TBR News Media went to downtown Port Jefferson, where we asked people if they had ever experienced or witnessed bullying and, if so, how they dealt with it. While some were willing to share their experiences, few were willing to go on the record with their names and photographs.
One gentleman spoke about his child, who has special needs, being bullied. This man said he has experienced blowback for exercising his First Amendment right to free speech. He discussed the need for accountability for bad behavior. It was his opinion that without accountability people will continue to bully others.
One woman expressed her belief that people today act without love in their hearts. Kindness from others helped her to deal with her daughter’s death due to cancer. This lady wears a golden heart, which a stranger gave to her daughter. “It is a reminder to be kind,” the mother said.
Meg Sayers,Bethpage
Meg Sayers
A professional social worker in private practice, Meg works with children who are being bullied. She explained, “Bullying can be detrimental to children. Starting from a young age to adolescence, bullying can affect their self-esteem and mental health. Children who are bullied can experience depression and anxiety.”
She defined bullying as, “Intentionally saying and taking action to cause harm to other people when they are asked to stop. Even when they are not asked to stop. It can be unintentional.”
She suggested, “Part of the best coping mechanism is to help a child first identify that they are being bullied and then to help them advocate for themselves by sticking up for themselves or expressing what they are experiencing to others, to adults who can be helpful. Not normalizing bullying.”
Austin Prince
Austin Prince, Yaphank
“Growing up I saw my friends and situations where they were getting bullied. One of the biggest things I learned with it is making sure you’re not just standing by, making sure you’re proactively trying to help them at the time or if need be trying to rectify it later on. Sometimes [it takes] talking with the bully: Where is this coming from? What’s going on in their life? Making sure that the person being bullied is OK.”
Jason and Christine Contino
Jason and Christine Contino, Port Jefferson
Jason, a retired police officer and lead pastor at Harborview Christian Church on East Main Street, said, “I witnessed [bullying] as a police officer. I dealt with it by not only trying to figure out what was happening but getting [victims] to have the courage to come forward, if it got to the point where a criminal complaint was made. Whether it’s a student or somebody who calls the police, they know that the teacher, the principal, the police officer is not always going to be there. If it is someone in their family, they are still going to be interacting with that person.”
“Sometimes the most difficult point is getting them to feel confident in the fact that the system is actually able to protect them.” Christine added, “It is something we instilled in our children — that bullying is not tolerated. Both our boys ended up sticking up for others. … We have to teach our children what is right and wrong. It starts in the home.”
Kurt O’Brien
Kurt O’Brien, Connecticut
“There was always bullying in school growing up. It never happened to me, but I saw it happen to other people. I stuck up for them sometimes. I got beat up a couple of times from it.” Kurt added that bullying in the adult world is about “power, it is more hidden. There is bullying in law enforcement, in the court system, everything. It is not just like going after a little kid’s lunch money.”
Laonie and Noah
Laonie, France andNoah, Port Jefferson
Noah recently returned to Port Jefferson after serving in the military for seven years. “I haven’t seen it in the village recently, but as a kid I definitely noticed it around school. I saw it on the bus when I was a senior. A young kid on the bus was getting bullied by a kid a couple of years older. I did tell the kid to stop. It was pretty evident that it was happening a lot.”
Laonie said she experienced bullying in primary school. “I was having bad results at school. My mom moved me twice to get better. I was very quiet. I didn’t talk to my parents about it. I just keep it to myself about it. I thought it was almost like normal.” When asked if it has affected her as an adult, she replied, “I actually have a baby, and I am wondering if it happens to him, how am I going to deal with it? Of course, I am going to be more sensitive and emotional. I am going to be more focused on this because I was so shy when I was so little. My mom was so great, but I couldn’t speak to her.”
Anthony Tallini
Anthony Tallini, Coram
Anthony acknowledged that he was bullied for his weight and glasses. “As a kid in high school, I used to be heavier, [called] “four eyes” and “heavy.” Very standard. I just never cared.”
When asked if he had seen bullying as an adult in the workplace or a social setting, he said, “Yeah, I guess. It’s more just being mean. I haven’t stepped in. If it was someone I knew, I would. If it were someone I don’t know, probably not without knowing the relationship.”
Friends are rallying around an Elwood-John H. Glenn High School student to raise money for his medical treatment.
