Officer James Li
NYPD Officer, James Li, a rookie officer survived a shooting this week allegedly by a cop-hating fugitive. Two off-duty EMTs helped save his life and he was released from the hospital on Friday. Frederick R. Bedell Jr., a resident of Glen oaks Village, wrote the following letter published in the New York Post, which echoes all of our sentiments and praise for our heroic NYPD and EMS workers.
“My sacrifice had to be made because of the opportunities given to me from the men and women who sacrificed their lives and died for our country. I had to do the same in their honor, to protect our nation and protect the unborn of this country so that they might live in a peaceful world.”
We are delighted to announce that Captain James Van Thach, U.S. Army (Ret.), a highly decorated United States Army veteran, will be our featured speaker at the March 6th Queens Village Republican Club Meeting. He will discuss his service and sacrifice to our nation as a soldier who was wounded twice in the line of duty in Iraq. He is a Bronze Star and Purple Heart recipient, and is the first Vietnamese-American to become an advisor to the New Iraqi Army. In recognition of his service, Captain Thach was given the honorary title of Brigadier General by the Iraqi government.
Captain Thach, a native of Bellerose, Queens comes from a family with a long history of dedicated military service to our nation. His father, Lt. Col. John Peterkin was recently honored as the Veteran of the Year for his valiant service in World War II, Korea and Vietnam, at the glorious Lincoln Day Dinner. Captain Thach was proudly in attendance and used the opportunity to discuss his ideas and initiatives on behalf of wounded veterans with Rep. Peter King, Councilman Ulrich and other public officials. As a Veteran’s Advocate with Wounded Veteran Initiative of Canine Companions for Independence (CCI), Captain Thach will be discussing some of these initiatives with the Club as well.
Dan Bongino is a former NYPD officer and a former United States Secret Service agent who worked for three presidents. He is the current Republican candidate for Congress in Maryland’s 6th District. He was honored as the American Patriot of the Year at the Lincoln Day Dinner on February 9th at Antun’s of Queens Village. Dan said: “The fight is here.” He encouraged us to stay in New York and fight for our liberties and values which are slowly being dissipated day by day.
According to Graf, CCSS (Common Core), unless stopped, will do irreparable harm to students in NYS and across the nation. “ This {CCSS} is state sponsored child abuse”, he stated. “ It’s is predicated on the one fits all curriculum and testing practice, which all research has found inhibits rather than enhances the ability of students to grow socially, emotionally and cognitively. And, as if to add injury to insult, if you take a look at the {CCSS} curriculum, you will find a host of grammatical errors…. What a horrible example for the students, whose education they claim to care so much about.”
Come to the free public event on Common Core, March 5th hosted by Nassau County Federation of Republican Women. “Rotten to the Common Core,” all you and your family need to know about Common Core in NYS and beyond!” Click here for details.
By Robert Golomb
When I interviewed New York State Assemblyman Al Graf (RCI, 5th AD, Suffolk County) in his Holbrook District Office last Thursday, I planned as my first question ask him about the controversial Common Core Curriculum, because, Graf, who serves in the Assembly’s Education Committee has become known as one of its harshest and most visible critics. But the two- term, fifty six year old Assemblyman- whose district spans the townships of Brookhaven and Islip- beat me to the punch.
“ Can you locate the area known as Mesopotamia on a world map or globe and identify it as part of Asia’’, he asked me with the sound of total seriousness in his voice. And then he quickly followed up with a series of additional questions: “ Do you know that this is the first question, and the next 80 are much tougher, that students in the first grade, yes the first grade, have to answer in English Language Arts as part of a so called listening and learning strand following the guidelines of the New York State Common Core Curriculum? Does this make sense to you? Do you think that these questions are age appropriate? Should a student’s promotion from one grade to the next be based on the ability to answer questions that are so age inappropriate? Should teachers face disciplinary actions if their students are unable to correctly answer such questions?’’
