avowal Definition: (noun) An open statement of affirmation; frank acknowledgment or admission. Synonyms: avouchment Usage: He had no right to extort a confession of attachment from me when he had made no correspondent avowal himself. Discuss.

COUNCIL MEMBER FERNANDO CABRERA CALLS FOR CREATION OF AMNESTY PROGRAM FOR SMALL BUSINESS SUMMONSES DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC   Bronx, NY- New York City Council Member and Majority Whip Fernando Cabrera is calling for amnesty for small businesses that received summonses […]

Marcus Valerius Martialis, AKA Martial (c. 38 CE) Born in what is now Spain, Martial went as a young man to Rome, where he associated with prominent figures and won fame for his wit and poetry. He is renowned for his 12 books of epigrams—short, pithy sayings, often with a satiric or paradoxical twist. Pointed and often obscene, the poems provide a picture of Roman society during the early empire that is remarkable for its accurate portrayal of human foibles. In one verse, he accuses a man of burning down his own house for what reason? More…

A new philosophy generally means in practice the praise of some old vice. Gilbert Chesterton (1874-1936)

situated Definition: (adjective) Having a place or location. Synonyms: located, placed, set Usage: This vast region is situated between the fifteenth and tenth degrees of north latitude. Discuss.

Van Nest Neighborhood Alliance is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting. VNNA MARCH MONTHLY ZOOM MEETING Candidates Forum for City Council District 15 Time: March 8, 2021 7:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada) Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/2592510029?pwd=TnlMeFhVYUtvWUF6NEFUZ0NMOEcwUT09 Meeting […]

Bronx, NY- Today Council Member praised the promotion of NYPD Chief of Detectives to Chief of Department.  “At a time when historic racial disparities, injustices, and inequality have come strikingly to light, often in violent conflict across our nation and in […]

Michel de Montaigne (1533) On his 38th birthday, Montaigne retreated to his library in a tower of his family’s French château, and there he spent most of the next decade thinking, reading, and writing. The result was Essais, or Attempts, a series of short prose reflections on many subjects that form one of the most captivating and intimate self-portraits ever written. Montaigne’s Essais established the essay as a literary form. What personal tragedy may have prompted Montaigne to begin writing? More…

One should never trust a woman who tells one her real age. A woman who would tell one that, would tell one anything. Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

malleable Definition: (adjective) Capable of being shaped or bent or drawn out. Synonyms: tractile, ductile, pliant, tensile Usage: I am not very handy with a chisel, so when I sculpt, I prefer to use malleable materials that I can bend and shape as I please. Discuss.

Bronx, NY- Responding to today’s announcement of Meisha Ross Porter as new chancellor of the Department of Education, Council Member Fernando Cabrera expressed praise and great expectations for the new leadership.  “This is a historic moment in New York City.  The first […]

John Harvey Kellogg (1852) Remembered today as the co-creator of corn flakes, Kellogg was a physician and food reformer. He founded a sanitarium in Battle Creek, Michigan, based on the principles of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in conjunction with his own eccentric ideas about health. He and his brother invented a flaked breakfast cereal for patients, but a feud developed between the two over flake recipes and business rights. At the end of his life, he sent his brother an apology, but it was not received in time—why? More…

Summer afternoon…the two most beautiful words in the English language. Henry James (1843-1916)