In July, doctors diagnosed high school senior Zach Berger with Ewing sarcoma, a rare and aggressive pediatric cancer. As soon as they heard the news, his mother’s friends, Carolyn O’Brien and Courtney Presti, along with Berger’s friend and O’Brien’s son Joseph Pontieri, set up a GoFundMe page to raise $50,000 to help offset medical costs and ease financial strains.
Berger’s mother, Dinah, said his family, which includes his dad David and older sister Katrina, was surprised and touched when they heard about the GoFundMe campaign.
Photo courtesy of Dinah Berger
In addition to donations, Berger’s friends and their families have been showing their support in various ways. His mother said a friend’s father who owns a diner has regularly brought them food since he heard the news.
“We have a saying, ‘Elwood Strong,’ and they’ve really proven it,” Dinah Berger said, adding she couldn’t thank the community enough.
The fundraising campaign organizers are using the hashtag #elwoodstrong as well as #zachattack, which O’Brien said has been used when Berger is wrestling.
“It was fitting to this situation — to attack it head on,” O’Brien said.
The family friend said the 17-year-old is always looking to help out.
“He walks in [the house], and if he sees the garbage is full, he just goes and takes the garbage out,” O’Brien said.
Dinah Berger said her son was in terrible pain one day, and she brought him to Huntington Hospital. Doctors first thought he had kidney stones, but tests found none. A CT scan was ordered after a urine test showed a small amount of blood. When the scan was analyzed, the top part of a tumor could be seen.
An MRI taken at an outpatient facility confirmed the tumor, and the mother took her son to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan. It was there the family received hope from Berger’s oncologist Dr. Leonard Wexler, even though Dinah Berger said it has been difficult.
Zach Berger. Photo courtesy of Dinah Berger
Due to Zach Berger’s treatments, the incoming senior will be unable to attend school when it begins in September, according to his mother. In addition to being an honor student, he has been a member of the high school football and wrestling teams. Earlier this year, he placed in the county championships for wrestling.
“We all have our moments, but he’s been trying to be really brave,” Dinah Berger said. “It’s a lot for a 17-year-old to know they’re going to be hit with this.”
His mother, who is divorced from Berger’s father and works part time at two small companies, will take time off from work as her son will need to be taken back and forth to the city for chemotherapy and doctor appointments at MSK. In addition to chemotherapy, his treatment will possibly include surgery and radiation.
“One of the oncologists said this is a full-time job,” she said.
Dinah Berger said there is a possibility that a room will open up at the Ronald McDonald House where they can stay, and eventually the goal is for her son to receive treatment at Sloan’s Commack location.
The mother said the family recently received good news when a PET scan showed that the tumor had not metastasized.
“It’s the happiest news I have had in my life,” she said. “The whole thing is horrible and a nightmare, at least that gave me some hope.”
As of Aug. 1, 205 donations — totaling $16,000 of the $50,000 goal — have been collected. O’Brien said she’s not surprised.
“He’s one of those kids that everyone likes,” she said. “If you were going to support or donate to any family, this would be the family to donate to.”
Five Harborfields High School students, pictured above, were recently named winners in the second annual national Junior Achievement Social Innovation Challenge. Photo courtesy HCSD
Five Harborfields High School students were recently named national winners in the second annual national Junior Achievement Social Innovation Challenge. The five students were all members of the Harborfields Business and Entrepreneurship Academy, which is facilitated by the school’s business department coordinator, Alison Matthews.
The challenge is a national competition in which high school students submit their innovative ideas for making an impact on their communities. The winning students were selected from more than 90 participating teams from across the country, and will have the opportunity to further develop their entrepreneurial concepts with the assistance of experts from challenge sponsor Chick-fil-A.
Nahrahel Louis won first place for “Clothing for a Cause,” a social enterprise that partners with organizations to create clothing for fundraising. Nahrahel’s company idea focused on collaboration with schools, businesses, nonprofits and other organizations to create custom apparel that reflects their unique brand and message, handling the entire process — from design to production and even shipping — to ensure a seamless and effortless experience for their partners.
