The freedoms that most of us often take for granted or not fully realized in terms of just how important they to our daily existence were given a great deal of gravitas last Wednesday, May 8. Over 100 people gathered at Brooklyn Supreme Court on Jay Street in the downtown section of the County of Kings to attend the annual Law Day ceremony and seminar.

For those not in the know, President Dwight Eisenhower established the first Law Day in 1958 to mark the nation’s commitment to the rule of law. In 1961, Congress issued a joint resolution designating May 1 as the official date for celebrating Law Day, which is subsequently codified (U.S. Code, Title 36, Section 113). Every president since then has issued a Law Day proclamation on May 1 to celebrate the nation’s commitment to the rule of law.

In an official proclamation marking the day, President Trump said, “On Law Day, we renew our commitment to the rule of law and our Constitution. The rule of law requires that no one be above the obligations of the law or beneath its protections, and it stands as a bulwark against the arbitrary use of government power.

Each branch of the Federal Government takes an oath to uphold the Constitution and laws of the United States and thus is duty bound to the rule of law. That is why my Administration continues to fight the issuance of improper injunctions by Federal district courts, which enable a single district court judge to dictate law to the entire country and undermine the separation of powers.

We are also eliminating unnecessary and burdensome regulations to help limit the intrusion of unaccountable regulators into the lives of American citizens.

On this Law Day, I encourage all Americans to take time to express appreciation for how the rule of law helps protect our rights, including the freedoms of religion, speech, and the press. Today, we reflect on the many sacrifices our American forebearers made to secure and defend these rights for their posterity, and we aspire to be equally as dedicated to preserving them for future Americans.”

This year’s Law Day theme, “Free Speech, Free Press, Free Society” was described on the American Bar Association website. They said, “In the United States and around the world, freedom of speech and the press are among the most important foundations for a free society. Free speech and free press are prominent topics in public discourse and litigation. It is impossible to imagine a free society without these individual liberties, yet historical and current debates surrounding them continually challenge us to consider their boundaries and resilience. Changes in technology have reshaped how free speech and free press work in the everyday world.”

Among those addressing the assemblage in the jury room at Brooklyn Supreme Court on Jay Street were the Honorable Matthew J. D’Emic, the Administrative Judge for Criminal Matters in the Second Judicial District, the Honorable Lawrence Knipel, the Admniistrative Judge for Civil Matters in the Second Judicial District, Zachary W. Carter, the Corporation Counsel of the City of New York, David M. Chidekel, Esq, the president of the Brooklyn Bar Association and the former dean of Brooklyn Law School, the Honorable Nicholas W. Allard.

Among the special and honored guests was Democratic Party County leader, Frank Seddio, who also previously served as a New York State Assemblyman. Mr. Seddio sponsored the lavish luncheon that took place after the Law Day addresses.

In his featured remarks, Professor Allard drew attention to the steady erosion of our First Amendment rights, and the deep divisions that some postulate are in the process of tearing asunder the moral and legal fabric of American society.

“We are living in a time when our free, democratic civilized way of life based on law and justice faces severe threats on many fronts at home and abroad. It is a time when we cannot take for granted our freedoms, our security, or our pluralistic way of life in our great extraordinarily diverse country, “ declared Professor Allard.

In a voice reverberating with palpable emotion, Professor Allard inotned, “At stake is whether the fundamental values, norms, and institutions which are vital to empowering people and improving the human condition will continue to evolve and endure. Or instead, whether we will fall into a dark dystopian world dominated by power, violence, privilege, immorality, and chance.”

Speaking of the innate confidence that Americans had possessed in the constitution to guide us mightily through these most onerous of collective times as a nation, Professor Allard queried his audience of fellow law school professors, judges and members of the media. “Can we still be sure that our Constitutional system will work? You know what I mean. You can feel it, the relentless winds of politics, partisanship and self-interest spread seeds of doubt and despair about the future of our system of government and whether it will still work for us as it should, “ he said.

Amidst the dismal reality of our contemporary times, Professor Allard struck a sanguine note, replete with the kind of optimism that is the proverbial hallmark of the American spirit.

