august 31.indd - WestchesterGuardian.com

VOL. I NO. IV
THURSDAY, AUGUST31, 2006
Federal Appeals Court
Exposes Pirro’s Misconduct
“In twelve years on this Court
I have never seen such a Brady violation.”
U.S. Circuit Court Judge Calabresi
Last Tuesday, August 22 nd, the United
States Court of Appeals for the Second
Circuit handed up a decision in the
Anthony DiSimone case. The appeal
was by Westchester District Attorney
Janet DiFiore’s Office, as Cross-Appellee,
in opposition to an earlier decision
by Federal District Court Judge Charles
Brieant, granting a writ of habeas corpus,
on a challenge to sufficiency of
evidence, which produced a conviction
for Depraved Indifference Murder.
The decision, which reversed the lower
Court’s ruling, for “procedural insufficiency,”
more importantly exposed
the prosecutorial misconduct, and outright
unlawful activities engaged in by
former DA Jeanine Pirro, and now justified,
and defended, by Janet DiFiore,
her successor.
Specifically, although the main
thrust of the original petition filed by
DiSimone, with the Federal District
Inside...
Westchester BOE Finally
Recognizes Disabled
Voters, pg. 5
The Advocate,
Yonkers Police Brutality, pg. 5
Dr. Maria Munoz Kantha,
Empowering our
Daughters pg. 15
Court, dealt with the
sufficiency of evidence
presented in
connection with his
conviction for Depraved
Indifference
Murder in the death
of Louis Balancio,
the real significance
of the decision is its
detailed exposure of
the calculated, and
unlawful activities
engaged in by a malicious
prosecutor
bent on convicting
an innocent Defendant,
for her own
purposes, at any cost.
The case arises from
a street brawl in front
of the former Strike
Zone Bar, on Central
Avenue in Yonkers, in
1994, between some thirty local toughs
that resulted in the death of the 21-
year-old college student who suffered a
total of thirteen stab wounds.
Defendant DiSimone, who continued
to live in plain sight in the City of
Yonkers, with his wife and infant son,
became the target of one of DA Pirro’s
more imaginative propaganda efforts.
She would falsely claim that he had run
off to Sicily, and that he was being pro-
tected by the Cosa Nostra. She would
twice try to indict him, failing each
time, while succeeding in indicting
Darin Mazzarella, a known criminal
charged in other homicides and present
at the Strike Zone incident. Finally,
only after empanelling a so-called “special
grand jury” and offering immunity
from prosecution, and placement
into a witness protection program to
Mazzarella, and his equally violent,
and criminal brother Nick, in return
for testimony against DiSimone,, was
Mrs. Pirro able to secure an indictment
against him.
The 29-page decision, authored by
Justice Calabresi, the presiding judge
of the three judge panel, who listened
to the oral arguments offered by John
R Bartels, Jr., attorney for Anthony Di-
Simone, and Valerie A. Livingston, for
Continued on the nxt page

PAGE 2
THE WESTCHESTER GUARDIAN THURSDAY, AUGUST 31, 2006
Pirro’s Misconduct, continued from page 1
Index
The Advocate: Yonkers Police Brutality...............................................pg 5
Ask Sammy Z:....................................................................................pg 21
Classified............................................................................................pg 22
Clip-Out Community Calendar..............................................pgs. 18-19
The Court Report: When Is An Alibi Not An Alibi?..............................pg 3
Design Inspirations:
Use Your ‘Magic’ to Create the Illusion of Space...................................pg 9
Freedom Isn’t Free: Joe Lieberman Ate at My House........................pg 6
Great Chefs of Westchester: Chef Joe Dnistrian.................................pg 10
Horoscope: Shimmering Stars Aug. 31 – Sept. 6, 2006..........................pg
In Our Opinion.....................................................................................pg 4
Living Latino in Westchester:
Profile of An Immigrant Who Made Good..................................................p8
Local Movie Theater Directory......................................................pg 21
Marriage and Family in Westchester:
Parenting and Empowering Our Daughters in Today’s World..............pg 15
Westchester BOE Finally Recognizes Disabled Voters........................pg. 5
On the National Scene: Once We Were Giants................................ pg11
Popcorn Movie Reviews:
Material Girls, World Trade Center.......................................................pg 20
Taking Judicial Notice: Waiting for Robert Redford........................pg 16
The World Traveler: India: The Greatest Show on Earth....................pg 7
This Week in History: August 31 – September 8.............................pg 22
The Westchester Guardian
2 William Street, Suite 406
White Plains, NY 10601
Tel. 914-328-3096
Publisher: Guardian News Corp.
Sam Zherka, President
Editor-in Chief
Richard Blassberg
Bureau Chief
Maureen Keating Tsuchiya
Published weekly on Thursday
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classified@westchesterguardian.com
DA Janet DiFiore, on June 21, disposes of the Defendant’s principle contention
within the first half of the text concluding, “Because we find that DiSimone’s insufficiency
claim was procedurally defaulted, we need not, and do not consider
its merits:”
DiSimone, who was acquitted at trial of intentional murder, by a jury of his
peers, was arguing that his conviction for Depraved Indifference Murder was not
supported by the evidence produced at that trial, in accordance with a line of
recent New York State Court of Appeals decisions in Gonzalez, Payne, and Policano,
and several other cases over the past 2 ½ years. However, Sufficiency of the
Evidence, although the basis of Judge Brieant’s habeas corpus grant, was not the
only claim brought by DiSimone. There was the Brady violation claim, dealing
with the obligation of the Prosecution to present to Defendants any, and all, information
turned up by the Prosecution, which may be exculpatory to the Defendant,
as well as the Confrontational Clause, the right of an Accused to confront
his accusers as guaranteed by the Constitution.
Of these, the Federal Appeals tribunal was most interested in, and offended
by, the particulars of DiSimone’s Brady claim. The Court, in its decision, summarized
DiSimone’s Brady claim, stating, “DiSimone argues that the state violated
its Brady obligation by failing to disclose, until near the close of the government’s
case, information that a person other than DiSimone had asserted that he had
stabbed the victim twice just before DiSimone allegedly stabbed the victim.”
This reporter was present on June 21st of this year for the oral arguments at
the United States Second Circuit Court of Appeals, when Presiding Judge Calabresi
made his impassioned declaration, “In twelve years on this Court I have never
seen such a Brady violation.” That declaration not only set the direction the Court
would be pursuing that day but, in a broader sense, it represented a harbinger
of things to come, as federal and state appellate tribunals become increasingly
aware of the egregious and morally bankrupt practices engaged in by the Westchester
District Attorney’s Office for twelve years under the Pirro regime.
In fact, on February 10, 1994, just six days following the Balancio murder,
Yonkers Police Detective Robert Molinaro had interviewed a 21-year-old Yonkers
resident, Luvic Gjonaj, who provided a signed statement indicating that on February
6, 1994, his cousin, Nickoun Djonovic, had told him that he had been at the
Strike Zone bar on the Thursday night of the incident, and had gotten involved in
the fight, and had stabbed two people, one of whom was Louis Balancio, who he
admitted stabbing twice, once in the chest. Furthermore detectives had obtained
a search warrant for Djonovic’s apartment, found, and seized a bloody jacket, corroborating
his confession.
However, Mrs. Pirro was not interested in this evidence because it did not fit
the scheme and the profile she needed to project. Pirro saw the tragic events at
the Strike Zone as an opportunity to help her shed her well-earned reputation as
a prosecutor who didn’t prosecute Organized Crime. Her husband Al’s connection
to it helped reinforce that reputation. She was determined to make this brawl
between young street fighters into a Mafia thing. And, so naturally a murderer,
even a confessed murderer, named Nickoun Djonmovic, somehow just wouldn’t
fill the bill, the way someone with an Italian sounding name would.
The Court observed, “DiSimone made three separate requests for Brady material.”
First in pre-trial motions in January 2000, then one week before the start
of the trial, in a letter dated September 25, 2000, and finally, on October 2, 2000,
just before jury selection. At no point did Mrs. Pirro’s Office turn over the Gjonaj
statement, instead, moving to suppress its admission, stating, “It is the People’s
position there is no link in the chain of evidence that connects Nick Djonovic to
the commission of this homicide.”
Mrs. Pirro, anxious to convict someone she had maliciously and dishonestly
portrayed as a member of Organized Crime, would now engage in the worst kind
of prosecutorial misconduct, including subornation of perjury, to achieve her
ends. And, she was not alone in her evil conspiracy. Judge James Cowhey, who,
not so coincidently, dated her mother, Ester Ferris, was involved in the conspiracy
to convict an innocent defendant, right up to his eyeballs, as Judge Calabresi indicates,
“The trial court did not turn the statement over to the Defense until eleven
days after it had received it from the Prosecution, shortly before the close of the
state’s case.”
Cowhey then refused to grant a motion by DiSimone’s attorney seeking a continuance,
and time to put together a strategy, based on the new information which
had been withheld. He then proceeded to reject three motions for mistrial that
were based on the glaring Brady violations.
The Appeals Court decision leaves little doubt that the materials unlawfully
withheld from DiSimone, “tended to support a potential Defense theory
that, whatever DiSimone’as involvement in the fight, he was not the cause of
Continued on page 13

The Court Report
By Richard Blassberg
THE WESTCHESTER GUARDIAN THURSDAY, AUGUST 31, 2006 PAGE 3
When Is An Alibi Not An Alibi?
State Supreme Court, White Plains
Judge Lester Adler Presiding
Monday, August 21 st Defendant Jesse O’Brien, charged with First
and Second Degree Robbery, and Second Degree Assault, as well
as lesser felonies, in a seven-count indictment arising from an incident
in Yonkers, appeared for a pre-trial hearing before Judge Lester
Adler. O’Brien was accompanied by his Attorney, Richard Candee,
who announced at the start of the hearing that he possessed T-Mobil
cell phone records and Sony Corporation computer usage records
that would place his client, at the time of the incident with which he
is charged, in a situation that would tend to make it “doubtful that he
engaged in the criminal activity he is charged with.”
Responding to Mr. Candee, Assistant District Attorney Calvin
Scholar, addressing the Court, declared that any such materials constitute
an alibi, and, as such, needed to be turned over to his office.
Attorney Candee responded, “Sony records of the use of his computer
at, or about, the time of the alleged crime does not constitute
an alibi, and thus we are not bound to turn over such records to the
DA’s Office.”
Judge Adler, who had met with the attorneys, in chambers, prior to
entering the courtroom, now offered, “By denying that you committed
the act in this case, under New York State law constitutes an alibi.”
Mr. Scholar followed with, “If Mr. Candee presents a witness by
way of establishing an alibi, it is our position that we are entitled to
that information.” Judge Adler then asked, “Is the person who was on
the phone able to state that the Defendant was at some other location
at the time of the crime? The Court would submit that the records
would serve only one purpose at the trial, to convince the jury that
the Defendant was someplace else. The spirit of the legislation is such
as to prevent surprise of the Prosecution. It looks like, and should be
treated like alibi material.”
Mr. Candee, visibly upset with Adler’s position, now said, “I do
have a strategy, and that strategy does not involve turning over my
entire case before it is necessary to.”
Mr. Scholar now informed the Court and the Defense that he had
two witnesses waiting to be examined, Yonkers Detective Chiarello
and Police Officer Rodriguez. He suggested that Mr. Candee might
have wished to interview them privately before their appearances.
Candee, reluctant at first, then complied with a request by Adler that
he, in fact, speak with the officers.
Following a brief adjournment, during which Mr. Candee availed
himself of the opportunity to interview each officer, Judge Adler
opened the hearing with, “By prior decision of this Court the Court
has granted a hearing on the Defense motion to suppress identifications
offered by the Prosecution.”
Mr. Candee immediately followed with a statement raising his concerns
over a possible Brady material issue as might be involved with
what he referred to as “conflicts” posed by the question of whether the
perpetrator was described as White or Hispanic. There followed the
presentation of Prosecution witnesses Yonkers Detective Sgt. Kevin
Scully, and Detective Anthony Chiarello, as well as Police Officer Rodriguez.
The purpose of the hearing was essentially to establish the
reliability of the identification of the Defendant by police sources.
Analysis:
The issue here was whether Defense materials that are not being offered
specifically to establish that an accused was somewhere other than
at the crime scene, at the time of the alleged crime, but that might tend
to suggest that he was not, must be treated as alibi evidence subject to
release upon request by the Prosecution, under the rules of state legislation
governing alibi evidence.
MEMBER NY & CT BAR
JAMES G. DIBBINI
ATTORNEY AT LAW
570 YONKERS AVENUE TEL: 914-965-1011
YONKERS, NY 10704 FAX: 914-965-0019
E-MAIL: JGDLAW@AOL.COM

PAGE 4
In Our Opinion...
THE WESTCHESTER GUARDIAN THURSDAY, AUGUST 31, 2006
Two weeks ago we called upon the United States Department of
Justice to “provide monitors and U.S. Marshals for the upcoming
election for State Senate in the 35 th Senatorial District, to ensure
a fair and totally honest outcome.” We had contacted Mr. Herbert
Hadad spokesperson for the United States Attorney’s Office
for the Southern District of New York, expressing our concerns
that the upcoming rematch between Andrea Stewart-Cousins
and Nick Spano might produce the kind of monumental dispute
that was witnessed two years ago following their first contest.
Believing that each of the candidates would not wish to go
through that kind of ordeal again, and that whomever would
win would certainly not want to be viewed as having achieved
anything less than an honest victory, we approached Mr. Spano
and Ms. Stewart-Cousins seeking their individual endorsements
of our proposal. Their responses appear opposite.
Having received the endorsement of each candidate, we intensified
our enlistment activities with the Justice Department, this time
going directly to the Voting Section of the Civil Rights Division
in Washington D.C., where we were informed that there certainly
was a strong interest in maintaining the integrity of the election
process, and that they would definitely respond to voters’ concerns.
This is not a partisan issue. Republicans, Democrats, Independents,
Conservatives alike must all recognize the importance of
a secure, uncorrupted election process, not merely in the 35 th
District, but everywhere throughout the Westchester community.
We are calling, once again, for monitors and enforcement
personnel to closely observe and regulate the activities near, and
at, polling places, as pertains to the casting of ballots, recording
and reporting of results, on both the first, and second canvass,
as well as the handling of voters, and issues that may arise.
The Justice Department, having assured us that they will be “sensitive,
and responsive” to citizens’ concerns, we now call upon our
readers to take the time to communicate your feelings on this issue to:
The Candidates
Respond...
Editor’s note: The following statements from Andrea
Stewart-Cousins and Nicholas Spano, candidates for
State Senate in the 35th State Senatorial District, are
in response to our editorial in the August 17, 2006
edition of The Westchester Guardian.
Statement by
Republican Incumbent
State Senator Nicholas Spano
I welcome the monitoring of this year’s election.
If this had occurred in the last election we would have
prevented many irregularities and fraud, that was conducted
on Election Day by my opponent’s campaign.\
There were 8,000 paper ballots, 5,000 of which were
thrown out.
Statement by
Democratic State Senate Candidate
Andrea Stewart-Cousins
I would welcome the United States Department
of Justice providing monitors for the upcoming State
Senate election. In Yonkers in 2004, just as in Florida
in 2000, the Republican Party worked very hard
to make sure that thousands of votes from registered
Democrats were not counted, yet somehow, 23 voting
machines in Yonkers were all misread in favor of Republican
Nick Spano. Justice Department oversight
is a much-needed step in ensuring fair elections, but
it will take far more to clean up the mess in Albany
left by Republicans Pataki and Spano.
The United States Department of Justice
John Tanner, Chief of the Voting Section
Civil Rights Division
950 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, D.C. 20530 Letters to the Editor are on Page 14.