Gabriella DiMartino, Nabeeha Ilyas, Elizabeth Kelly and Ivie Mergille won third place for “Purte.” Inspired by families living without adequate heating and cooling, and recognizing the need for affordable climate innovations, the Purte team designed a portable, solar-powered climate control device that cools and heats a room at the click of a button, using sunlight as a source of energy for a spinning center that rotates to conduct air.
Left, David Ceely, executive director of the Huntington-based Little Shelter Animal Rescue & Adoption Center. Right, John Di Leonardo, anthrozoologist and executive director of Humane Long Island. Left photo from Ceely; right from Di Leonardo
Animal shelters pose increasing challenges to shelter staff, policymakers and community members.
With limited budgets and staffing shortages, local shelters are becoming increasingly overwhelmed. In the face of these pressures, animal caregivers throughout the area are working to adapt to these circumstances.
Trends on the ground
David Ceely is the executive director of Huntington-based Little Shelter Animal Rescue & Adoption Center, a nonprofit organization coordinating with and rescuing from municipal shelters throughout Long Island.
‘I think all shelters are very overwhelmed.’
— David Ceely
In an interview, Ceely highlighted the fundamental differences between nonprofit and municipal shelters, noting variations in financial structure and rules. Based on recent experiences on the ground, Ceely indicated that the number of animals admitted to shelters has generally increased since the pandemic.
“When we go out to these other shelters on Long Island, [New York] City and even across the country, we’re definitely seeing an influx of animals turned into shelters,” he said.
John Di Leonardo is an anthrozoologist and executive director of Humane Long Island. This nonprofit animal advocacy organization also specializes in nontraditional shelter animals such as chickens, turkeys and ducks.
Di Leonardo reported that the general trends “have remained pretty similar” from prior years. However, there has been “immense progress” in some areas.
He cited recent state legislation barring the sale of kittens, puppies and rabbits in pet stores, suggesting that these trends signal progress for animal rescuers.
“Once that bill does take effect, and stores will only be able to sell rescued animals, I think that a huge burden will be lifted off of shelters in our area,” he said. “But until then, I think all shelters are very overwhelmed.”
Contrasts in shelters
“Our job is to go out to the municipalities,” Ceely said. “They’re funded by government, and they have a different set of rules than we do, where if they run out of space, they may have to euthanize.”
He added, “Little Shelter doesn’t do that. … We don’t euthanize for space, and some of the municipalities may have to.”
Along with these differences in financial and administrative structures, Ceely suggested that the municipal and nonprofit shelters often further depart in their hiring and training practices.
“Unfortunately, with the town shelters, they don’t necessarily have a full-on training program for the directors that go in place there,” Ceely said. “They have to try to figure it out as they go, which gets really demanding, so I see a lot of turnover there.”
He added that the lack of training and turnover at a municipal shelter can lead to “concerned citizens.”
Di Leonardo added to this sentiment, noting the differences in qualification for shelter management positions at municipal and nonprofit shelters.
“A lot of times in municipal shelters, the positions may be union-based, or they may be patronage positions mixed in with a lot of people who actually have the animals’ interests at heart,” he said.
Despite some of the perceived downsides to the municipal hiring structure, Di Leonardo maintained that privatization presents a host of new challenges, such as closed admissions policies.
“When these shelters are privatized, they often become closed admission, which is a problem,” he said. “When you’re closed admission, you have to pick and choose which animals you take, whereas municipal shelters are typically open, and they have to take whatever animal comes to their door.”
Possible solutions
Di Leonardo outlined some steps locals can take to reduce the burden upon local animal shelters. He said the process can start with reorienting thinking around the sanctity of animal life.
‘Our animal care as a whole and our sheltering system is definitely a reflection of the values in a community.’
— John Di Leonardo
“Before surrendering an animal to a shelter, everyone should always make sure that they are exhausting every possible outcome to make sure they’re treating that animal like a family member and not just as a disposable birthday present,” he said. “Before anyone does get an animal for a holiday or a gift, they need to remember animals are not props.”
Ceely maintained that outreach initiatives could help alleviate pressures on both the municipal and nonprofit animal shelters on Long Island.
“Probably the best way [to enhance services] is to work on a lot of outreach to get the word out on social media and through word of mouth,” he said. “But also to have plenty of events at the facilities to try to promote adoptions.”
He added that lowering or eliminating the adoption fees for qualified adopters is “also a good idea.” In addition to these remedies, Ceely suggested a shift in focus among local officials and greater initiative by those directing the municipal shelters.