He said, “The answer is that there is nothing that we cannot handle, starting with every person in this room, if we adhere to the rule of law and assert our rights and responsibilities to hold government accountable. But, it takes work. If each of us sits back, expecting others to trigger the alarm or fight the fire, our house will burn down. The first responders are people exercising their free speech rights and journalists whose constitutional protected job is to pursue and reveal the truth, shine light into dark corners to give the public information it needs to make informed decisions and to hold the government accountable. In exercising of these rights and responsibilities, the work of Judges and lawyers to uphold the appropriate uses of free speech and free press rights is as important as it ever has been.”

A new luxury helicopter “shuttle” service is being offered for quick flights from Midtown Manhattan to the East Hamptons. Luxury one way flights from 34th Street in Manhattan to the East Hampton Airport, a 40 minute chopper ride will be offered for $995-per-seat. The private aviation firm, Wheels Up, announced the new service earlier this week. The problem is Hamptons residents who live below the route have already voiced their complaints against the noisy service.

As reported by the NY Post, the “safety vetted and verified helicopter” holds up to eight passengers and takes off Fridays at 3 p.m. for the summer season, June through August. The serene waterfront towns below, however, are not ready to give up their peace and quiet for the convenience. Residents of the town have been clashing with helicopter services for almost a decade. They have filed lawsuits and complaints with the FAA against the noisy little aircrafts, which typically run Thursday through Sunday during summer, with prices starting at $300.

On Friday, residents and East End elected officials got an early start complaining about Wheels Up’s helicopter service. “This is terrible, terrible, dreadful news. The only question is whether they will fly the northern route or the southerly route over the ocean. It is clear that, at an estimated flight time of 40 minutes, they do not contemplate the prospect of flying around Plum Island. I know that East Hampton knows that the growth of these types of services erode not only the quality of life for our residents but, the quality of life of its own. It is time to detonate the A-bomb — figuratively as it had been referred to by some East Hampton residents — and close that damn airport down,” said Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell.

Southold Town Councilman Robert Ghosio, also spoke out. He demanded that all the aircrafts should “fly over the water” instead of their homes. “It drives people who live here crazy. It’s a barrage of helicopter noise,” Ghosio fumed to the Post. “It gets so loud that it shakes the glassware in cabinets. If you’re having a barbecue outside, you have to stop talking when one flies by because you can’t hear,” he said. “People didn’t have the expectation that the town would become a flight route when they moved here. They moved here because of its quiet, rural summers,” said Ghosio.

“For too long residents have had their quality of life damaged by the constant helicopter fly overs. These helicopters travel the same routes when navigating over our town resulting in the aircraft passing over people’s homes every five minutes. We need a mandated all water route to bring relief to our residents,” said Riverhead Town Supervisor Laura Jens-Smith. She added that the FAA should “stop pitting the North Fork and South Forks against each other.”

A representative for Wheels Up did not immediately return a request for comment.

Think Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, has enough on his plate? Musk, the 47-year-old billionaire entrepreneur and engineer is also founder and CEO of SpaceX, Neuralink a neurotechnology company, the Boring Company which focuses on tunnel-construction, and several other ground breaking startups. According to Forbes, he has a net worth of $22.3 billion and was listed as the 40th-richest person in the world, as of April 2019. Musk is a signatory of The Giving Pledge, in which he has promised to contribute the majority of his wealth to charitable causes. In addition he has contributed his expertise to provide solar-power energy systems, as well as clean water filtration systems to areas to areas devastated by disaster.

Last summer Musk took time out to go on a rescue mission — an underwater rescue of youth soccer players trapped in a cave in Thailand. He brought along a mini-submarine , built specifically for the rescue missions, hoping to shuttle the kids to safety. There he met a British diver who was also part of the rescue mission. The diver, Vernon Unsworth, lashed out against Musk in an interview with CNN. He dismissed Musk’s attempts to help as a “PR stunt” and derided his submarine. The 63-year-old said that Musk’s submarine had “absolutely no chance of working” and that he could “stick his submarine where it hurts.”

Musk took to Twitter to defend himself, calling Unsworth a “pedo” in a July 15 post. For this he was slapped with a defamation lawsuit, in large part because he had nearly 24 million Twitter followers at the time. Unsworth sued him seeking more than $75,000 in damages from Musk. The suit also seeks a court order prohibiting Musk from making any further disparaging comments. Musk attempted to merely dismiss the lawsuit contending that his insult was protected from legal action by the first amendment right to free speech. However, on Friday May 10th, a federal court judge in Los Angeles rejected his plea to dismiss the case. Musk will need to appear on trial in the case, which has been set for October 22nd.