THE WESTCHESTER GUARDIAN THURSDAY, AUGUST 31, 2006 PAGE 5
The Advocate
Richard Blassberg
Yonkers Police Brutality
There is simply no justification for the excessive use of force by
the Yonkers Police Department, or any other law enforcement agency
in the County. Police brutality is a very corrosive, destructive activity
that undermines public confidence, not only in public safety but in
the entire judicial system. And, it only takes a few bad actors to give
an entire department an ugly reputation.
Police brutality sets in motion a cycle of events that unfortunately
becomes self-perpetuating. Having grown up in the 41 st Precinct of
the South Bronx, during the years that the neighborhood earned the
handle “Fort Apache,” I can state categorically that kids do not automatically
hate the police. Even when so-called juvenile delinquency
had become epidemic, and the City of New York imposed an 8:00PM
curfew, relations with the local police were not particularly strained.
That was then, and this is now. Today, with so many guns on the
street in the wrong hands, and gang membership and violence in the
County at an all-time high, police brutality is nothing short of a catalyst
for violence. Residents of Yonkers, as well as towns and cities
across Westchester, are entitled to assurances from police commissioners
and precinct commanders that they will show zero tolerance
for incidents of excessive physical force. More importantly, our District
Attorney, Janet DiFiore, must publicly declare her intention to
prosecute any, and all, police officers who may engage in the use of
brutality, to the fullest extent of the law.
Last week Jim Bostic, Executive Director of the Nepperhan Community
Center, and Chairman of the Yonkers Violence and Gang Prevention
Coalition, met with Yonkers Police Commissioner Robert Taggert,
Deputy Commissioner Gardener, Captains Intervalo, and DiMaggio, as
well as Lieutenants Reardon and Doyle, together with Karen Edmonson,
President of the Yonkers NAACP, for preliminary discussion of the
community’s concerns over several recent allegations of police brutality.
Mr. Bostic described their conversation as productive.
However, it will take a concerted effort by top police officials, concerned
citizens, and the DA’s Office, if the Yonkers Police Department,
and other departments in the County, are to avoid a possible
Federal Civil Rights Investigation into the matter. DA Janet DiFiore,
more than any other individual, has the resources and the manpower,
not to mention the mandate, to prevent the police brutality issue
from coming to that point. Therefore, it is important that Ms. DiFiore
step up to the plate and make a statement that will both reassure the
residents of Yonkers and all of Westchester, and put those who would
disgrace their uniforms on notice that they do so at great risk.
Westchester B.O.E. Finally
Recognizes Disabled Voters
by Maureen Keating Tsuchiya
Tuesday, September 12th is the date of New York State’s upcoming Primary
election. The Westchester County Board of Elections (BOE) recently sent all registered
voters a “mail check” post card advising them about the location of their
polling sites and whether the location is wheelchair accessible.
According to Jeannie L. Palazola, Deputy-Commissioner of the BOE, a letter
will be sent out next week to the registered voters in approximately 50 of the 441
voting districts located in schools, town halls, firehouses, churches across Westchester,
advising them of the new location of their polling sites that will finally
be wheelchair-accessible to persons with disabilities as required under the Help
Americans Vote Act (HAVA), the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA),
and New York state human rights and election laws.
For years, Westchester’s disabled votes have been shut out of the political
process by architectural barriers. Thanks to the steadfast leadership of three
disability rights groups—Westchester Disabled on the Move, Westchester Independent
Living Center and Westchester Council of the Blind—which filed a
lawsuit three years ago, access to voting in person will become the norm rather
than the exception.
Attorney William Frumkin of White Plains has represented the advocacy
groups throughout the protracted process that involved surveying hundreds of
polling sites.
Melvyn Tanzman, Executive Director of Westchester Disabled on the Move,
stressed the “importance of all people being able to vote.” Tanzman has worked
extensively with the Board of Elections in identifying inadequacies by using standards
established by the U.S Department of Justice in evaluating all polling sites.
This information has been submitted to the State of New York by the Board of
Elections to request more than $200,000 in federal HAVA funding for polling site
accessibility across the county.
Westchester County spent over $500,000 with the Manhattan law firm of Epstein
Becker & Green in vigorously opposing the lawsuit, money that could have
been better spent in making these polling sites accessible to the voting public.
The County could have purchased over 250 automatic door openers with that
money—installing the first one at the primary entrance of the Board of Elections
at 25 Quarropas Street in White Plains, and then the rest could have been installed
at some of its 441 polling sites.
The U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, Voting Section, recommends
that large signs be posted at new and old sites, with information regarding
the change in polling sites addresses; and, that election call centers be advised of
these changes. You may call the Voting Section toll-free at (800)253-3931 or (202)
307-2767 with any problems.
The city of Yonkers, as the largest city in Westchester, will have the most polling
sites relocated. At the present time, persons running for election in these
districts will not be systematically notified of these new polling site locations.
Ironically, many inaccessible polling sites are located in neighborhood schools,
town buildings and fire halls—publicly financed buildings that are under separate,
decades old requirements for access for people with disabilities. Schools across
Westchester have spent several billion dollars in capital construction since the passage
of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Yet not one school in Westches-
Continued on pg. 6

PAGE 6
THE WESTCHESTER GUARDIAN THURSDAY, AUGUST 31, 2006
Freedom Isn’t Free
Vicki Mayfield
Joe Lieberman Ate at My House
I was going door-to-door campaigning for Connecticut’s
hopeful US Senator Ned Lamont with a
lawyer from Queens. When we knocked on the door
of a yellow, railroad-style, one level house. An elderly
African-American man answered and the lawyer
started her spiel about Ned. The man’s wife came
to the door and said, “We only vote for Lieberman,
cause Joe Lieberman ate at my house.”
The elderly woman continued, “We went to
school and he ate at my table.” While the lawyer dealt
with the elder’s statement, I was trying to stop myself
from asking her, “Who brought the food?” My mind
kept asking, “And that’s a reason to vote for Rabbi Lieberman,
because he ate at your table?”
“How long ago did he visit?” I wanted to ask her,
but I could show no disrespect, so I motioned to the
lawyer and we left.
BOE, continued from page 5
ter, old or new, has a push pad or other automatic door
opening device at any primary entrance.
Leadership by example doesn’t appear at the
Westchester headquarters for the two main political
parties as they are not accessible to persons with disabilities.
Both have steps leading up to the front door.
The Democratic Party Chairman, Reginald LaFayette,
who is also the Democratic Board of Elections
Commissioner, inherited this condition at Room
210, 170 East Post Road in White Plains, from his
predecessors. This inaccessible location is also the
Westchester and Rockland headquarters for Senator
Hillary Rodham’s Clinton re-election campaign.
The White Plains Democratic Party no longer
holds its meetings at this location because of complaints
about the lack of ADA accessibility.
Just down the street at the Westchester GOP’s
headquarters at 214 Mamaroneck Avenue, visitors
are greeted with a not so friendly flight of steps.
What kind of message is Chairwoman Rose Marie
Panio sending to more than 200 Republicans who
hold offices across Westchester County in addition
to all of the candidates running for office in the upcoming
elections?
It has been said of African-Americans that we don’t
care about the future, just the here and now because of
the effects of our ancestors’ enslavement in this country.
Four hundred-odd years of having your babies,
mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, etc., taken away at a
glance, started a ‘disconnect’ of family and race.
Then, after slavery was over, and everything we
built for ourselves was taken or burned to the ground,
our freed ancestors started ‘disconnecting’ from things.
The only constant was the White Man’s power.
As a child, I watched, from afar, as my mother
and the insurance agent would talk at the table. This
Caucasian man would pat her hand and tell her she’s
“securing her children’s future.” We could be starving
but the money my mother had was for the insurance.
After she died, my Aunt kept paying the premiums
by skimping on our food and clothing allowance.
While in college, I tried to borrow against the policy
and was denied. Then, at 21, I got a check for $300.00.
That insurance man was our Joe, who sat at our table
every month, telling my mother how much she’d help
our future. She didn’t read the policy because, I think,
she was just glad to have that White Man sit at her
table every month and talk to her. If he ran for office
she would have probably voted for him.
Now, I want to tell you, that on Ned Lamont’s
handouts was a picture of ‘Brother Slick (Rev. Jessie
Jackson) and Brother Slicker (Rev. Al Sharpton)
and I had to fight to keep from throwing down those
handouts and walking out of the campaign office. But
I reasoned that if I hand out the promotion with the
side of the two people who do not represent me or my
family facing down, I could stay and help Ned, and
that’s what I did.
The next morning, on the news, seeing Brothers
Slick and Slicker on the stage behind Ned, made me
quickly turn off the television. Given the news that
Joe Lieberman had lost the Democratic nomination
to Ned, and was now going to run against Ned again
for the Independent Party, it dawned on me that Joe
is not as loyal to the party of the Elder’s table he ate
from. Then, this nagging question came back to me,
“How is it that public office is more lucrative than private
business? What bargains did Joe make that he’d
turn his back on his party to keep? What laws did Joe
pass to hurt private business, which makes him afraid
to return to it? What laws did Joe pass to hurt the average
Connecticut resident that makes him not want
to be one again? Did Joe stay so long in office that he
forgot that he was there to represent the people.”
Could it be that when he didn’t, the people voted
him out, or does King Joe think his subjects and loyal
supporters are too dumb to know what’s best for
them? I want to give my props to England, and Prime
Minster Tony Blair, for working like US government
mules to foil the latest terrorist attack. England’s fighters
were not the army but the Bobbies, who wrapped
everybody up and notified other countries about it.
The GOP and Joe are trying to use the success of
England to commit more of our citizens to death in
Iraq. What promises did they give Corporate America
that we have to pay for with our lives? If they had
hatched the explosives in the bottle attack plan here
in the United States we’d be dead, the republicans
would have done nothing just so they could say, “See
that’s why we can’t pull our troops out of Iraq”, and
we’d be too upset to see that they knew all along and
did nothing. I’ve been told that when Americans go
abroad they are called, “Stupid Americans.” That’s not
bad compared to our own taxed salaried public officials
regarding us that way.
Though I live in New York, as a member of Democracy
for America (DFA) whose mission is to put
the power of government back in the hands of the
people, I’ll go anywhere to represent them. In New
York, the same old power holds fast and is seldom
successfully challenged, and those long-term, owninterest
candidates I don’t support. I was able to work
for the future Senator of Connecticut, Ned Lamont,
thus exposing Lieberman.
The Constitution of the United States insures
our freedom from oppression and political greed,
but it ain’t free. It has to be protected and enforced
by the People, or one day we’ll wake up in a great
big Third World nation. n

“There is only one India! It is the only country that
has a monopoly of grand and imposing specialties. When
another country has a remarkable thing, it cannot have
it all to itself—some other country has a duplicate. But
India—that is different. Its marvels are its own; the patents
cannot be infringed; imitations are not possible. And
think of the size of them, the majesty of them, the weird
and outlandish character of most of them!”
From Mark Twain’s ‘Following the Equator’ (1897)
“The greatest show on earth” is also how Samuel
Langhorne Clemens (aka Mark Twain), referred to
India after his sojourn through this most fascinating
land from January 18 to March 31, 1896. Like the
circus, a traveler in India is continually challenged to
figure out just how the show is done and what’s really
going on while enjoying it all. The ‘costumes’ are
not for pretend though, and there are way more than
three rings, not to mention sixteen national languages
plus scads more dialects. So since you’ll never figure
out more than a sliver of it all anyway, just relax and
enjoy the show.
Like Tocqueville in America, Twain was delightfully
prescient in his observations of India. I can concur
after having spent more than three years in South
Asia, and just scratching the surface, that the kaleidoscope
that is India is simply the most challenging, exhilarating,
exasperating, inexhaustible, and rewarding
land to travel in. Twain even found delight with his
enlightened point of view even at the train stations,
which have evidently changed little since his visit.
“In other countries a long wait at a train station
is a dull thing and tedious, but one has no right to
have that feeling in India.
You have the monster crowd
of bejeweled natives, the stir,
the bustle, the confusion, the
shifting splendors of the costumes—dear
me, the delight
of it, the charm of it are beyond
speech.”
India takes its name
from the Indus River in the
far northwest, land of its ancient
and impressive cities of
Mohenjo-Daro and Harrapa
which now lie within Pakistan, though little is known
except that they knew at least as much about plumbing
as the Romans. Its true ancient name is Bharat,
at least according to the more nationalistic folk, as it
refers to a tribe famous in Vedic tradition, with India
being seen as somewhat foreign derived. It, like
the Mediterranean and China, also referred to itself
as Madhyadesh, or middle/center nation/kingdom.
Contrary to popular belief, the written language is not
called Sanskrit, which is the name of their Latin, you
THE WESTCHESTER GUARDIAN THURSDAY, AUGUST 31, 2006 PAGE 7
India: The Greatest
Show on Earth
These sites will be of help in planning a visit:
http://www.tourindia.com/htm/homepage.htm
http://www.thokalath.com/tourism/index.php
Indian food is outstanding and becoming quite
popular. A few nearby Indian restaurants are:
Coromandel: 30 Division St., New Rochelle,
NY 10801 Ph 914-235-8390;
India Cafe: 61 Armonk, Westchester, NY
10504 Ph 914-273-5931;
India House: 199 Albany Post Rd., Montrose,
NY 10548. Ph 914-736-0005;
or try your own hand at Indian cuisine at:
http://www.khanakhazana.com/
could say. The ‘namaste’ greeting (the honorific being
‘namaskaar’) translates from Sanskrit something
like ‘I salute/recognize/respect the god within you’,
a reflection of a kind of humanistic pantheism. The
written language is actually called Devanagiri, which
intriguingly translates as
‘city of the gods’. When was
the last time literacy had
that kind of respect around
here?
Diversity existed there
long before there was a
recognizable English language
and a political need
to make it an official creed
here. India has managed to
maintain its tolerance and
diversity throughout its history, as it is simply part
and parcel of Hindu civilization, with the glaring exception
of (you guessed it) radical Muslims that consider
killing a religious calling as they did recently in
Mumbai. At the same time, within its various castes,
tribes and sects, a profound conservatism is to be
found that ironically is what keeps it all from flying
apart. It is part of the fabric of Hindu culture that, just
as other individuals are perceived to be incarnations
of the divine, so are other belief systems and cultures.
This helps to explain how India rarely witnesses destruction
of cultural property, and never on the scale
of China’s Cultural Revolution, leaving far more to be
seen per square mile than any other ancient nation.
All is not charming however. Wealth disparities
dwarf our own by a few orders of magnitude, making
us sound like we’re fighting over a few crumbs by
comparison. With India’s economy booming, and it’s
willingness to confront such issues more forthrightly
than during its long wasted period of romancing socialism
(“there was nothing to socialize!”), she is beginning
to truly recognize and support the poorest
of the poor. Nor is it hidden as in East Asia, so be
prepared for some disturbing sights. The 2005 movie
‘Water’ (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0240200/) underscores
some of the most disturbing cultural issues
of Hindu culture. Please keep in mind there’s plenty
here at home to shock tourists visiting us as well.
Violence and theft is comparatively rare, which
is amazing considering the enormous population, variety
of peoples, and disparity of wealth. Once in the
city of Jaipur, I had to leave my backpack on my bed
for the afternoon in a room with no lock. There were
all sorts of items in it, including my Swiss Army knife,
camera and equipment, as well as a number of snack
food items I had bought. When I returned, only the
food had been taken, though the knife alone would
easily have fetched six months of salary there for the
hungry watchman. Karma really is taken seriously.
“India has two million gods, and worships them
all. In religion all other countries are paupers; India is
the only millionaire.”
For starters, let me suggest an itinerary that won’t
Continued on page 9
Ballet Arts
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504 Fifth Ave., Pelham, NY 10803