“There are a lot of other areas in the municipalities that are prioritized before the animals are,” the Little Shelter executive director said. “Oftentimes, if the animal shelter directors themselves are not speaking up, they might not get the attention or the funding that they deserve to run their shelters the right way.”
Ceely said residents can assist their local shelters by donating, volunteering, fostering and — above all — adopting.
“Most importantly, they can adopt — getting the animals into homes so that we can go out and rescue more,” he said.
For Di Leonardo, a community’s animal shelter system reflects its values. He recited a quote from Mahatma Gandhi, who once said, “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.”
“Our animal care as a whole and our sheltering system is definitely a reflection of the values in a community,” the Humane Long Island executive director noted. “How we treat them and care for those who have the least rights in our community is a reflection on ourselves.”
As I am sure you have by now seen or heard that after 13 years the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office was finally able to bring an indictment against Rex Heuermann for three of the Gilgo Beach serial murders, and we expect the fourth to be resolved soon by the grand jury.
Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney. File photo from Tierney’s office
Our work is continuing until all of the murders are fully investigated.
During my campaign, I had promised the families of these victims that I would make my best efforts to solve these cases. After taking office in January 2022, we set up a task force.
I appointed three assistant district attorneys, plus my chief ADA, my chief investigator, four detective investigators and a team of analysts to work daily in collaboration with the Suffolk County Police Department, Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office, New York State Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
We met weekly to review developments and strategize. Six weeks after the first task force meeting, Heuermann was identified as a suspect, and over the next 16 months, we gathered evidence using more than 300 subpoenas and search warrants until we had the evidence we needed to make an arrest.
Your support led directly to solving these serial killings.
Your support allows me to get the important work of the district attorney’s office done day in and day out. Without your support, I wouldn’t be where I am today, and this significant case would likely not have been solved.
Thank you again for your help — and expect more good things to come.
Ray Tierney (R)
Suffolk County District Attorney
Editor’s note: One is innocent until proven guilty. While it is with great relief that we seem to be moving toward justice, we are decidedly not there yet. All involved in this enormous effort are to be commended for their efforts to bring about justice, but we must wait for the final verdict before we convict in the court of public opinion.
Clarifying recent village treasurer appointment
It was disconcerting and disheartening that The Port Times Record, the official newspaper for the Incorporated Village of Port Jefferson, first published incorrect information regarding what transpired at a recent Village Board of Trustees meeting, and then “corrected” that record in a way that cultivated negativity instead of noting a true positive outcome.
A majority of the board ultimately acted in concert, and voted to approve the appointment of Donald Pearce as treasurer following an executive session. While the executive session discussion is privileged, please note that I have invited the Office of the New York State Comptroller’s Division of Local Government and School Accountability to conduct a comprehensive review and audit of our villagewide operations.
This is a “gold standard” of review and accountability undertaken by many new mayors which will be objective and fair, will provide a clear path for our village to move forward properly in terms of process and procedure, and will reestablish clear-cut guidelines for the highest level of fiscal responsibility. I have undertaken this initiative to ensure that the village government is the most efficient and responsible entity that it can possibly be for the benefit of our deserving residents.
To that end, please remember that a treasurer takes an oath of office, as do members of the Board of Trustees. Our decisions are ours alone and they have a significant impact. Accountability is paramount, and I believe that our new treasurer will bring that accountability and service to the residents of Port Jefferson, which is why I am so grateful that he has agreed to return to his roots and once again serve the Village of Port Jefferson.
We look forward to a new, positive, forward-thinking relationship with our partners at The Port Times Record, to encourage free and open dialogue and the dissemination of factual information — another tangible benefit to our valued residents.
Lauren Sheprow
Mayor, Village of Port Jefferson
Sherwood-Jayne animals are part of our community and family
My name is JenniferJane Cortes and I am a Three Village resident. My husband and I along with our two young children purchased a house here eight years ago.
My dream has been to buy a farm ever since leaving our family farm in New Jersey 20 years ago. When we were looking in the Three Village area, we happened to be driving down Old Post Road coming from Port Jefferson. I remember the day well.
We came upon a beautiful farm with sheep in the pasture. There were also goats and a pony, but my eyes were fixed on the sheep. I asked my husband to please slow down so I could just “be” with them for a moment.
