficulty finding the entrance to the building using the address given to us while the batteries on our mobile phones were limping by on emergency power. We feared we would miss the meeting—one everyone and their drag queen mother had warned us against—but we were obstinate and determined to make it succeed. Finally, we got through to the office and learned that the entrance was around the block. Somehow, in the heat visibly rising off the sidewalks, this made sense. We were ushered inside into the refreshing respite of the 20th centuries' greatest technological miracle: air conditioning. It looked to be like any other ordinary office, with piles of papers strewn about and desks haphazardly arranged into working spaces, workers frenetically going about their business—hardly what one might imagine to be those of a state senator...

Journalist Can't Fathom How Information Spreads in Today's Social Media-Fixated Society A " senior writer " at Newsweek published this "news" story earlier today, describing the situation as "terrifying.". The story accuses Donald Trump, the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin, and Russian media of being in collusion with each other to interfere in our election by undermining Hillary Clinton's coronation campaign. The author, Kurt Eichenwald , is a 55-year old so-called "journalist" of the mainstream media. He offers only one explanation for the following series of events: The Russians engage in a sloppy disinformation effort and, before the day is out, the Republican nominee for president is standing on a stage reciting the manufactured story as truth. Apparently, Eichenwald can't fathom how information, in today's age of social media, the Internet, and related technologies, could possibly have wound up in the hands of a...

Hillary Clinton must release the transcripts of her paid speeches. #ReleaseTheTranscripts Following is the text of a file attached to the Wikileaks email dump of Tony Carrk, from Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential primary campaign, to the campaign team. It contains certain extracts from the transcripts of various paid speeches Hillary Clinton gave to Wall Street, among others, that she has refused to release . I'm publishing it here so people don't have to download the .docx file. I performed a copy & paste from the attached file as noted above, and made the following minor changes for formatting purposes: Conformed the typeface to be the same throughout the document (done on a global basis). Tightened and conformed line spacing wherever possible. Changed the font size for the document title. Inserted beginning and ending reference points, so there is no doubt as to where, exactly, the contents of the file begin and end. No modifications or chang...