PAGE 8
THE WESTCHESTER GUARDIAN THURSDAY, AUGUST 31, 2006
Living Latino in Westchester
Eridania Comacho
Profile of An Immigrant
Who Made Good
Year after year, people emigrate to the United
States for different reasons, but mostly in search of
a better life. People come from all over the world in
search of opportunities, often hoping to give their
children a way of life not available in their homeland.
Others come to this country as refugees or seeking
asylum due to fear of persecution or because their
lives or freedom are threatened in their homelands.
Regardless of the reason, people all over the world see
this country as the land of opportunity, that in this
country they will be treated fairly, and that doors that
would have otherwise never opened for them in their
homelands may become a reality here in the US.
Many immigrants don’t achieve the American
dream. This week I chose to profile someone who did,
Councilman Roberto Lopez of New Rochelle, who
came to the U.S. from Quitupan Jalisco, Mexico at the
age of 17. I spoke with Roberto about what coming to
the United States has meant to him.
What motivated you to leave Mexico and immigrate
to the United States?
“After finishing high school I wanted to go further
in my education but my father told me that I wasn’t
going to be able to continue my education because he
could not afford it. I decided to move to Mexico City
because of the lack of opportunities in my hometown.
In Mexico City, I managed a business for a little over a
year. Then I thought, this is not for me, I want something
better. I migrated to the US at the age of 17, settling
on the border of Scarsdale and White Plains. My
brother, who was already here. got me a job working
as a busboy at the Fenway Golf Course.”
What were your expectations?
“I had no idea. I knew that people who came to
this country made money. I thought, maybe I could
build a house in Mexico, so I saved and saved money
and bought a piece of land. Then I thought what if I
can’t stay in this country, what will I do if I get deported?
That was a motivation to save to buy a home.
I started to go to school to take English classes.
“My boss left Fenway and went to work at a country
club in Long Island, so I followed him. I continued
my English classes there. Shortly thereafter, I met
someone who offered me a job at MetLife in Manhat-
tan and I accepted. I was then working three jobs, the
country club on the weekends, MetLife weekdays and
making tortilla chips to sell at home in New Rochelle
in the evenings after work.
“Things were very hectic. My manager at MetLife
wanted me to let go of one of the other jobs and stay
at MetLife. He said that I had to make a decision
and let go of one. So I decided to stay with my business
and let go of MetLife. In a very sarcastic way he
said to me, “What happened to your dream, without
MetLife you won’t have a home?” After I bought my
first building, I told a former colleague, “Tell him that
I bought a building.
“About eight years ago, I started to get involved
in the community because of an article that I read in
a newspaper where someone made a racist comment.
My first fundraiser was to raise money for an elementary
school operated by nuns in Mexico. The nuns
wrote to me and asked if I could help because every
time it rained outside, it rained inside the school and
they didn’t have the funds to fix the roof. I raised
$2,500 for the school. Once I did that, everyone in
the community began to see that I could do things
for the community and groups such as Song Catchers
asked me to help them.
“I became a community activist. Every time
someone challenges me, it gives me encouragement.
After that article I decided to become more acculturated
and to see how I could contribute to my community.
At the time New Rochelle Mayor, Tim Idoni,
asked me to serve on the City planning board. He
really opened doors for me. When redistricting was
taking place in New Rochelle, the Democratic City
Committee was looking for a candidate to run but no
one wanted to do it. So I decided to run.
“Shortly thereafter I met Maria Munoz Kantha,
who began to take me around to different political
functions. I even went to those that I preferred not to
attend. I’m a good listener and if I think that an idea
is a good one, I will take it.”
What was your impression of this country when
you first came here?
“I was overwhelmed. My mother and father didn’t
have money to buy clothes so I wore used clothes. It
was very tough. When I came to this country and realized
that I could work and buy my own things, that
was a very good feeling.”
What were you looking to accomplish in coming
here? Have you accomplished your goals?
“I accomplished my goals and more. I own a
company. I own real estate, I have a family and now
I’m a council member. I became a citizen because I
wanted to vote. I voted in the very first election after
becoming a citizen. I have three children: Debbie 14,
Roberto 12 and Clarisse 8. I purposely spoke Spanish
at home because I didn’t want to loose my heritage
and I wanted my children to learn Spanish. Now my
children are completely bilingual.”
Do you plan to return to your homeland?
“No way! In my hometown, there are no opportunities
there, and I have children and their lives are
here. This is my home. I’m very comfortable here. I
like what I have here.”
What was a typical day for you in your
hometown?
“A typical day for me was getting up at 5:00 am to
milk the cows, about 100 liters of milk every morning.
From there I would go home, have breakfast and
go to school until 2:00 pm. Then I would separate the
calves from the cows and feed the animals and make
preparations for the next day. I had that job seven days
a week - I didn’t have a chance to play. I started to do
this work at the age of four. My grandfather would
take me on horseback to where the animals were at
5:00am and he would build a fire so that I would keep
warm because it was so cold that I couldn’t move.”
What are your future plans?
“To get re-elected to the common council. I’ll be
very happy with that, and stay active in the community.
While the opportunities for immigrants that come to
this country increase, their lives by any means is not what
they usually envision it to be. While for some like Councilman
Lopez, with hard work and determination manage
to accomplish their goals. There are others whom find
themselves trapped, but regardless, they have to make the
best of their situations because no matter how difficult
life in the US may be, the lack of opportunities in their
homelands keeps them from going back. n

THE WESTCHESTER GUARDIAN THURSDAY, AUGUST 31, 2006 PAGE 9
Design Inspirations
Use Your ‘Magic’ to Create
the Illusion of Space
Veronica Imperatrice
Remember the days of watching Bewitched on television
and seeing Samantha do her magic? Well, you
too can do a little magic of your own for your home.
Creating space within space is so often a
necessity. There are many ways of dealing with this
problem. There are tools of the trade that you can
master and use as needed.
Let’s begin by seeing how one large room can function
when separated into both a dining and living area. If
you are using a round table in your dining room, there
is no need to have chairs with arms, they can all be just
side chairs. Remember to allow twenty four inches in
depth for each chair, so someone can sit comfortably.
When trying to separate your two areas, visualize
how your furniture might sit. The best way to begin is
by doing a newspaper layout right on the floor. Measure
each item, then cut out the size of what you have
and transfer that to the newspaper. Now you can see
your plan before you go any further.
Once you are pleased with your layout, it is time to
place your pieces in your room and adapt some easy ways
to divide and yet keep a comfortable flow throughout.
If you float your sofa, (that means not to place on
a wall, but across a room), that is a perfect way to get
things started. You might want to add something tall
behind the sofa, but not bulky. A tree or an open étagère
are excellent items to help create the illusion of division.
A mirror hung on one of the walls, on the narrower
side, will help create the sense of enlarging the
room by reflecting what is across from it. The use of
glass tops for your tables, rather than all wood, will
be a great way to allow a feeling of openness and airiness
that will be needed in the room.
I spoke of the dining area and how you will work
with this space. Well, dining rooms are where we set a
mood, not just a table. Every detail you add to the room
or area, will be noticed and appreciated by your friends
and family, perhaps more than in any other area.
It’s not just about eating a meal. It’s where we share
our thoughts, laugh away the day, and spend time
with those we care about. So keeping that thought in
mind, lets talk about some ways you can help create a
fun-filled and beautiful setting where you dine.
Center pieces are always a lovely addition. Fresh
flowers, candles, even a bowl of fruit are often a perfect
way to begin. But what would you think about
creating a theme for a meal?
Serving seafood? Perhaps a collection of seashells
for the table and large bibs for your guests, fresh newspaper
instead of a cloth table covering. Make a minimenu
and place it by each setting; your guests will get
India, continued from page 7
overwhelm you in the way India always does to those
visiting for the first time-
Without too much exaggeration, cities like Bombay
and New Delhi make Manhattan seem like a
sleepy town in the Midwest; like a game of checkers
compared to three-dimensional chess. The key is to
get away from the major cities after no more than two
or three days if it’s your first trip, or else you’ll be left
dizzy and disoriented and exhausted before you know
it. A day trip east from Bombay to Ajanta and Ellora
is highly recommend for their mind boggling ancient
sites of both Hindu and Buddhist temples and grottos
carved out of solid rock. You’ll be running into plenty
of active Hindu temples along the way, so don’t worry
about missing out on them. Then head south along
the west coast for starters, as there is still plenty to
see and do along the coast as it actually gets cooler
and the air is cleaner. A day in Goa will make you
want to stay another with its fine beaches (such as
Colva) along with its intriguing Portuguese Christian
heritage (Se Cathedral, Basilica de Bom Jesus), as St.
Francis Xavier slept here.
Keep going, though, as Bangalore, becoming well
a kick out of anticipating, and seeing, what
their next dish will be.
Whether it’s dinner for two, or a few,
set your table with care and purpose. Try
using different plates for each setting, thus
creating a rainbow of color. Every little
bit of something new and different will be
admired. It’s a part of you that your family
will love, appreciate and look forward to.
The best compliment for any meal that I
ever receive is not about how great my cooking
was, but rather, seeing everyone sitting
around the table after they have all eaten, and
knowing that they have enjoyed one another,
the experience of the meal, and they are still
seated when I return to the table. Don’t eat
and run in my house! n
Next week, I will be share some ideas on how to
create the window treatment you’ve been searching for.
know as the Silicon Valley of India, is worth a visit
and is more manageable and attractive than most cities
in India with its Lalbagh botanical garden dating
to 1760, the impressive Vidhana Soudha which houses
the state legislature, and the Palace of Tipu Sultan.
There’s great shopping for yourself and souvenirs at
Cauvery Handicrafts Emporium.
Be sure to take a boat ride through the backwaters
of Kerala further south if you have time, with its
breathtaking beauty, including mangroves forests and
scenes of village life along the way. Don’t miss taking
in a classical Kathakali ‘story play’ dance performance
while still in the State of Kerala.
Those are just a handful of things you can do on
this itinerary. There are also wildlife refuges and trekking
opportunities among other choices. The food is
phenomenal everywhere, with more tropical flavor
as you head south, but stick with bottled beverages.
Their own brands are fine and perfectly safe to drink.
Try to take the train at least one way during your
tour, preferably going, and then fly back to Mumbai
or New Delhi. WT

PAGE 10
THE WESTCHESTER GUARDIAN THURSDAY, AUGUST 31, 2006
at home with... The Great Chefs of Westchester
Prior to joining Zanaro’s, Chef Dnistrian was the
Director of Food and Beverage for Spirit Cruises, and
a District Manager for the Compass Group NAD
Chartwell’s Division, overseeing the food service division
for a number of school districts. As Food and
Beverage Manager for Aramark, his clients included
Citibank. Distrian has also held professional postitions
with the Marriott and Hilton Hotels.
It’s too hot to turn on the oven! Chef Dnistrian has a
tasty meal that is quickly assembled after a quick trip
to the market: Bruschetta and Green Bean Salad, an
easy meal to prepare over the Labor Day weekend!
“ I love Tuscan food,” says Dnistrian “very simple
food, done right. I try to keep it simple, I’m
cooking for myself and the person who is going to
enjoy it. I keep the food as authentic as possible,
with food fresh from the market--the freshest ingredients
the market has to offer. I only use what
I buy each day. If meat or fish is a day old, I don’t
use it. This is the policy of Zanaro’s as well.We
make our own dinner and hamburger rolls, focaccia,
and bread daily. For dessert, we try to tempt
every one, with desserts like Cannolli, Cheesecake,
Tiramisu and Creme Brule.”
Green Bean Salad
Served on round plate
Chef Joe Dnistrian
We love to eat in their Restaurants and cannot help
but wonder, what do they make at home for their families
and friends? So, we decided to ask! Each week, our
Food column features a special Guest Writer-- a professional
Westchester chef! The articles focus on a simple
recipe that is not on their restaurant or catering menu,
food preparation tips, gadgets they cannot live without,
wine and menu pairings, a favorite holiday recipe, staples
they always keep on hand or how to salvage a dish
that didn’t quite work out right.
This week, our special guest writer is Chef Joseph
Dnistrian of Zanaro’s Restaurant in White Plains.
Chef Dnistrian grew up in the restaurant business
and has over 20 years of experience as a chef. He is
a graduate of the Culinary Arts Institute of Hudson
County Community College. Chef Dnistrian also
holds an undergraduate degree in Political Science
with a minor in Economics and an MBA in International
Business and Finance, from St. Peter’s College
in Jersey City, NJ.
Zanaro’s Italian Restaurant
Joseph A. Dnistrian
Director of Culinary Development & Operations
Yuwah Wong
Chef de Cuisine
1 Mamaroneck Ave & Main St., White Plains
914.397.9400
Open Monday -Thursday 11A-11P
Friday and Saturday 11A-12MN
Sunday 11A -10P
Happy Hour 3P-6:30P and 9P-Closing
Sunday Brunch 11A-3P Parking Available
www.zanarosny.com
Bruschetta
12
4
4
1/2
1/4
32
1
1 1/2
1
Slices of Bread: Peasant, Baguette or
Sourdough Boule
Oz. Olive Oil (Pure or Extra Virgin)
Each diced Vine Ripened Tomatoes
Each finely diced Onion
Cup chopped Fresh Basil
Cloves chopped Garlic
Oz. Balsamic Vinegar
Tsp. Kosher Salt
Tsp. Black Pepper
Cut the bread in to 1/2” thick slices and brush generously
with olive oil, grill on a hot grill until browned
on both sides and set aside.
In a saute pan, lightly toast the garlic in olive oil and
remove. Place in a bowl with tomatoes, balsamic vinegar,
onions, basil, salt & pepper and toss together.
Spoon tomato mixture on top of the grilled bread and
Garnish with fresh basil and serve.
Tips & Influences:
Favorite Gadgets: “My seasoned saute pan,
a cast iron pan I even use on the barbecue; molds
we use for desserts.”
Major Influence: Mario Batali (The Food Network)
and his love for Italian cuisine: he makes the
simplest classic peasant dish something we can
bring into our home.”
Can’t Cook Without: “Really great Olive Oil,
Garlic, the freshest Basil and Tomatoes.”
6 oz
½ ea
2 oz
1 oz
2 oz.
Green Beans
Tomato cut in ¼
2 oz. Red Onions
Spring Mix
Red Wine Vinaigrette
Cook the beans in simmering salted water till
al dente then immerse in an ice bath.
Mix green beans, onions, tomato, spring mix and
vinaigrette on the plate.
Mound green beans and red onions on center of
the spring mix. Height is important
Place tomato wedges at 12 o’clock, 3 o’clock,
6 o’clock and 9 o’clock.
The Chef says....
“ Everyone who comes through the door
is a friend, so I always feel like I am cooking
for my family. We are offering a one
of a kind experience, a taste of Tuscany,
without getting on an airplane.”