Back in July, Musk had offered a public apology “My words were spoken in anger after Mr. Unsworth said several untruths & suggested I engage in a sexual act with the mini-sub, which had been built as an act of kindness & according to specifications from the dive team leader,” Musk had tweeted days after the exchange.

Palm Beach County Judge Joseph Marx has ruled out making alleged videos of several men public – reportedly including Robert Kraft, the owner of the New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft — at the Orchids of Asia spa in Florida.

The pending case is against the spa’s accused madam and masseuse. The one-hundred-plus hours of video that law enforcement officials said were shot inside and outside the Jupiter, Fla., spa will remain unseen by the public.

The judge ruled that “the massive media firestorm that’s centered around the bust would taint the jury pool so much that, even considering Florida’s strong open-records laws, the videos will remain under seal,” reported the Boston Herald.

“Defendants are guaranteed a fair and impartial trial by jury, not a trial by community or in the press,” wrote Judge Marx in his order.

According to the Herald, the “highest-profile man of the dozens charged in the sting was Kraft, the 77-year-old billionaire owner of the Patriots. Kraft is fighting misdemeanor charges of soliciting prostitution by patronizing the alleged “rub-and-tug” spa twice in January on the weekend of the Patriots’ AFC Championship victory. Kraft, who has a condo in tony Palm Beach, pleaded not guilty earlier this year to the charges. He later issued a public apology, saying, “I know I have hurt and disappointed my family, my close friends, my co-workers, our fans and many others who rightfully hold me to a higher standard.”

The complaint alleges that the police department had obtained “overwhelming evidence that certain masseuses were engaging in low-level prostitution” well before commencing the “sneak and peek” operation, making video surveillance of all customers (including those getting massages without sexual activity) unnecessary, reported profootballtalk.nbcsports.com. “The complaint also alleges that the video generated by the surveillance operation has become, essentially, leverage in the broader effort to obtain plea deals from persons charged with soliciting prostitution, with the potential public release of the videos exacerbating the violation of the privacy rights of persons who received massages and nothing more.”

The latest chapter in the ongoing melodrama saw prosecuting attorneys accuse Kraft’s defense attorneys of lying. In fact, the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office filed a motion Tuesday asking that attorneys Alex Spiro and William Burck be held in contempt.

Prosecutors have claimed that in court last week, “Spiro falsely accused Jupiter police officer Scott Kimbark of telling other officers he would lie to justify the traffic stop of another Orchids of Asia Day Spa customer,” reported NBC News. “Burck denied the allegations Tuesday in a phone interview with NBC News, calling them “false, reckless and unethical.” “Alex Spiro and our firm will not be intimidated by the state attorney and their efforts to smear us with false allegations and will not deter us from defending our client from what we have contended are unconstitutional illegal acts,” Burck said, adding that he plans to file a response in court.”

Have you been badgered with unwanted phone scam calls lately? On Sunday May 12th, Senator Chuck Schumer, announced his support for a bill to tackle the intrusive calls. According to the Democrat’s office, New Yorkers were bombarded with a whopping 293 million robocalls in April alone. That figure amounts to 112 calls per second, and 11 calls per New Yorker. “It’s a plague that we’ve got to cure — whether it’s the landline or cell phone, no one should be woken up in the dead of night by multiple robocalls,” said Schumer in a statement.

As reported by the NY Post, in NYC alone, there were 141.86 million such calls reported, as per Schumer’s office. People with 917 numbers received the most robocalls, or 48 million calls in April. Outer-borough, 347 prefix numbers, received the second most, getting with 42.3 million. The sought-after 212 Manhattan area code, received the fewest interruptions relatively, with 2.3 million spam calls targeting them.