As we drove by, I said to myself and then my husband that if we can’t find a small farm for ourselves, then we must find a house on this street. About a week later and many more drives past the farm, we found a house within a 2-minute walk.
“Look no further,” I said. “We have found our house near the farm and animals.”
We visit with the animals so often that they feel like they are part of our family. My children know their names and call them over. We have grown quite attached to Snowball.
This farm and the animals mean so much to our small family and also to this community. Their caretaker, Susanna [Gatz], does an amazing job caring for them and the property. It is such a joy to see someone enjoying them and caring for them on a daily basis.
To see them moved would be absolutely devastating.
I am praying that the animals and Susanna get to remain one of the best parts of residing on Old Post Road.
JenniferJane Cortes
East Setauket
Removing Sherwood-Jayne animals is callous
In the late 1980s, my mom and I walked daily from our house on Old Post Road to Play Groups School, where I attended preschool. We always stopped to greet the animals at the Sherwood-Jayne Farm, often packing apple slices or carrots for Chester, the brown horse, who waited by the street for his morning treat from a delighted toddler.
I am currently pregnant with my first child and temporarily living back on Old Post Road, where I once again visit with the animals on my daily walk, and I am devastated that my son will not be able to stroll down the street with his grandparents to visit the “unicorn,” aka Snowball, or attend the Sheep Shearing Festival. No matter where in the world I have lived, greeting the animals at the Sherwood-Jayne Farm has been a part of my homecoming ritual and I am saddened to learn that Preservation Long Island has made the callous decision to relocate them.
Contrary to [PLI executive director] Alexandra Wolfe’s statement in your article [“Animals to leave Sherwood-Jayne Farm,” July 27], I would argue that the animals are the only thing connecting the community with the property. The bucolic scene of grazing animals helps visitors envision the historical significance of the house and farm, which otherwise offers very little community programming. Many more passersby pause to marvel at the majestic Snowball than at the house itself. How can you have a historically significant farm without animals?
Wolfe states that liability is a concern. I am curious how frequently PLI has issues with trespassers into the pasture and how realistic that concern is. She also states that she is bothered by concerned animal lovers who call PLI because they are worried about the geriatric pony’s health. This could be fixed inexpensively by erecting an informational sign explaining Snowball’s age and ailments, perhaps including a QR Code to donate to the animal’s upkeep and care.
While Wolfe does not state this, I presume the true limiting factor in maintaining the animals, under the loving care of Susanna Gatz, is the cost. PLI should be transparent and invite the community to tackle this challenge. How much, exactly, would it cost to maintain the animals on this property for the duration of their lifespan? Plenty of animal lovers, myself included, would gladly contribute to Snowball & Friends being allowed to live their lives in a familiar and safe environment.
Lia Harper
East Setauket
Water, water, not everywhere
Now that we’re coming to our senses and starting to realize the importance of the water below us, I’d like to share my epiphany.
A professor told me about his annual trip to Kenya. He visited a rural village that had no electricity, toilets or local source of water. The older children had the responsibility to fetch water for their families.
He accompanied the barefoot children and noticed that they walked through human feces on the way to the community well, which was but a crude pit … a few feet across and a few feet deep, with a dark puddle at the bottom.
He handed me a photo, saying, “Notice that the children are standing in the water. The very water that the family will be drinking.” I thought, although uneducated and poor, didn’t these people have the good sense to not poison their own well?
Aren’t we all born with an innate sense to not do harm to our life-sustaining water? How could the elders not instruct the children to carefully avoid stepping in it when going to the well or to somehow clean their feet before standing in the water?
Then, an afterthought: Isn’t that exactly what we’re doing to our precious gift … our aquifer? We pour insecticides and herbicides on lawns. We broadcast chemical fertilizer to make greens greener. We flush unused antibiotics down toilets. Our cesspools seep human waste down into our aquifer.
With soiled feet, we stand in our own well.
Bruce Stasiuk
Setauket
Legislatures are failing us
Congress adjourning and leaving Washington for the traditional August recess to return to their districts is actually great news.
Our civil and economic liberties are continually at risk when any legislative body — be it the New York City Council, New York State Legislature or U.S. Congress and so on — is in session.