THE WESTCHESTER GUARDIAN THURSDAY, AUGUST 31, 2006 PAGE 11
On the National Scene
Fred Polvere
Once We Were Giants
When I was growing up, World War II movies
were a staple on television. One of those films, The
Purple Heart, was strikingly different from the others.
The film, based on a true story, portrayed the plight of
a crew captured when its B-25 bomber was downed
during General (then Lt. Colonel) Jimmy Doolittle’s
raid on Japan in April 1942.
In film, and in fact, the Japanese military was incensed
that Americans could strike Japan so soon after
Pearl Harbor, and were determined to find out how
it happened. The crew members were tortured by the
Japanese, but to no avail. The Japanese general in charge
of getting their flight information stages a sham trial to
further humiliate the crew and to threaten them with
death unless the Americans tell whether they took off
from a carrier or from a Chinese air field.
In the film, none of the eight crew members reveal
that they took off from the USS Hornet and so
are sentenced to die. In real life, three of the crew
members were executed - the other five had their sentences
commuted to life in prison; one prisoner died
of mistreatment before the war ended..
The film’s message was unambiguous. Despite a
sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, despite enemies who
tortured our captured servicemen and who threatened
our very democracy, we were different. Unlike
our enemies, we did not torture and did not condone
ill treatment of prisoners in our custody. Through
World Wars I & II, Korea, Vietnam and many minor
conflicts, the United States stood for humane treatment
of prisoners. Sadly, that is no longer the case.
In 2002, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld
wanted to grant the military the use of torture as an
addition to its arsenal of intelligence-seeking methods.
The Bush administration agreed, and charged
the Department of Justice with finding legal basis to
justify torture of prisoners of war.
At Justice, John Yoo, a young, mid-level lawyer
with a reputation of always claiming to have the answer
before doing any research, provided the Administration
with the tortured logic it sought. Yoo
defined torture narrowly, arguing that it “must be
equivalent in intensity to the pain accompanying serious
physical injury, such as organ failure, impairment
of bodily function, or even death.” Yoo even justified
death threats and mental harm as long as they were
not “prolonged;” Yoo gave no indication of how long
“prolonged” is.
Jay Bybee, head of the Office of Legal Counsel
which is the legal and ethical advisor to the Justice
Department, incorporated Yoo’s exact words in his
formal legal opinion that basically defined torture as
occurring “only when serious injury or death of a prisoner
occurs.” Alberto Gonzales, then the White House
Counsel, agreed with Bybee and Yoo and advised President
Bush that the war on terrorism “renders obsolete
Geneva’s strict limitations on questioning of enemy
prisoners and renders quaint some of its provisions.”
Once the administration’s blessing was given to
“defining torture down,” it was fully accepted by William
Haynes II, the Pentagon’s general counsel, despite
serious warnings and misgivings by top lawyers
in the military’s Judge Advocate Offices. Haynes also
allowed for sham tribunals in which prisoners can be
tried without being at the trial, with testimony that is
not available to be rebutted, with witnesses who are
not identified, and even with hearsay testimony. These
new “standards” were quickly put into practice.
Major General Geoffrey Miller was placed in charge
of the detention facilities at Guantánamo Bay (“Gitmo”)
knowing full well what the administration wanted. Miller
put the prisoners in isolation, did not allow them legal
counsel, told his guards to “soften” the prisoners for the
interrogators and did not allow access to the press, to
Human Rights Watch or to Amnesty International. The
administration described these prisoners as the “worst
of the worst” as if that were justification for its abusive
practices. In fact, by the administration’s own later admission,
many of the detainees were farmers who had
been picked up because they happened to be in the
wrong place at the wrong time.
As the war in Iraq worsened, contrary to Bush-
Cheney-Rumsfeld predictions, and the insurgency
was proving remarkably resilient, Miller was sent to
Iraq to Gitmo-ize the Abu Ghraib prison and get intelligence
to quell the insurgency. Only a fraction of
Miller’s handiwork is public, since the photos of prisoner
abuse at Abu Ghraib that most of us have seen are
not close to being the most violent; those were deemed
too upsetting for the American public to see.
Torture and the widespread mistreatment of
prisoners became institutionalized by an administration
desperate for victories, no matter what the
costs. The administration has admitted that torture
has occurred at Guantánamo Bay, Abu Ghraib and
Bagram, Afghanistan but always explains the incidents
as the work of a few bad apples. It does not
reply to queries about why directives coming down
the chain of command reflect a disdain for the Geneva
Conventions and a continued willingness to
condone torture. To this day, the Bush Administration
will not renounce Extraordinary Rendition, the
process by which we send prisoners to other countries
to torture them.
A widely respected report on how to get information
from prisoners of war was written in 1943 by
Marine Major Sherwood F. Moran. Moran observed
that the most successful interrogators, the ones who
extracted the most useful information all had one
thing in common – they were “nice” to their Japanese
prisoners. Plus, intelligence and criminal experts
agree that information garnered through torture
is almost always useless. Why an administration
chooses to ignore reality is inexplicable.
Top military and legal generals have warned that
torture and weakening of the Geneva Conventions
places our servicemen and servicewoman at serious
risk in the event of their capture. Is it because not one
high administration official has a child in the Armed
Services that the consequences faced by Americans
taken prisoner are not considered important enough?
Congress proclaimed the use of torture so egregious
that the United States Senate voted 90-9 in
favor of the McCain Detainee Amendment which
prohibited cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment
of detainees in U.S. custody. On December 30, 2005,
President Bush signed this into law but negated its
entire intent with the following signing statement:
The Executive Branch shall construe Title X in Division
A of the Act, relating to detainees, [the torture ban]
in a manner consistent with the constitutional authority
of the President to supervise the unitary Executive
Branch and as Commander in Chief and consistent with
the constitutional limitations on the judicial power.
Continued on page 14

PAGE 12
THE WESTCHESTER GUARDIAN THURSDAY, AUGUST 31, 2006
Horoscope
Shelley L. Ackerman
Photo/Kate Lacey
Ready for work?
The astrological sign of Virgo (Aug 23-Sep 22)
rules work. Was it a mere coincidence that Labor Day
was first celebrated on September 5, 1882, during Virgo
month or was there some cosmic intelligence at play?
Either way, as we gear up the new school year, the
words of Russian playwright Anton Chekhov come to
mind: “Work without poetry is work without meaning”.
Be sure that you love what you do, it’s a gift you deserve.
Aries: After an unpleasant confrontation a
day or two ago, this week is pure inspiration! A gutsy
gamble or chance encounter pays off. The harmony
between Venus and Pluto could bring in enough to
pay off a school loan or secure a scholarship for a
course you’ve been longing to take. If you’re not in
the mood for the confinement of a classroom, an educational
trip could do the trick- be sure to carefully tie
up any loose ends at work before traveling.
Taurus: If you haven’t found your dream
house yet, improve the one you’re in now. Extra space
appears as if by magic when a relative or a roommate’s
lot improves or you just throw out all the unnecessary
clutter. Celebrate the success of your significant other
or your best friend. Their good fortune can be contagious.
Should the need arise, a bank loan or refinancing
is available.
Gemini: Yes people are talking about you,
but before the paranoia sets in, did it ever cross your
over-active mind that what they’re saying could actually
help you? Balancing the needs of your family or
your physical living space vs. career demands from
out of the blue should be viewed as a thrilling challenge
rather than an annoyance. Admit it: You thrive
on surprises.
Cancer: If you’re single and alone and don’t
want to be, you don’t HAVE to be. Your social life improves
by way of an invitation that seems odd at first.
Accept it. And from the “Out of the mouths of babes”
department: Your child’s observation may embody the
wisdom of the ages. Thank him or her and offer praise.
At work, logjam finally breaks which allows you to create
a schedule that works better for all concerned.
Shimmering Stars:
Aug 31- Sept 6, 2006
Leo: Saturn in your sign doesn’t have to restrict
you, it can be used to ‘mature’ you as this week’s
helpful Venus/Pluto aspect refines your glorious creativity
to noble perfection: AND you’re looking better
than ever! A situation with an immovable relative
changes overnight, providing more time for recreation.
But for now, and as paradoxical as it seems, all
play should have a purpose.
Virgo: The Summer seems to have ended
earlier for you than for the rest of us. You’re busy,
popular, and in need of some peace and quiet. Schedule
some pampering so that you can remain calm and
centered as meet your real or imagined obligations.
By Shelley L. Ackerman
“Planets are people” is the astrologer’s creed, and
it seems that Pluto (a/k/a ‘Lord of the Underworld’)
has gotten a taste of his own medicine - as the fate
of the planet has been decided and he’s now off the
list of planets - for the time being.
Astrologers the world over are chuckling as we
file the International Astronomical Union’s Pluto ruling
under ‘Poetic Justice’.
To get the astrologically uninitiated up to speed,
when at their worst, magnetic and charming Plutotypes
(John Gotti, Charles Manson) can be manipulative
and controlling or miracle workers (Madame
Curie) as they hold so many cards in matters of life
and death. In horoscopes, Pluto is often the culprit
when a relationship abruptly ends and you’re left in
the dust to wonder why. Now as Pluto finds himself
at the mercy of the left-brained scientists of the I.A.U,
one muses: does he even care how he’s categorized by
mortals on earth? Probably not.
In the final analysis whether he’s a planet, an
asteroid, or a radioactive matzoh ball, the ruler of
Scorpio has proven himself worthy of a permanent
place in all horoscopes. So regardless of what the
The confrontation between your ruler mercury and
unpredictable Uranus Sept 2-4 can make you accident
prone. Go slow. Mishaps are avoidable if you err
on the side of caution. Enjoy the heightened activityit
beats loneliness.
Libra: Ask and ye shall receive. As powerful
Pluto moves forward and expansive Jupiter in your
second house of income is in good dialogue with Uranus
in your 6th house of work, the time is ripe to ask
for a raise. Be clear about what you want and why you
deserve it, and for heavens’ sake, don’t expect others
to be able to read your mind. Relationships, love, and
Continued on the next page
Astrologers to Astronomers in Prague:
You’re Dead Wrong!
Should Astro-Lobbyists Have Stormed Prague
to Insist Pluto Retain its Planet Status?
astronomers meeting in Prague have decreed, every
astrologer worth his or her salt will continue to
consider Pluto’s influence in their work.
And since Pluto rules death and rebirth and is
known for his ability to regenerate, he may very well
turn out to be the “Comeback-Kid” of the zodiac.
Along said lines, as August 29th’s tense and
agitating showdown between Mars and Pluto
subsides, a harmonious aspect between Venus
and Pluto comes into play on September 1st. As
Pluto moves out of retrograde (backward motion)
and turns direct on Sept 4, the energy for
good financial karma in general and positive
movement forward on many fronts becomes
available to all.
Let’s hold a good thought this week as Saturn,
Lord of Karma, transits the touchy 18th degree of
Leo, the degree of the Aug ’99 solar eclipse that
many astrologers say set the stage for 9/11. Some
are predicting more drama at the beginning of September
and several anticipate further revelations
about events that lead to the 2001 tragedy. Can the
capture of the 9/11 Kingpin be far behind?

