Council President Mike Khader Newsletter - April 20, 2019 By MICHAEL KHADER, Esq.

YONKERS, NY — April 20, 2019 — This week Mayor Spano released his proposed $1.25 billion dollar budget for FY2020, and my initial review of the proposed budget is one of cautious optimism. While it proposes the largest increase in the City’s maintenance-of-effort for Yonkers Schools at $12.1 million dollars, the fact remains that the Board of Education still is facing a significant deficit of $17.6 million dollars.

In the coming weeks, the Board of Education will have tough choices to make and the Council will be doing everything in our power to make sure that City dollars reach the classrooms that so desperately need them. I look forward to working with Dr. Quezada and the Board of Trustees to make sure that our kids get the quality education that they deserve.

Some other key points from Mayor’s proposed budget include:

• No proposed City of Yonkers layoffs or cuts to city services for ...

Evil Medieval Christians or Islam’s Victims Retaliating?
By RAYMOND IBRAHIM

Raymond Ibrahim is a Judith Rosen Friedman Fellow at the Middle East Forum.

Citing history—or, as shall be seen, pseudohistory—is one of the main ways Islam’s apologists try to ennoble Muhammad’s creed and its adherents.  As a sort of counterbalance to purportedly noble Muslims, medieval Christians are regularly presented as the epitome of hypocrisy, intolerance, and greed.  Commonly leading the pack are Vlad the Impaler, Ivan “the Terrible,” and Tomas Torquemada (all featured in the 2002 book, The Most Evil Men and Women in History).

In reality, however, these three men—and the culture they lived in—were significantly influenced by Islam; all three were surrounded by and fought against Muslims their entire lives.

The historic figure of Vlad III (1430-1476)—whom the fictional, bloodsucking character of Dracula is based on—is portrayed in the West as a sadistic monster who loved nothing better than to impale his own people and drink their blood—often while ...