Elected officials on a bipartisan basis routinely pass legislation to increase spending, taxes, borrowing and deficits. They also pass bills benefiting their “pay-for-play” contributors, funding pork-barrel member items along with new rules and regulations infringing on our day-to-day lives.
When Congress is not working, members can’t cause mischief and grief for the rest of us. I wish they would stay home even longer.
U.S. Congressman Nick LaLota. Photo from LaLota’s website
Freshman U.S. Congressman Nick LaLota (R-NY1) held the third telephone town hall event of his tenure Wednesday, July 26.
During this event, he addressed the exorbitant utility costs shouldered by Suffolk County residents, opined on rising opioid overdose deaths in the county and around the nation, and condemned the federal government’s handling of immigration.
Utility rates
County residents, on average, pay $226 per month on electricity, 28% higher than the national average, according to EnergySage. Pressed by one caller about how he would help lower energy bills for 1st District residents, LaLota proposed an “all-of-the-above energy strategy.”
“There’s battery, there’s wind, there’s solar,” he said. “I think that we should explore it all, and we should take advantage of everything that is on the table.”
He tied energy development to national security. By promoting homegrown energy sources, LaLota maintained that utility costs would begin to decrease along with American dependence on foreign energy.
“I think that increasing American energy independence will not only increase the supply of energy, it will bring the prices down,” he said. “A correlated benefit of that is we have to buy less oil from Russia, from Venezuela and from the Middle East.”
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency considers petroleum “a significant source of emissions of methane” while “drilling for oil may disturb land and marine ecosystems.” Despite these environmental risks, LaLota expressed support for expanding domestic drilling.
“Forty-something billion barrels of proven oil reserves are underneath our feet,” he said. “We can get those resources out of the ground safely. It will help bring energy prices down, both at the pump and what it costs to heat your home.”
SALT deductions
The congressman said he and members of a bipartisan caucus are working to repeal the $10,000 cap on state and local tax, or SALT, deductions created under the 2017 Trump-era Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
“We used to be able to, as New Yorkers, deduct an unlimited amount from our federal taxes that we paid into our state and local taxes,” LaLota said. “Right now, it’s capped at $10,000.”
LaLota said he had prepared legislation to increase the maximum federal SALT deduction to $60,000 for individuals and $120,000 for families. He pledged to oppose any tax package proposed by the Republican majority in the U.S. House which does not include “a reasonable accommodation” on SALT.
“I’m going to say ‘No SALT, no deal for real,’” he added. “I’m in it until the end.”
Immigration
LaLota denounced President Joe Biden’s (D) handling of the U.S.-Mexico border and New York City’s “sanctuary city” designation.
“I don’t think that we ought to be mixing unvetted migrants with our school-aged children,” LaLota said.
He also suggested that migrants receive disproportionate government assistance to other vulnerable groups.
“Right now, the homeless shelters in New York have more migrants in them than they have American citizens,” the congressman said. “Veterans, the mentally ill, drug addicts, they’re not getting the government resources they need because they’re being diverted to folks who are not in this country legally or are manipulating the asylum process.”
He added, “I think that needs to change.”
The congressman proposed reinstituting Title 42, a pandemic-era immigration policy allowing swift expulsion of asylum seekers over public health concerns.
“I support increasing funding for [U.S.] Customs and Border Protection, building more physical barriers, investing in technology and vehicles, and hiring more asylum judges,” he said, adding, “But what’s absent is we need leadership from the executive branch.”
Opioid epidemic
The most recent data from the New York State Department of Health indicate overdose deaths and those involving synthetic opioids had “significantly worsened” in Suffolk County between 2019 and 2020 — deaths in 2020 totaling 363, up 88 from the previous year.
Fentanyl “is coming in at ports of entry, it’s coming in between ports of entry,” the congressman said, advocating for beefier border security measures to reduce opioid deaths.
LaLota said the House-passed Stop Chinese Fentanyl Act would sanction Chinese companies “who are putting this poison into our system and killing our young folks,” adding, “We should exercise all other options on this.”
Who could forget the frantic scene of Berliners tearing down the Wall? That one action marked the beginning of a changed world.