THE WESTCHESTER GUARDIAN THURSDAY, AUGUST 31, 2006 PAGE 13
Pirro’s Misconduct, continued from page 2
Balancio’s death.” Justice Calabresi states, “Whatever
else it may be, it is not murder to shoot a dead
body. Man dies but once.”
He then gets tough with Janet DiFiore, who now appears
to relish defending and justifying Jeanine Pirro’s
outrageously unlawful prosecutorial misconduct, declaring,
“The government’s contentions to the contrary
are wholly without merit.” He goes on, “In the first
place, if there were questions about the reliability of the
exculpatory information, it was the prerogative of the
Defendant and his counsel, and not of the Prosecution,
to exercise judgment in determining whether the Defendant
should make use of it.”
The Court concludes that the information was
favorable to the Defendant, and material, and that its
late disclosure significantly influenced the outcome of
the trial. The Court further notes the existence of one
very small spot of blood supposedly connecting the
Defendant, on a sweater that, interestingly was never
proven to have belonged to DiSimone. The Court reminds
that, “No witness testified to seeing the stabbing,
and the murder weapon was not recovered.”
What the Court may not have known was that
the Prosecution’s so-called Blood Splatter Expert was
hired two days before the trial, and was paid more
than $30,000 to make his assessments from photographs.
Neither could the Court be aware of Mrs.
Pirro’s antics. Appearing several times in the trial
courtroom with the victim’s mother, and on television
and in the press with her as well, all calculated to
improperly persuade the jury.
Judge Calabresi declares, “We hold that there is
a reasonable probability that had this material (the
statement implicating Djonovic) been available the
result in the case would have been quite different.”
Those who have observed the patterns and practices
over twelve years in the Westchester District
Attorney’s Office under Jeanine Pirro are only too
well aware of the repeated outrageous prosecutorial
misconduct, and outright criminal activity engaged
in to achieve her despicable self-promotional agenda,
The Anthony DiSimone case is but one of a long list
of serious injustices perpetrated by Jeanine Pirro and
a small number of misguided and selfishly motivated
prosecutors whose criminal and reprehensible actions
are just now slowly coming to light.
There are numerous innocent individuals, who,
like Mr. DiSimone have been incarcerated for crimes
they did not commit. They and their families have
paid, and continue to pay, for the mistake the People
of Westchester made three times when they entrusted
Jeanine Pirro to be their chief law enforcement officer.
Over Time, as the courts recognize the magnitude and
the frequency of Mrs. Pirro’s evil, criminal deeds, under
the color of law, the taxpayers of Westchester will be
burdened with the cost of compensating her victims.
The Depraved Indifference Murder Statute has
been a “boondoggle,” abused and manipulated by prosecutors
throughout New York State for 39 years, with
the full knowledge and complicity of the state’s highest
court. Not until March 2004, with the Gonzalez Decision,
out of Rochester, did the Court of Appeals begin
to seriously, if not wholeheartedly, come to grips with
the injustices worked by ruthless prosecutors through
its nebulous and confusing language.
Some prosecutors more than others, those whose
agendas were most self-promotional, such as Jeanine
Pirro, and Charles Hynes, abused the statute to the
level of criminality, frequently offering juries, and
unwary judges, a smorgasbord selection of murder
theories, Intentional, or Depraved Mind, counting on
the notion that “juries love to compromise.”
Those of us who attended the oral arguments in the
DiSimone case, emerged from the courthouse not quite
sure of what we had witnessed, given that the principle
claim involved Depraved Indifference Murder, and yet, the
three justices had continued to dwell on, and ask questions,
almost exclusively, about Brady violations. Later that
day we got a glimpse of what was on their minds, when
the Court posted information on the Policano case, and
took the most unusual step, calling upon the New York
State Court of Appeals for “certification” regarding the
Depraved Indifference Murder Statute, and whether the
rules of interpretation under which that court has been
recently operating constitute “old, or new, law.”
In reality, the Federal Court was saying to the
state’s highest court, “You’ve permitted this situation
that unjustly, and unfairly advantages prosecutors to
go on for nearly forty years. And, now, suddenly two
years ago, you began dealing with it. Well, some of the
residue is landing on our steps, so please give us some
guidance to help us clean up your mess.” n
Continued from previous page
everyone else’s problems should not be the focus this
week: You are!
Scorpio: The bonus that has been held up
for months is on its way- and there are so many options
for its use. Be grateful for your good fortune
and remember to share the wealth. A woman is extremely
helpful in helping you to achieve your goals
so refrain from turning her off by giving her the third
degree. This time your suspicions are unwarranted.
An investment property offered may be a good idea.
Explore it.
Sagittarius: Though confrontational Mars
in your 10th house of career has crossed swords with
your sense of self determination last week in the form
of an edgy and unreasonable superior, your higher self
now sees how smart you were to not have taken the
bate by engaging in their drama. Your reward: your
‘guardian angel’ is back from vacation and is ready
to work overtime to smooth things out and set your
finances back on track.
Capricorn: A lot has been happening behind
the scenes and you’ve been challenged to keep
the faith during a sequence in which so much control
has been out of your hands. What’s more, the tension
from Neptune to your ruler Saturn in the financial
dept. adds to concern about where things are heading.
Keep in mind that your perception may be off for
a while so cultivate a comrade or two on whose judgment
you can depend should you need it.
Aquarius: Ready, Set, Connect
and Share! Sweet Venus in your 7th
house of relationship in good aspect to
Pluto moving forward (in your house of
friends) adds to your appeal and your
popularity soars! A minor misunderstanding
clears up as if by magic and career
action brings extra money your way.
You don’t have to blow it all now, you
know. Your ability to influence others is
on the rise.
Pisces: As Pluto in your house of
professional achievement goes direct, there’s
some exciting news about a promotion or a
new job on the horizon. The lucky aspect be-
tween your co-ruler Jupiter and Uranus this week sharpens
your intuition and reflexes so that you can respond
on a dime. Hooray! And on the home front: if a partner
or significant other blurts something out in the heat of the
moment, listen. What they’re saying is important. n
Shelley Ackerman can be reached at 212.539.3100
her website is www.karmicrelief.com

PAGE 14
THE WESTCHESTER GUARDIAN THURSDAY, AUGUST 31, 2006
Our Readers Respond...
Dear Editor:
Your article on New Rochelle expounds on Mayor Noam
Bramson’s views of the city’s high rise buildings. His characterization
of New Rochelle’s dramatic “transformation” does not address
the many quality of life issues which have been detailed in the recent
Draft Environmental Impact Statements (DEIS) and sharply
contrasts to other views expressed which criticize these high rise
buildings as out of place and architecturally undistinguished. (“Just
How High Should Progress Go” by Joseph Berger, New York Times,
August 6, 2006, and “Is Westchester Missing an Opportunity?” by
Cheryl Winter Lewy, The Sound Report, August 18, 2006).
In the DEIS for the LeCount Square proposal, taxpayers are
told that more police officers, firefighters and officers and another
part time ambulance is needed. The DEIS for the proposed
Church/Division garage also cites the need for more city service
workers, but adds to this mix that the Department of Public Works
would require an additional two workers, a motor equipment operator,
and a vehicle. The Fire Commissioner stated a taller ladder
is needed for “vertical response.” Noise levels in the areas of
both projects are already at unacceptable levels according to HUD
guidelines and city ordinances. Our sewage processing plant is
operating above its permit level and backups have occurred in
cellars, especially during heavy rain storms.
To add to all this mix, in the August 20, 2006 Journal News
(“Changes May Come to North Avenue” by Ken Valenti) it is
stated that New Rochelle is seeking a consultant who will be given
directions to “consider allowing taller buildings” to six stories for
the North Avenue corridor (mentioning from the train station and
Iona College). Why is the city seeking a consultant? Intersections
with unsatisfactory traffic conditions have been described
in these recent DEIS’s and North Avenue has always been consid-
We invite our readers’ comments.
Letters should be no more than 300 words in length, and may be edited for
length and clarity. Please email your letters to
editor@Westchester Guardian.com. For verification purposes we ask you
include your address and a daytime phone number.
The Westchester Guardian...
...We are there for you every week:
• Keeping you current with what’s going on in and
around Westchester, and how it might impact
your lives.
• Dedicating ourselves to bringing you the whole
in-depth story, not only part of it.
Look for us every Thursday - you’ll be glad you did!
ered a bottleneck. So how can a consultant honestly recommend
more density on this avenue, and why is a consultant even asked
this question?
Instead, don’t the taxpayers of New Rochelle deserve some historic
preservation of the city and a return to “Common Sense?”
Peggy Godfrey
New Rochelle
Dear Editor:
You recommendations for a twin to the Tappan Zee Bridge is
mistaken. More traffic lanes will encourage more cars, which will
increase pollution and greenhouse gasses. More traffic lanes (including
access roads for the bridges) will mean paving over more
land, and too much of our natural and architectural heritage has
already been lost to pavement. In addition, taking property for
traffic lanes will decrease property tax revenues and add to housing
problems. Furthermore, building a new bridge will be at least
as expensive as the alternate you scorn.
Instead, we should seek to increase river-crossing capacity
without bringing in new vehicles. A good solution would be a
light rail on the existing bridge. Two light rail tracks (one for each
direction) can fit into the space of a single traffic lane. The light
rail could run from Rockland County to Port Chester, eventually,
but at least it should cross the bridge. The light rail can be built
during rehabilitation of the existing bridge.
And if rehabilitating the existing bridge means temporarily reducing
its capacity less than the end product will have, there can
be ferries across the river with shuttle buses instead of massive
parking lots to bring people to them. Some of the ferries can keep
operating even after the bridge’s lanes are put back in service.
Giants, continued from page 11
Jeanette Wolfberg
Mount Kisco
When President Bush is questioned on any of his controversial decisions, his
stock reply has been, “9/11 changed everything.” This is the truest statement he has
ever made. When the President of the United States cannot stand before us and say
our government will not abide by, nor abet torture, then 9/11 has changed everything.
It has changed us so that we have become just like our enemies. It is time for
all good people to demand that we change back.
• John Yoo is now a professor of law at the University of California at Berkeley School
of Law and a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute.
• Jay Bybee is now a federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth
Circuit.
• Alberto Gonzales is now Attorney General of the United States.
• William Haynes II has been nominated to the United States Court of Appeals for
the Fourth Circuit.
• Major General Geoffrey Miller retired from the Army and was awarded the Distinguished
Service Medal.
• George W. Bush is still President of the United States.

THE WESTCHESTER GUARDIAN THURSDAY, AUGUST 31, 2006 PAGE 15
Marriage and Family in Westchester
Dr. Maria Munoz Kantha
Parenting and Empowering Our
Daughters in Today’s World
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The challenges of parenting and empowering
our daughters to increase their girl powers and self
esteem are complex and multifaceted. The messages,
resources and tools remain scant, and the intersection
of feminism, mothering and psychological stressors
can be troubling and confusing and viewed as a restraining
force.
Family structure in this society is no longer represented
by the stereotypic myth in which a mother
stays at home to care for children. Reconstituted
families, extended families, multigenerational families,
multicultural families, homosexual families, extended
families, and, joint employment of spouses
and single parenthood are common family scenarios.
Families have grown in complexity but often must
survive on limited financial, social, and emotional
resources. Given the complex nature of these new developments,
how can a parent encourage their daughters
to empower themselves as equals to their male
counterparts?
Many societal problems translate into particular
social and psychological issues for women, leaving
them at risk for physical and mental health concerns.
Many of my young clients have been previously diagnosed
in medical and mental health clinics with depression,
eating disorders, substance abuse problems
as well as anxiety and somatic complaints.
A growing number of studies show sleep deprivation
as an issue for many young women. This can
affect an adolescent’s ability to learn, and to get along
with others, and as they grow into young adulthood.
Many of my young female adolescent clients report
being worried and preoccupied with not feeling good
enough. They feel ugly, fat, skinny, and not smart
enough. Many view their mothers as traditional and
oppressed, essentially giving mixed messages on
male/female roles, and relationships.
How do feminist approaches to clinical work
define intervention in these problems? In addition,
what about the intervention is particular to Girl Power?
Recent studies show that Girl Power has had both
a positive and negative impact on young girls and
adolescents. Some are going overboard while others
are confused by identity issues and competition with
male counterparts.
Such social and psychological problems may be
formidable. Still, approaches to problem solving are
rooted in the historical values and morality of the
family. The differences in relationship patterns that
female children have with their parent or adult figures
in our society, and their subsequent socialization
and consequent behavior may take different courses
than those of their male counterparts.
Historically, female children are socially permitted
to have closer emotional contact, especially with their
mothers, for longer periods in their lives. They are
socialized to behavior patterns that reflect parenting
concerns such as the well-being of others, nurturing,
age appropriate, non-aggressive cooperation, and collaborative
problem solving. However, feminist theory
states that developmental theory assumes a genderblind
stance and suggests that the emotional worlds of
men and women are the same.
The world and structure of women, and women’s
concepts of self, the effect of external and oppressive
structures on women’s psychological development
must be acknowledged in order for our daughters to
accept and acculturate. It is common in today’s family
to give double messages.
Hence, many feminist practitioners point to the
need to balance, especially within the professional
psychotherapeutic community, normality and deviance
and to include the experiences and perceptions
of women and people from all ethnic, racial, class,
sexual orientation, age, and religious groups.
Attention to power dynamics in females and attention
to gender, and issues of power, are areas that
cannot be minimized. We should continue to develop
new social theories that will empower young women
to develop their existence, self esteem and “girl power”
in a healthier and less threatening family environment.
If we are to be true to our female oppressive historical
roots, we must realize, and deal, with the reality and be
honest with our daughters about the unequal distribution
of power that exists currently between males and
females. If these issues are not dealt with, not only will
our future girl power be denied developmental growth
they deserve, but also our society as a whole will suffer
in its socio-political, economic and psychological
growth and development. n

PAGE 16
THE WESTCHESTER GUARDIAN THURSDAY, AUGUST 31, 2006
Taking Judicial Notice
Judge Kenneth Lange
Waiting for Robert Redford
For thirteen years I served as Town Justice of the
Town of Bedford. Geography, and the New York State
Police, dictated that the Bedford Town Court would
have a heavy volume of traffic cases. We stood astride
Interstate 684, the Saw Mill River Parkway, and State
Routes 22, 35 and 117. The State Police alone could
have kept us working full time on traffic summonses
from I-684. That road, originally engineered for a
speed limit of 65mph, in the 1980’s saw its limit reduced
to 55, as part of a national program to conserve
oil. The result of the convergence of theses forces was
a courtroom packed with irate motorists every Thursday
night. They were all waving speeding tickets.
Their complaints became predictable: they were
only speeding to keep from getting run over by tractor
trailers; they were really good drivers, quite capable of
driving safely over 75 mph; and the whole thing was a
setup, so the Town could get money from out-of-town
motorists to build a new Town Hall. When their cases
came to trial, the most common defense was that they
weren’t driving 76 mph as charged, but only say, 68 mph.
When, after hearing this testimony, I found them guilty
of speeding, 68 mph in a 55 mph zone, they were appalled.
Often the Thursday night sessions lasted from 7
pm to 2am. Something had to be done.
With the approval of the Troopers assigned to I -684,
we would announce to the assembled ticket wielders that
we would be affording to them the same rights granted to
the Vice President of the United States (Spiro Agnew), to
negotiate a good-old American plea bargain. Then they
were told that all the money we collected was sent by us
monthly to the State Comptroller, and then the Town received
back ten dollars per case, regardless of how large
or small the fine we imposed. We got the same amount
of money for a dismissal, as for a conviction with a fine
32 Court Street, Suite 707
Brooklyn, New York 11201
Tel: 718-625-2537
1-800-591-1953
Fax: 718-625-6977
William T. Martin
Attorney at Law
2027 Williamsbridge Rd.
Bronx, New York 10461
Tel. 718-892-8588
Judge Kenneth Lange is retired from the Westchester
County Court, where he served for 20 years.
He is now of counsel to the law firm of Banks, Shapiro,
Gettinger and Waldinger, LLP in Mt. Kisco.
of $100. With this newly-received wisdom, the motorists
flocked to negotiate their cases with the Troopers.
And so it was, that in this atmosphere of good
will and “just doing our job”, on the afternoon of November
7, 1981, John Supple, the Troop K instructor
in traffic radar, and leading producer of speeding
tickets on I-684, pulled over an out-of-state motorist
for speeding. The carefully-calibrated instrument
mounted in his cruiser, read “73 mph”. The motorist,
accompanied by his daughter, produced a Utah
driver’s license, identifying him as “Charles R. Redford”,
of Provo. He politely accepted the summons,
and continued on his way northbound.
Within 24 hours the telephones at the State Police
substation in Somers, and the Court Clerk’s office
in Bedford Hills, were ringing off the hooks (actually
cradles by this point in history). The local press, the
New York tabloids, and the national wire services
jumped on the “story”, followed by network TV news.
The story line was that Robert Redford was on his
way to visit Paul Newman at his horse farm in North
Salem when he was stopped for speeding by Trooper
Supple. John Supple has since told me, and anyone
else who would listen, that Redford never told him
that he was on his way to visit Newman. According
to Supple, they never discussed where Redford was
headed. But the “story” was too good to die.
Mr. Redford entered a “not guilty” plea on the
back of the summons, and signed an affidavit prepared
by his lawyer, Lawrence Maffei of Yonkers, authorizing
the lawyer to make all appearances in his
behalf. This is a long-established, but seldom-used
practice, for disposing of violations and petty offenses
under the Criminal Procedure Law. This important
development was ignored by some segments of the
media, which continued to maintain their vigil every
time the case was on the Court’s calendar.
On the occasion of one such nonevent, a network
news truck was parked outside the Town Hall
all morning. After the crew was repeatedly told that
Mr. Redford would not be there, and that his case had
been adjourned, they proceeded to shoot footage for
their story anyway. That evening I watched the television
news to see what they could possibly muster.
There was a shot of the exterior of the building, then
a shot of the empty courtroom, while a newscaster
intoned that Robert Redford had failed to appear to
answer the summons issued to him for speeding to
Paul Newman’s horse farm. The television footage
ended with a bizarre interview of the Assistant Court
Clerk, standing in front of her office bulletin board,
pointing to a picture of a dog. “We’ve had many celebrities
here, “she said, “This is Jennifer O’Neill’s dog,
who had a summons once”.
Manic behavior can be contagious, and I was not
immune. Redford’s lawyer made a pro-forma written
motion to dismiss the case, based on the claim that
the papers filed by the Trooper were not sufficiently
detailed to support the charge. I climbed on the bandwagon
in my written decision in People vs. Charles
R. Redford. I pointed out that the use of State Police
Speak by the Trooper, however terse, was still legally
sufficient to describe his method of determining the
speed of a moving vehicle. Somewhat puckishly, I
added that, in a more perfect world, Trooper Supple
would have described his abilities by quoting Butch
Cassidy’s line, spoken to the Sundance Kid: “Boy I got
vision, and the rest of the world just wears bifocals”.
I don’t know if Robert Redford was amused. He
did enter into a typical plea bargain, through his lawyer
and paid his fine. He never appeared in Court.
I wallowed in my thirty seconds of fame, although
some wags felt I had engaged in shameless self-promotion.
My performance was received more favorably
the farther one got from Bedford. Shortly after
the decision was announced, I received a letter from a
man in Walla Walla, Washington. The letter enclosed
an article, clipped from his local newspaper, carrying
the AP wire story about the case. He wrote:
Continued on the next page

THE WESTCHESTER GUARDIAN THURSDAY, AUGUST 31, 2006 PAGE 17
Waiting, continued from previous page
The attached clipping reminds me of my Uncle
Roscoe [Roscoe Merrill - Town Justice - City of Richmond,
Utah]....Uncle Roscoe retired a couple of years
ago, and passed away last fall. He was a respected man
of the area. My thoughts - that Uncle Roscoe & you
might have shared an hour or two.
There it was. The raw material for me to become a
legend in my own mind! Frontier Justice! “Law West
of the Pecos” (Judge Roy Bean’s self proclaimed title),
all over a speeding ticket. Robert Redford didn’t show
up, but Walter Mitty* did! n
* A fictional character in The Secret Life of Walter
Mitty, a 1941 short story by James Thurber. Mitty, a
mild-mannered man, had a vivid fantasy life, at times
imagining himself to be fighter pilot, an emergency
room surgeon, and a killer without a conscience.
Sharon A. Johnson
Phone: 914-286-7494 PO Box 902
Fax: 914-803-1611 Bronxville, NY 10708-6944
info@careerwiseways.com www.careerwiseways.com
Relationship Problems?
Drinking Too Much?
Having An Affair?
Is anxiety, depression, or stress related to
any of the above getting you down?
HELP IS HERE!
Robert M. Lichtman, PhD
New York State Licensed Mental Health Counselor
Clinical Member American Association
for Marriage and Family Therapy
Susan Krieger, MA
Associate Counselor
914-960-9943 or 914-395-0808
Evening and Weekend Hours By Appointment Only
559 Gramatan Ave., Suite 202, Fleetwood, NY 10552
The Injustice Continues
Jing and Tristram Kelly remain separated
despite the explicit order of the State Supreme
Court, Appellate Division, First
Department, commanding Judge Sara P.
Schechter to bring about immediate visitation
and contact between mother and
child. The Guardian remains in touch
daily with this outrageous injustice.
Look for important updates in next
week’s issue.

PAGE 18
THE WESTCHESTER GUARDIAN THURSDAY, AUGUST 31, 2006
community calendar
CLIP AND SAVE
Items for inclusion in our clip and save Community Calendar
must be free and open to all. Items are published, subject
to the discretion of the Editor, and space availability.
Calendar listings are due by 12 Noon, Monday, two weeks
prior. Space is extremely limited. Email listings to: editor@
westchesterguardian.com
thursday,
august 31
• The Riverfront Library
will present two computer
classes. The Spanish
Internet will be held
from 9am-12noon; and
PC Basics from 9:30-
11am. Both are FREE but
registration is required
due to limited seating.
1 Larkin Plaza, Yonkers.
For info/reservations call
914.375.7966.
• The Westchester
Choral Society will
be holding auditions,
time to be announced.
Music Conservatory of
Westchester, 216 Central
Ave., White Plains. For info
call 914.761.3900 x103.
westchesterchoralsociety.
org.
• Children’s Gardening.
Hilltop Hanover Farm,
Yorktown Heights, Cornell
Cooperative Extension
of Westchester County.
1271 Hanover St.,
Yorktown Heights. For info/
registration call 285.4627 or
285.4621. cce.cornell.edu/
westchester.
• Community Connection
offers lectures, health
screenings, Medicare
counseling and discounts on
local services. Membership
is free and open to adults
55 and older. Northern
Westchester Hospital, 400
East Main St., Mt. Kisco, NY.
To join or for info call 914-
666-1925.
friday,
september 1
• Bereavement
Evaluations/Counseling
Sessions. Initial
bereavement consultation
services for Westchester
residents who have lost
a loved one. Additional
individual sessions are
available on a fee-forservice
basis. Referral to
community resources/
support groups included.
Hospice & Palliative
Care of Westchester 95
S. Broadway, 2nd Fl.
914.682.1484 X 130 or
118. www.hospice of
westchester.com.
• Shabbat in the Woods.
Families are invited to this
service in story and song.
5:30pm. Congregation Kol
Ami, 252 Soundview Ave.,
White Plains. 914.949.4717.
• Free Blood Pressure
Screening to patients not
previously diagnosed with
hypertension. St. Joseph’s
Medical Center, Urgent
and Specialty Care, 75 So.
Broadway, Yonkers, NY.
Every Friday from 2-4PM
• Church Tower Walk. Walk
and talk up the 74 steps
of the historic St. Paul’s
Church Tower and see the
bronze bell dating back to
1758. St. Paul’s Church
National Historic Site, 897
So. Columbus Ave., Mount
Vernon. FREE 914.667.4116.
nps.gov/sapa.
saturday,
september 2
• Mobile Pet Adoption
Days and Animal Events.
Every weekend local
animal rescue groups bring
adoption-ready kittens,
cats, puppies and dogs to
stores and malls throughout
Westchester. Adoption fees.
For info visit the website at
www.Animal-link.org/events/
shtml.
• Pond WHATSIT! Explore
2 fresh water ponds inside
Croton Point Park. Nets
provided. Appropriate for all
age groups. Croton Point
Nature Center, Croton Point
Park, Croton-on-Hudson.
914.862.5297
sunday,
september 3
• Visit the Ducks in
Downtown Larchmont! 23
duck sculptures, painted
by area artists are on public
display in historic Larchmont
until mid-October, when
they will be auctioned off at
the LHS 25th Anniversary
Gala Ducktales Auction.
Palmer Ave. & Boston
Post Rd., Larchmont.

THE WESTCHESTER GUARDIAN THURSDAY, AUGUST 31, 2006 PAGE 19
For info visit www.ducks.
larchmonthistory.org.
monday,
september 4
• HAPPY LABOR DAY!
Sleep late! Relax! Take a
walk! Go to the beach! Read
a Book! Play Ball! Watch a
game, Have a barbecue, or
Just Hang out, and if you
absolutely have to go to
work, we’re rooting for you!
tuesday,
september 5
• Passport to Adventure.
Today’s feature: Austria.
Riverfront Library, 1 Larkin
Plaza, Yonkers. For info call
914.375.7966.
• Man to Man: A Prostate
Cancer Education and
Support Group. This free
group is facilitated by a
prostate cancer survivor
and offers information,
encouragement and
support. Co-sponsored
by Northern Westchester
Hospital and The American
Cancer Society. Meets 1st
Tuesday of each month. 7:30
- 9:00pm Conference Room
D. For info/registration call
800-227-2345.
• Ken Hamilton Caregiver
Support Program at
Northern Westchester
Hospital. This free program
offers emotional support
and organizational
assistance to help
caregivers manage their
daily lives while dealing
with the illness of a loved
one during hospitalization
or treatment. Call the
Caregiver Message Center
at 914.242.8128; a caregiver
coach will return your call.
wednesday,
september 6
• Free blood pressure
screenings are available
by appointment at Phelps
Memorial Hospital Center,
701 N. Broadway, Sleepy
Hollow, every Wed.
throughout September.
9:30-11:30am. For info/
register call 914.366.3220.
• Riverfront Book Club.
12noon-1:30pm. Riverfront
Library, 1 Larkin Plaza,
Yonkers. 914.337.1500
• Obesity Surgery Support
Group. Free meetings first
Wednesday of the month
for anyone who has had or
is considering having Lap
Band or Bypass surgery.
Topics include: behavior
modification, food choices,
exercise, plastic surgery,
and improving one’s self
image. Administrative
Conference Rm., 6th Floor,
Lawrence Hospital Center,
Bronxville. For info/time call
Dionne@914.787.4000.
• Aphasia Support
Group. Free weekly
meetings for anyone who
has a language disorder
due to a brain injury.
Wed. 2-3pm, Palmer Hall,
3rd floor, Rm. 3. For info
914.787.3373. Lawrence
Hospital Center, Palmer
Rd, Bronxville.
• Breastfeeding Support
Group (Days). Share
problems/concerns with
other breastfeeding
mothers. Meetings held
first Wednesday of every
month - 9:30am to 11:30am.
Free, registration required.
For info/registration call
914.787-5045. Lawrence
Hospital Center, Palmer Rd.,
Bronxville.
thursday
september 7
• “Cirigliano: First
Generation” Photo Exhibit,
Opening Reception.
Riverfront Library, 1 Larkin
Plaza, Yonkers. For info call
914.337.1500

PAGE 20
THE WESTCHESTER GUARDIAN THURSDAY, AUGUST 31, 2006
Popcorn Movie Reviews
“World Trade Center” “Material Girls”
World Trade Center Paramount Pictures. Running time 125
minutes. Rated: PG 13 for emotional content and some language.
Nicholas Cage, Maria Bello, Michael Pena, Maggie Gyllenhaal. Directed
by Oliver Stone. Written by Andrea Berloff
I was reluctant to see this Oliver Stone, Paramount Pictures, blockbuster when
it first came out, feeling, as many were expressing at the time, perhaps it was too
soon. The expectation was that it would be another Oliver Stone, ‘in your face’
spectacular, filled with horror and gore. To Stone’s credit the film does not come
off that way at all.
By narrowing the focus to two Port Authority cops, entrapped in the wreckage
and debris of the collapsed tower, and their ultimate rescue, screenwriter Andrea
Berloff put a more personal, more human, face on the unparalleled tragedy. And,
it became obvious that it was Stone’s intention not to unnecessarily sensationalize,
or over-dramatize, as a lower key Nicholas Cage projected from the screen. I
got the impression, that when measured against his classic epics, this was Oliver
Stone-Lite.
The film was well cast with believable chemistry between the main characters.
Maria Bello gives one of her better performances as Cage’s wife. Her expressions
and emotional reactions ring genuine. Maggie Gyllenhaal, isn’t too tough to
watch, and turns in the kind of performance that explains why she appears in so
many films lately.
For those to whom the pain of 9/11 may still be far too fresh and personal,
the narrow focus, and happy ending of the plot may well be therapeutic. Conversely,
those who might be seeking a more documentary, investigative statement,
a “JFK” type Stone, may be disappointed. However, for the majority of filmgoers
this effort is just right, if a bit long.
Popcorn Guy Rating: 2 ½ bags out of 4 Bags of Popcorn.
THE HORSEMAN
FAMILY RESTAURANT
& PIZZA
“Try our Pan Pizza”
276 NORTH BROADWAY
SLEEPY HOLLOW, NEW YORK
TEL 914-631-2984
FAX 914-631-7491
FREE DELIVERY
Material Girls MGM-US Studios. A Maverick Films Production.
Running time 97 minutes. Rated: PG (Parental Guidance
Suggested: some strong language and rude humor for a
PG film; some scary chicks with tattoos confront a character
in a jail cell but the conversation quickly turns to cosmetics).
Hilary Duff, Haylie Duff, Anjelica Huston, Brent Spiner,
Marcus Coloma, Maria Concetta Alonso, Obba Babatunde,
Colleen Camp, Henry Cho, Lukas Hass, Carl Lewis. Director Martha Coolidge.
Written by John Quaintane, Jessica O’Toole and Amy Rardin.
“Hi! We’re the Marchetta sisters and we’re on E!” Heiresses to a cosmetics
fortune, the Marchetta sisters are Material Girls, leading a life of pampered
celebrity: an elegant mansion, housekeeper, fast cars and platinum
credit cards. Fixtures on the party circuit, they nevertheless do their part for
the company, promoting Marchetta Cosmetics to Gen X’ers at every opportunity.
It isn’t always fun. Scholarly Tanzie (Hilary Duff), would rather stay home
and fill out a college application, but sister Ava (Haylie Duff) won’t hear of it:
“We are the face of Marchetta and the face of Marchetta does not stay home and
do Chemistry!” Ava has the business sense to understand that, if People magazine
writes about them at a party, they’ll ‘sell a lot of lipsticks,” while Tanzie has inherited
her father’s bent for science and the ability to create new products.
The sisters will shortly take control of their company, currently being run
by Tommy, (Brent Spiner), their deceased father’s best friend, Marchetta CEO
and surrogate father to the girls. Finances are not so good, though, and Fabiella,
played by the regal Angelica Huston, wants to take over the company to capture
the Gen X market. The board is leaning toward the offer, but Fabiella was
their father’s arch-rival and the girls are afraid that the company’s identity will be
destroyed after the merger. Before the deal can move forward, Marchetta is the
target of a product liability lawsuit that causes the stock to plummet and Fabiella’s
offer with it. Coincidence? The Marchetta sisters don’t think so, and set about to
prove it. The sisters adored their father and intend to clear his name.
Tanzie carelessly manages to burn down the mansion while Ava tosses the car
keys to the Boys in the Hood outside her housekeepers home, not realizing that
most people don’t have valet parking; hardly and auspicious beginning. Life has
signed these two up for The Proletariat 101, but you can bet your Jimmy Choo’s,
they will figure out a way to ace the course.
Now, this is not a brilliant film, and it won’t win any awards, but it is charming
and entertaining and I enjoyed it very much. I don’t need profound by Friday night,
entertaining is just fine. The Marchetta sisters are clueless, but fundamentally nice,
little princesses who grow as the story progresses. Surrounded by hangers-on, the
sisters quickly learn who their real friends are once their money is gone; not a bad
lesson to learn young. Yes, Tanzie shamelessly dresses à la Heather Brockovitch to
gain access to plaintiff files, but Ava and Tanzie know how to stick together and take
responsibility for their destiny instead of letting others make decisions for them. By
the end of the movie, even Fabiella has learned to respect them.
Popcorn Girl Rating: 3 out of 4 Bags of Popcorn. I had a good time.