It was 1989 when the Soviet Union collapsed and the Berlin Wall came down. Officially the end of the government came on December 26, 1991, with the 15 consistent republics gaining their independence, but the disintegration had been apparent for some time. Berliners were able to tear down that Iron Curtain, symbol of East-West separation and the Cold War, because the Soviet soldiers simply walked away from their posts.
Why did they walk away?
They hadn’t been paid in many months due to acute economic problems, food shortages and widespread political upheaval in the Soviet Bloc and in East Berlin, the Communists’ foothold in Western Europe. Government and its systems were bankrupt.
Yes, the West had won the Cold War. But as its name indicated, it was not a military war. It was an economic war. In trying to globalize Communism, the Soviets had spent themselves into insolvency.
Once again, the West seems to be locked into a struggle with Russia, the successor government to the Soviet Union. This time there is a military, “hot” war, but the economic war remains. And the Economic War may ultimately dictate who wins. The western allies have been sending hundreds of billions of dollars in the form of armaments into the battlefront of Ukraine, and the Russians have been doing the same, not only militarily in the Ukrainian war front but also within their country.
The internal toll was revealed in a front page article of The New York Times this past Tuesday. The domestic economic fallout of the Russian effort is enormous. There is a state-led spending boom that has propped up the Russian economy from the effects of far-reaching sanctions imposed by western countries. As a result, this economic boom has helped maintain popular support for President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian war effort. But Russian economists have warned of a threat to the country’s financial stability. Can their economic high be sustainable?
Russia’s expanding military production and the increased funding for Russia’s poor in the form of higher pensions, salaries and benefits like subsidized mortgages, particularly offered in marginal regions with the most military recruits, is fueling inflation. Lending by the government has stimulated the economy and kept down social unrest. Mortgages supplied by Russia’s top 20 banks rose 63 percent in the first half of this year, with one out of every two mortgages subsidized by the state. Soldiers’ salaries are much higher than average local earnings, and families of those who die get payments that can be greater than their annual earnings. And with 300,000 men called up to fight, worker shortages are extreme and salaries have risen, furthering inflation.
Even as Russia’s federal government has spent almost 50 percent more in the first half of this year than in the equivalent period in 2021,the country’s energy revenues have fallen by half.“Sanctions have forced Russia to sell its oil at a discount and European countries slashed purchases of Russian natural gas,” according to the NYT. And hundreds of thousands of predominately white collar workers have left the country in protest of the war or to avoid the draft, an additional loss to earnings.
So once again, money is pouring out, and not just from the Russians and their allies. We, too, are spending prodigious sums to maintain the war effort, and doing so in the aftermath of previous huge outlays to sustain Americans during the pandemic. Our economy seems strong, for the moment, even as our growing national debt seems to bother few officials.
The war in Ukraine has become one of attrition, with Russia and its allies waiting out the American-led coalition in the belief that we are a short-term nation in our war endeavors and will withdraw sooner or later. While that may well be, whoever withdraws first may be the side in financial ruin.
It is about 70 years since the TV dinner was supposedly invented by Gerry Thomas.
His employer, Swanson & Son, overestimated the demand for Thanksgiving turkey in 1953. They were stuck with 260 tons of frozen turkeys. The birds were stored for many weeks in 10 refrigerated train cars, which traveled back and forth on a train between Nebraska and the East Coast. The train had to be moving so the compressors, which supported the refrigerators preserving the turkeys, could keep working.
In the early 1950s, Thomas observed how airlines provided passengers with meals in aluminum serving trays. He modified this by adding separate sections for the main course, vegetables and potatoes. This resulted in the first Swanson TV dinner.
For only 89 cents, over 25 million were sold in 1954 — the first year of production. Many were consumed by customers watching television, which was also still a relatively new invention in the 1950s. Thomas was the marketing genius for Swanson & Son, who came up with the name TV dinner.
Growing up in the 1960s as a teenager, my dad was a teacher during the day and a high school librarian several nights per week. On those evenings, I would have to prepare dinner for my younger sister and me. When we were tired of the local options such as McDonald’s, Wetson’s, pizza or Chinese takeout, TV dinners were a quick solution.
Selections were provided by either Swanson’s, Banquet or Morton’s. They were the big three competitors during that era. The standard choices were chicken, turkey, roast beef or meatloaf, referred to as mystery meat. Cooking time was 30 minutes in the oven as microwaves hadn’t yet been invented.