THE WESTCHESTER GUARDIAN THURSDAY, AUGUST 31, 2006 PAGE 21
Local Movie Theaters
Putnam
Brewster:
Empire Southeast Towne Center
Route 22
Phone: (845) 278-0058
Rockland:
New City:
Clearview New City Cinema 6
202 S. Main Street
Phone: (914) 777-3456
Spring Valley:
Maveli Twin Cinema 59
57 Kennedy Dr.
Phone: (845) 578-4000
Suffern:
Lafayette Theatre
Route 59
Phone: (845) 369-8234
West Nyack:
AMC Loews Palisades Center 21
4403 Palisades Center Drive
Phone: (845) 348-1970
IMAX Theatre at Palisades Center
4270 Palisades Center Drive
Phone: (845) 358-4629
Ask Sammy Z.
“As Real As It Gets”
westchester
Bedford:
Clearview’s Bedford Cinema
Route 22. 914.234.7300
Bronxville:
Bronxville’s Clearview Cinema
84 Kraft Ave. 914.961.4030
Greenburgh:
Clearview’s Cinema 100
Greenburgh Shopping Cntr., Knollwood Rd. 914.946.4680
Multiplex Cinemas
320 Saw Mill River Rd. 914.747.6000
Hawthorne:
Saw Mill Multiplex
121 Saw Mill River Rd. 914.747.6000
Larchmont
Clearview’s Larchmont Playhouse
1975 Palmer Ave. 914.834.3001
Mamaroneck:
Clearview’s Mamaroneck Playhouse
243 Mamaroneck Ave. 914.698.2200
Mohegan Lake:
UA Cortland Stadium 11
3131 E. Main St. 800.326.3264 X625
Eva L. (Yonkers)
Q. Hi, Sam. I’m a 23-year-old female. I’ve
been dating this guy for the last 2 months. For
the first couple of weeks he was polite and very
funny. Over the last few weeks he has gotten very
aggressive. He calls me 20 times a day, wants to
know where I am, who I’m with, and what I’m
doing. The other day he drove by my house and
seen me talking to my neighbor, a middle-aged
male, and totally flipped out. He threatened to
beat me up. I thought he was gonna hit me. He
tells me he acts this way because he loves me. I
am really starting to get scared. Do you think he
is acting out of love, and do you think I should
continue my relationship with him?
A. Wow! What a loser!!! Dump him and never
look back! This guy is an insecure, jealous moron.
You need to distance yourself immediately.
Any time a man or a woman behaves that way in
a relationship, you must walk before things get
really bad. A jealous, insecure partner spells danger,
and equals violence.
Quin J. (Peekskill)
Q. Would you ever vote for a black candidate
for the White House and do you think there will
ever be a Black President?
A. The color of a man should not determine
whether or not he qualifies for a job. A person
should be judged on their character and qualifications.
Now, I would vote for a Black President.
I would definitely vote for Colin Powell.
I think there is a good chance that one day a
man of Colin Powell’s caliber will be the first
Black President.
Mount Kisco:
Clearview’s Mount Kisco Cinema
144 Main St. 914.666.6600
New Rochelle:
Regal New Roc City 18
33 Le Count Place. 800.326.3264 x275
Peekskill:
Paramount
1008 Brown St. 914.739.2333
Pelham:
Picture House
175 Wolf Lane. 914.738.7337
Pleasantville:
Jacob Burns Film Center
364 Manville Rd. 914.747.5555
Port Chester:
Loew’s Port Chester
40 Westchester Ave. 845.326.3264
Rye:
Clearview’s Rye Ridge Cinema Twin
1 Rye Ridge Plaza, Rye Ridge Shopping Cntr. 914.939.8177
Scarsdale:
Fine Arts Cinema
Archway Shopping Center. 914.723.6699
White Plains:
City Center 15: Cinema Deluxe
Mamaroneck Ave. & Main St. 914.747.6000
Yonkers:
Cross County Multiplex
2 South Drive. 914.376.7100
Clearview’s Central Plaza
2630 Central Park Ave. 914.793.3232
UA Movieland
2548 Centra Park Ave. 800.326.3264 X638
Yorktown Heights:
UA Jefferson Valley
Jefferson Valley Mall. 800.326.3264 X639
Connecticut
Greenwich:
Clearview’s Greenwich Twin
356 Greenwich Avenue
Phone: (203) 869-6030
Crown Plaza 3
2 Railroad Ave
Phone: (203) 869-4030
New Canaan:
Crown New Canaan Playhouse 2
89 Elm Street
Phone: (203) 966-7908
Questions for Sammy Z. should be E-mailed to editor@westchesterguardian.com.

PAGE 22
THE WESTCHESTER GUARDIAN THURSDAY, AUGUST 31, 2006
THIS WEEK IN HISTORY:
Aug. 31 - Sept. 7
Weekly Highlight:
September 1, 1939 - At 4:45 a.m. German forces began
their invasion of Poland in what the German Government
called a “defensive action” for alleged Polish attacks on
German soil the night before. Two days later both the English
and French governments, unconvinced by Hitler’s claims,
declared war on Germany, thus beginning World War II.
August 31:
1888 – Mary Ann Nichols, a London prostitute, was found
murdered and mutilated in Whitechapel’s Buck’s Row. She
was the first of a total of five victims of Jack the Ripper over
the next few months. Numerous letters allegedly written
by the murderer were received by the London Police but
they all proved to be hoaxes. With no leads and no further
murders the case was finally closed in 1892.
September 1:
1807 – Former US Vice President Aaron Burr is acquitted
of treason charges in planning to annex parts of Louisiana
and Spanish territory in Mexico for establishment of an
independent republic. Although he had conspired against
the United States, he was found not guilty of the charges
because he wasn’t engaged in an “overt act,” a requirement
of the law governing treason. Despite is acquittal public
opinion condemned him as a traitor, and he fled to Europe.
CLASSIFIED
help wanted
Bartenders Wanted
Westchester County night
club. Very busy location.
Experience a must, and
over 21. Call Dominica
914-636-0018
Licensed Security Wanted
Westchester County night
club. Busy location. Experience
a must. Fri and Sat
night. Call Dominica
914-636-0018
INVESTMENT PROPERTY
Mount Vernon - Five story
w/up with 18 apts. Very
nice building. Many Sec 8,
good tenency. RR. $202k.
Asking 7.5 x RR 1,550,000.
Ask for Sam
914-576-1481
real estate
FOR RENT
Mount Vernon - 1-bdr apt
in a building. Sec 8 ok.
$950. Avail immed. Call
Maribel
914-632-1230
FOR RENT
Mount Vernon - 2-bdr apt
in a building. Sec 8 ok.
$1250. Avail immed. Call
Maribel.
914-632-1230
FOR RENT
Yonkers East - 3-bdr apt,
two floors, 1.5 baths, very
nice kitchen. Wood floors,
1 parking spot. Tenant
pays utilities. $1750. Call
Maribel.
914-632-1230
The Westchester Guardian reserves the right to edit, reclassify,
reject or cancel any classified ad.
Additionally, The Westchester Guardian will not accept
any advertising which willingly violates Section 296 of the
Human Rights Law which makes it illegal to advertise any
preference, limitation or discrimination based upon race,
color, creed, national origin, disability, marital status, sex,
age, or arrest conviction record, or an intention to make any
such preference, limitation or discrimination.
Errors: All ads placed by phone are read back for verification
of copy content. Please check your ad the first time it runs.
We are responsible ONLY for the first incorrect insertion.
To place a classified ad please call us at 914.328.3096. The
deadline is 12 noon Monday one week prior to publication.
1969 – 27-year-old Libyan Army Captain Muammar al-
Qaddafi overthrew King Idris I of Libya and was named
chairman of Libya’s Revolutionary Command Council,
the country’s new governing body. King Idris was out of
the country when Qaddafi’s Revolutionaries staged the
bloodless coup. The deposed King died in Cairo in 1983.
1985 – A joint US-French expedition successfully located the
wreck of the RMS Titanic 400 miles west of Newfoundland
in the North Atlantic. The expedition was headed by Dr.
Robert Ballard, and used an experimental, unmanned
submersible developed by the US Navy, Argo, to explore
the wreck. Titanic sank on her maiden voyage from England
to New York after colliding with an iceberg, and is resting on
the seabed 13,000 feet beneath the ocean’s surface.
September 2
31 B.C. – Roman leader Octavian won a decisive victory
against the forces of Mark Antony and Cleopatra at Actium,
off the western coast of Greece. Antony and Cleopatra
managed to break through enemy lines and flee to Egypt.
1666 – A fire which broke out in the home of King Charles
II’s baker spread through combustibles stored in nearby
warehouses. A strong easterly wind transformed the blaze
into an inferno which destroyed four-fifths of London.
The fire burned for four days before being extinguished.
Sixteen people were have known to have perished.
1945 – Japanese representatives formally surrendered to
the Allied Powers on board the battleship USS Missouri,
anchored in Tokyo Bay. The signing of the documents
brought a formal end to both the War in the Pacific, begun
almost four years earlier with the attack on Pearl Harbor,
and World War II. Germany had formally surrendered the
previous May.
1945 – Shortly after Japan signed the surrender documents
on board the USS Missouri Vietnamese communist Ho Chi
Minh declared his nation’s independence from France.
September 3
1777 – During a Revolutionary War skirmish at Cooch’s
Bridge, Maryland, Patriot General William Maxwell
ordered the stars and stripes banner raised as his troops
battled British and Hessian troops. It was the first time the
American flag was flown in battle.
1783 – The American Revolution formally ended when
representatives of the United States, Great Britain,
Spain and France signed the Treaty of Paris. American
independence was recognized by the British, and the
nation’s boundary lines were agreed upon.
1943 – The British 8 th Army, under the command of British
Field Marshal Montgomery, began the invasion of Italy.
As the landings were progressing the Italian government
secretly agreed to the Allies’ surrender terms, which
wasn’t announced until Sept. 8.
September 4
1957 – The Arkansas National Guard were called out to
prevent nine African-American students from entering a
high school in Little Rock, setting the stage for the first major
test of the Supreme Court’s unanimous decision declaring
that racial segregation in schools was unconstitutional.
1972 - US Olympic swimmer Mark Spitz won his seventh
Gold Medal at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. He
also established new world records in the six other events
in which he won the gold.
September 5
1774 – Fifty-six delegates from the American colonies
except Georgia met at Carpenter’s Hall in Philadelphia in
the first session of the Continental Congress. They drafted
a declaration of rights and grievances against the British
for their enactment of the Coercive Acts.
1877 – Oglala Sioux chief Crazy Horse was killed by a
US soldier after resisting confinement at Fort Robinson,
Nebraska. He had been among the Sioux leaders who
defeated George Armstrong Custer’s Seventh Cavalry at
Little Big Horn the year before.
1905 – Representatives of Russia and Japan met at
Portsmouth, New Hampshire to sign the Treaty of
Portsmouth, ending the Russo-Japanese War. President
Theodore Roosevelt won the Nobel Peace Prize for his
contributions to the treaty.
September 6
1522 – One of Ferdinand Magellan’s five ships – Vittoria
– arrived home in Spain after completing the first
circumnavigation of the world. The ship was commanded
by Juan Sebastian de Elcano, who took charge after
Magellan was murdered in the Philippines in 1521.
1972 – A West German attempt to rescue nine Israeli
Olympic team members being held hostage by Palestinian
terrorists failed. After a two-and-a-half-hour gun battle,
all nine Israeli hostages, five terrorists and one German
policeman were killed. The crisis began the previous
morning when Palestinians stormed the Israeli quarters in
the Olympic Village, killing two Israelis and taking the nine
hostages.
September 7
1776 – The American submersible Turtle made the world’s
first submarine attack when it attempted to attach a bomb
to the hull of British Admiral Richard Howe’s flagship Eagle
in New York Harbor.
1977 – A treaty turning over control of the Panama Canal to
Panama at the end of the century was signed by President
Jimmy Carter and Panamanian dictator Omar Torrijos. The
treaty also abolished the Canal Zone, a US-controlled area
that bisected the Republic of Panama.
Come GROW With Us!
We have a weekly circulation of 30,000 and growing.
The Westchester Guardian can now be found at MORE
THAN 600 locations throughout Westchester.
To advertise your goods & services, contact us at
914.328.3096
or email us at
advertising@westchesterguardian.com
The Westchester Guardian