A real treat in those days was the TV dinners that provided a fourth compartment containing a brownie for dessert. Sometimes two TV dinners were required to satisfy your appetite as the portions were never that big. Recycling was unheard of in those days as millions of aluminum TV dinner plates went straight into the garbage can. I can only imagine today how much space was taken up at the local community landfill site over the decades.
The selection of TV dinners at your local supermarket today is much different from those of past generations. Besides Swanson’s, Banquet and Morton’s, there are many more competitors, such as Healthy Choice, Lean Cuisine, Stouffer’s, Boston Market, Marie Callender’s, Hungry-Man and others. Their various product lines offer far more variety and selections. Far healthier choices are available for today’s generation on the go.
Even during college and post-college bachelor days, TV dinners always found some space in the freezer compartment of my refrigerator.
Lucky for me, my wife Wendy is a great cook, and I’ve learned some skills in the kitchen myself since then.
Conversely, according to the Library of Congress, Betty Cronin, a bacteriologist who was also working for the Swanson brothers at that time, asserts that it was the brothers themselves, Gilbert and Clarke, who came up with the concept of the TV dinner.
However, the United States Postal Service should still consider issuing a stamp for Gerry Thomas and the TV dinner, still American as apple pie some 70 years later.
Larry Penner of Great Neck is a transportation analyst and former director for Federal Transit Administration Region 2.
The John W. Engeman Theater, 250 Main St., Northport will present ‘Urinetown The Musical’ on Monday, Aug. 7 and Tuesday, Aug. 8 at 7 p.m. The show is performed entirely by The John W. Engeman Studio’s audition-only elite Select Players.
Winner of three Tony Awards, three Outer Critics Circle Awards, two Lucille Lortel Awards and two Obie Awards, ‘Urinetown’ is a hilarious musical satire of the legal system, capitalism, social irresponsibility, populism, environmental collapse, privatization of natural resources, bureaucracy, municipal politics, and musical theatre itself! Hilariously funny and touchingly honest, Urinetown provides a fresh perspective on one of America’s greatest art forms.
In a Gotham-like setting, a terrible water shortage, caused by a 20-year drought, has led to a government-enforced ban on private toilets. The citizens must use public amenities, regulated by a single malevolent company that profits by charging admission for one of humanity’s most basic needs. Amid the people, a hero decides that he’s had enough and plans a revolution to lead them all to freedom!
Inspired by the works of Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill, Urinetown is an irreverently humorous satire in which no one is safe from scrutiny. Praised for reinvigorating the very notion of what a musical could be, Urinetown catapults the “comedic romp” into the new millennium with its outrageous perspective, wickedly modern wit and sustained ability to produce gales of unbridled laughter.
URINETOWN THE MUSICAL is directed by ANDREW MCCLUSKEY and choreographed by SABRINA KALMAN.
The Creative Team includes GINA SALVIA (Musical Director), LAURA MCGAULEY (Costume Design), EDWARD READ (Lighting Design), MELISSA PROCOPIO (Sound Design),ISABELLE KTENAS (Production Stage Manager), JENNIFER COLLESTER (Director of Production) and RICHARD DOLCE (Producing Artistic Director).
The cast of URINETOWN includes ABIGAL ANDERS, KIERAN BROWN, RICHIE CAMPBELL, ANNABELLE DEANER, ELI DEMACOPOULOS, FRANCIS DENTRONE, LIZZIE DOLCE, DIANA FOGEL, CASSIDY GILL, JULIA GORDON, TARA GRECO, DEREK HOUGH, BRADEN HUGHES, COOPER KEIL, NATALIE KUNKEL, MAX LAMBERG, ALEXANDRA MARTIN, MEAGHAN MCINNES, ALEXA OLIVETO, MADDIE QUIGLEY, VIOLET RADGOWSKI, JORDAN REILLY, LEAH ROMERO, JACOB SOLOMON, ARI SPIEGEL, LOGAN TAYLOR, ETHAN THODY, ANGELICA VIVIANI, SAMANTHA ZAFFERY, and RAY ZERNER.
Tickets are $25 for all performances. They may be purchased by calling 631-261-2900, going online at www.engemantheater.com, or by visiting the Engeman Theater Box Office at 250 Main Street, Northport.
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