THE WESTCHESTER GUARDIAN THURSDAY, AUGUST 31, 2006 PAGE 23

PAGE 24
THE WESTCHESTER GUARDIAN THURSDAY, AUGUST 31, 2006

VOL. I NO. IV
THURSDAY, AUGUST31, 2006
Federal Appeals Court
Exposes Pirro’s Misconduct
“In twelve years on this Court
I have never seen such a Brady violation.”
U.S. Circuit Court Judge Calabresi
Last Tuesday, August 22 nd, the United
States Court of Appeals for the Second
Circuit handed up a decision in the
Anthony DiSimone case. The appeal
was by Westchester District Attorney
Janet DiFiore’s Office, as Cross-Appellee,
in opposition to an earlier decision
by Federal District Court Judge Charles
Brieant, granting a writ of habeas corpus,
on a challenge to sufficiency of
evidence, which produced a conviction
for Depraved Indifference Murder.
The decision, which reversed the lower
Court’s ruling, for “procedural insufficiency,”
more importantly exposed
the prosecutorial misconduct, and outright
unlawful activities engaged in by
former DA Jeanine Pirro, and now justified,
and defended, by Janet DiFiore,
her successor.
Specifically, although the main
thrust of the original petition filed by
DiSimone, with the Federal District
Inside...
Westchester BOE Finally
Recognizes Disabled
Voters, pg. 5
The Advocate,
Yonkers Police Brutality, pg. 5
Dr. Maria Munoz Kantha,
Empowering our
Daughters pg. 15
Court, dealt with the
sufficiency of evidence
presented in
connection with his
conviction for Depraved
Indifference
Murder in the death
of Louis Balancio,
the real significance
of the decision is its
detailed exposure of
the calculated, and
unlawful activities
engaged in by a malicious
prosecutor
bent on convicting
an innocent Defendant,
for her own
purposes, at any cost.
The case arises from
a street brawl in front
of the former Strike
Zone Bar, on Central
Avenue in Yonkers, in
1994, between some thirty local toughs
that resulted in the death of the 21-
year-old college student who suffered a
total of thirteen stab wounds.
Defendant DiSimone, who continued
to live in plain sight in the City of
Yonkers, with his wife and infant son,
became the target of one of DA Pirro’s
more imaginative propaganda efforts.
She would falsely claim that he had run
off to Sicily, and that he was being pro-
tected by the Cosa Nostra. She would
twice try to indict him, failing each
time, while succeeding in indicting
Darin Mazzarella, a known criminal
charged in other homicides and present
at the Strike Zone incident. Finally,
only after empanelling a so-called “special
grand jury” and offering immunity
from prosecution, and placement
into a witness protection program to
Mazzarella, and his equally violent,
and criminal brother Nick, in return
for testimony against DiSimone,, was
Mrs. Pirro able to secure an indictment
against him.
The 29-page decision, authored by
Justice Calabresi, the presiding judge
of the three judge panel, who listened
to the oral arguments offered by John
R Bartels, Jr., attorney for Anthony Di-
Simone, and Valerie A. Livingston, for
Continued on the nxt page

PAGE 2
THE WESTCHESTER GUARDIAN THURSDAY, AUGUST 31, 2006
Pirro’s Misconduct, continued from page 1
Index
The Advocate: Yonkers Police Brutality...............................................pg 5
Ask Sammy Z:....................................................................................pg 21
Classified............................................................................................pg 22
Clip-Out Community Calendar..............................................pgs. 18-19
The Court Report: When Is An Alibi Not An Alibi?..............................pg 3
Design Inspirations:
Use Your ‘Magic’ to Create the Illusion of Space...................................pg 9
Freedom Isn’t Free: Joe Lieberman Ate at My House........................pg 6
Great Chefs of Westchester: Chef Joe Dnistrian.................................pg 10
Horoscope: Shimmering Stars Aug. 31 – Sept. 6, 2006..........................pg
In Our Opinion.....................................................................................pg 4
Living Latino in Westchester:
Profile of An Immigrant Who Made Good..................................................p8
Local Movie Theater Directory......................................................pg 21
Marriage and Family in Westchester:
Parenting and Empowering Our Daughters in Today’s World..............pg 15
Westchester BOE Finally Recognizes Disabled Voters........................pg. 5
On the National Scene: Once We Were Giants................................ pg11
Popcorn Movie Reviews:
Material Girls, World Trade Center.......................................................pg 20
Taking Judicial Notice: Waiting for Robert Redford........................pg 16
The World Traveler: India: The Greatest Show on Earth....................pg 7
This Week in History: August 31 – September 8.............................pg 22
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DA Janet DiFiore, on June 21, disposes of the Defendant’s principle contention
within the first half of the text concluding, “Because we find that DiSimone’s insufficiency
claim was procedurally defaulted, we need not, and do not consider
its merits:”
DiSimone, who was acquitted at trial of intentional murder, by a jury of his
peers, was arguing that his conviction for Depraved Indifference Murder was not
supported by the evidence produced at that trial, in accordance with a line of
recent New York State Court of Appeals decisions in Gonzalez, Payne, and Policano,
and several other cases over the past 2 ½ years. However, Sufficiency of the
Evidence, although the basis of Judge Brieant’s habeas corpus grant, was not the
only claim brought by DiSimone. There was the Brady violation claim, dealing
with the obligation of the Prosecution to present to Defendants any, and all, information
turned up by the Prosecution, which may be exculpatory to the Defendant,
as well as the Confrontational Clause, the right of an Accused to confront
his accusers as guaranteed by the Constitution.
Of these, the Federal Appeals tribunal was most interested in, and offended
by, the particulars of DiSimone’s Brady claim. The Court, in its decision, summarized
DiSimone’s Brady claim, stating, “DiSimone argues that the state violated
its Brady obligation by failing to disclose, until near the close of the government’s
case, information that a person other than DiSimone had asserted that he had
stabbed the victim twice just before DiSimone allegedly stabbed the victim.”
This reporter was present on June 21st of this year for the oral arguments at
the United States Second Circuit Court of Appeals, when Presiding Judge Calabresi
made his impassioned declaration, “In twelve years on this Court I have never
seen such a Brady violation.” That declaration not only set the direction the Court
would be pursuing that day but, in a broader sense, it represented a harbinger
of things to come, as federal and state appellate tribunals become increasingly
aware of the egregious and morally bankrupt practices engaged in by the Westchester
District Attorney’s Office for twelve years under the Pirro regime.
In fact, on February 10, 1994, just six days following the Balancio murder,
Yonkers Police Detective Robert Molinaro had interviewed a 21-year-old Yonkers
resident, Luvic Gjonaj, who provided a signed statement indicating that on February
6, 1994, his cousin, Nickoun Djonovic, had told him that he had been at the
Strike Zone bar on the Thursday night of the incident, and had gotten involved in
the fight, and had stabbed two people, one of whom was Louis Balancio, who he
admitted stabbing twice, once in the chest. Furthermore detectives had obtained
a search warrant for Djonovic’s apartment, found, and seized a bloody jacket, corroborating
his confession.
However, Mrs. Pirro was not interested in this evidence because it did not fit
the scheme and the profile she needed to project. Pirro saw the tragic events at
the Strike Zone as an opportunity to help her shed her well-earned reputation as
a prosecutor who didn’t prosecute Organized Crime. Her husband Al’s connection
to it helped reinforce that reputation. She was determined to make this brawl
between young street fighters into a Mafia thing. And, so naturally a murderer,
even a confessed murderer, named Nickoun Djonmovic, somehow just wouldn’t
fill the bill, the way someone with an Italian sounding name would.
The Court observed, “DiSimone made three separate requests for Brady material.”
First in pre-trial motions in January 2000, then one week before the start
of the trial, in a letter dated September 25, 2000, and finally, on October 2, 2000,
just before jury selection. At no point did Mrs. Pirro’s Office turn over the Gjonaj
statement, instead, moving to suppress its admission, stating, “It is the People’s
position there is no link in the chain of evidence that connects Nick Djonovic to
the commission of this homicide.”
Mrs. Pirro, anxious to convict someone she had maliciously and dishonestly
portrayed as a member of Organized Crime, would now engage in the worst kind
of prosecutorial misconduct, including subornation of perjury, to achieve her
ends. And, she was not alone in her evil conspiracy. Judge James Cowhey, who,
not so coincidently, dated her mother, Ester Ferris, was involved in the conspiracy
to convict an innocent defendant, right up to his eyeballs, as Judge Calabresi indicates,
“The trial court did not turn the statement over to the Defense until eleven
days after it had received it from the Prosecution, shortly before the close of the
state’s case.”
Cowhey then refused to grant a motion by DiSimone’s attorney seeking a continuance,
and time to put together a strategy, based on the new information which
had been withheld. He then proceeded to reject three motions for mistrial that
were based on the glaring Brady violations.
The Appeals Court decision leaves little doubt that the materials unlawfully
withheld from DiSimone, “tended to support a potential Defense theory
that, whatever DiSimone’as involvement in the fight, he was not the cause of
Continued on page 13

THE WESTCHESTER GUARDIAN THURSDAY, AUGUST 31, 2006 PAGE 13
Pirro’s Misconduct, continued from page 2
Balancio’s death.” Justice Calabresi states, “Whatever
else it may be, it is not murder to shoot a dead
body. Man dies but once.”
He then gets tough with Janet DiFiore, who now appears
to relish defending and justifying Jeanine Pirro’s
outrageously unlawful prosecutorial misconduct, declaring,
“The government’s contentions to the contrary
are wholly without merit.” He goes on, “In the first
place, if there were questions about the reliability of the
exculpatory information, it was the prerogative of the
Defendant and his counsel, and not of the Prosecution,
to exercise judgment in determining whether the Defendant
should make use of it.”
The Court concludes that the information was
favorable to the Defendant, and material, and that its
late disclosure significantly influenced the outcome of
the trial. The Court further notes the existence of one
very small spot of blood supposedly connecting the
Defendant, on a sweater that, interestingly was never
proven to have belonged to DiSimone. The Court reminds
that, “No witness testified to seeing the stabbing,
and the murder weapon was not recovered.”
What the Court may not have known was that
the Prosecution’s so-called Blood Splatter Expert was
hired two days before the trial, and was paid more
than $30,000 to make his assessments from photographs.
Neither could the Court be aware of Mrs.
Pirro’s antics. Appearing several times in the trial
courtroom with the victim’s mother, and on television
and in the press with her as well, all calculated to
improperly persuade the jury.
Judge Calabresi declares, “We hold that there is
a reasonable probability that had this material (the
statement implicating Djonovic) been available the
result in the case would have been quite different.”
Those who have observed the patterns and practices
over twelve years in the Westchester District
Attorney’s Office under Jeanine Pirro are only too
well aware of the repeated outrageous prosecutorial
misconduct, and outright criminal activity engaged
in to achieve her despicable self-promotional agenda,
The Anthony DiSimone case is but one of a long list
of serious injustices perpetrated by Jeanine Pirro and
a small number of misguided and selfishly motivated
prosecutors whose criminal and reprehensible actions
are just now slowly coming to light.
There are numerous innocent individuals, who,
like Mr. DiSimone have been incarcerated for crimes
they did not commit. They and their families have
paid, and continue to pay, for the mistake the People
of Westchester made three times when they entrusted
Jeanine Pirro to be their chief law enforcement officer.
Over Time, as the courts recognize the magnitude and
the frequency of Mrs. Pirro’s evil, criminal deeds, under
the color of law, the taxpayers of Westchester will be
burdened with the cost of compensating her victims.
The Depraved Indifference Murder Statute has
been a “boondoggle,” abused and manipulated by prosecutors
throughout New York State for 39 years, with
the full knowledge and complicity of the state’s highest
court. Not until March 2004, with the Gonzalez Decision,
out of Rochester, did the Court of Appeals begin
to seriously, if not wholeheartedly, come to grips with
the injustices worked by ruthless prosecutors through
its nebulous and confusing language.
Some prosecutors more than others, those whose
agendas were most self-promotional, such as Jeanine
Pirro, and Charles Hynes, abused the statute to the
level of criminality, frequently offering juries, and
unwary judges, a smorgasbord selection of murder
theories, Intentional, or Depraved Mind, counting on
the notion that “juries love to compromise.”
Those of us who attended the oral arguments in the
DiSimone case, emerged from the courthouse not quite
sure of what we had witnessed, given that the principle
claim involved Depraved Indifference Murder, and yet, the
three justices had continued to dwell on, and ask questions,
almost exclusively, about Brady violations. Later that
day we got a glimpse of what was on their minds, when
the Court posted information on the Policano case, and
took the most unusual step, calling upon the New York
State Court of Appeals for “certification” regarding the
Depraved Indifference Murder Statute, and whether the
rules of interpretation under which that court has been
recently operating constitute “old, or new, law.”
In reality, the Federal Court was saying to the
state’s highest court, “You’ve permitted this situation
that unjustly, and unfairly advantages prosecutors to
go on for nearly forty years. And, now, suddenly two
years ago, you began dealing with it. Well, some of the
residue is landing on our steps, so please give us some
guidance to help us clean up your mess.” n
Continued from previous page
everyone else’s problems should not be the focus this
week: You are!
Scorpio: The bonus that has been held up
for months is on its way- and there are so many options
for its use. Be grateful for your good fortune
and remember to share the wealth. A woman is extremely
helpful in helping you to achieve your goals
so refrain from turning her off by giving her the third
degree. This time your suspicions are unwarranted.
An investment property offered may be a good idea.
Explore it.
Sagittarius: Though confrontational Mars
in your 10th house of career has crossed swords with
your sense of self determination last week in the form
of an edgy and unreasonable superior, your higher self
now sees how smart you were to not have taken the
bate by engaging in their drama. Your reward: your
‘guardian angel’ is back from vacation and is ready
to work overtime to smooth things out and set your
finances back on track.
Capricorn: A lot has been happening behind
the scenes and you’ve been challenged to keep
the faith during a sequence in which so much control
has been out of your hands. What’s more, the tension
from Neptune to your ruler Saturn in the financial
dept. adds to concern about where things are heading.
Keep in mind that your perception may be off for
a while so cultivate a comrade or two on whose judgment
you can depend should you need it.
Aquarius: Ready, Set, Connect
and Share! Sweet Venus in your 7th
house of relationship in good aspect to
Pluto moving forward (in your house of
friends) adds to your appeal and your
popularity soars! A minor misunderstanding
clears up as if by magic and career
action brings extra money your way.
You don’t have to blow it all now, you
know. Your ability to influence others is
on the rise.
Pisces: As Pluto in your house of
professional achievement goes direct, there’s
some exciting news about a promotion or a
new job on the horizon. The lucky aspect be-
tween your co-ruler Jupiter and Uranus this week sharpens
your intuition and reflexes so that you can respond
on a dime. Hooray! And on the home front: if a partner
or significant other blurts something out in the heat of the
moment, listen. What they’re saying is important. n
Shelley Ackerman can be reached at 212.539.3100
her website is www.karmicrelief.com