Schumer is co-sponsoring The TRACED Act (Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence Act). It will aim to deter criminal robocall violations and improve enforcement of section 227(b) of the Communications Act of 1934. The bill will try to cut the cord on scammers by stepping up civil penalties of up to $10,000 per bogus call. The bipartisan bill will also extend the statute of limitations, so that perpetrators can be liable for punishment for the robocall offenses from one year to three years after each incident, as per Schumer’s office. If enacted it will give the FCC and other federal agencies more tools and authority to trace, prosecute, and enforce fines on robocall scammers. It would also require telephone service providers to adopt call authentication technologies, enabling the carrier to verify that incoming calls are legitimate before they reach consumers’ phones.

The act was originally fabricated in 2018 by Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), Chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, and Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) a member of the committee and author of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. “As the scourge of spoofed calls and robocalls reaches epidemic levels, the bipartisan TRACED Act will provide every person with a phone much needed relief,” said Markey. “It’s a simple formula: call authentication, blocking, and enforcement, and this bill achieves all three. I thank Chairman Thune for his partnership on this effort, and look forward to seeing this legislation through to its passage.”

“Incessant and invasive robocalls — all times of day and night — generated by scoundrels who have programmed bots are a metastasizing plague that we must find ever new ways to confront and beat back. That are not just a nuisance, they are often the fly paper that traps unwitting consumers in nasty rip offs,” said Schumer in a written statement prior to the announcement.

Netta Barzilai, the Israeli winner of last year’s Eurovision singing contest, is ready for another round. Last year, in Lisbon, she wowed the crowd with her notorious chicken noises, and her soulful single entitled “Toy”. On Friday, Netta released her third single, named “Nana Banana”, right on time for this year’s Eurovision competition.

The Eurovision international song competition which is taking place in Tel Aviv, Israel this year, begins on Tuesday, May 14th. As reported by the Forward, Netta’s new song, which she will sing live, “has a writhing beat, cheap rhymes, and cheerful refusal to conform”. Netta and her crew will perform the new song at the grand finale, most-likely while wearing crazy and cringe worthy costumes. The lyrics seem to be mostly preposterous, with the repetition of “Nana Banana I do what I wanna”. There also can be found, however, the slightest bit of depth, embedded within the lyrics, which read, “I know I’m wasting my time, but Baby it’s so comfortable. In my bubble I stay always running away.” Netta seems to take on a new persona. In “Toy”, she portrayed herself as a strong, subversive, fearless feminist. Endearingly, here she seems to shed her confident and cocky image. The lyrics seem to tip-off to her true inner fears, her self-doubt and her personal struggles to live up to her own image or potential. The theme also touches upon listening to your own instincts instead of noises on the outside.

The 26-year-old pop vocalist from Hod HaSharon, Israel rose to stardom after winning the fifth season of HaKokhav HaBa (translated as ‘A star is Born”) or Israel’s version of Xfactor. This victory earned her the right to represent Israel in the 2018 Eurovision competition. Her personal victory at Eurovision turned into Israel’s as she earned her country the right to host the 2019 song competition.

Expectedly, the international singing competition has taken on a political tone this year. As reported by the Daily Mail, on Sunday anti-Israeli groups erected a huge banner, near Ben Gurion Airport that reads, ‘Dare to Dream of Freedom’. The banner depicts a picture split in half between a beautiful beachfront lifeguard station and an Israeli military watchtower with clouds overhead. Left-wing Israeli activist group Break the Silence put up the sign as a way of protesting Israel’s ‘occupation’ of the West Bank.

Its director Avner Gvaryahu said he wants tourists to see the sign and be stirred to also tour parts of the West Bank and ‘see the full picture’ of the conflict. Israel’s Strategic Affairs Minister Gilad Erdan called Breaking the Silence a ‘despicable hate organization’. Last week, as the contestants arrived in Israel for the rehearsals the air was also tainted with politics. Israel was at the receiving end of a barrage of hundreds of rockets fired into Southern Israel by Palestinian militants. Still, as they say, the show must go on.

The angels are flying away.

Les Wexner, CEO of L Brands, the parent company of Victoria’s Secret, released a statement last week in which he said that he is taking this year’s Victoria’s Secret fashion show in a new direction.

“Fashion is a business of change. We must evolve and change to grow. With that in mind, we have decided to re-think the traditional Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show,” the statement read. “Going forward we don’t believe network television is the right fit.”

He continued, “In 2019 and beyond, we’re focusing on developing exciting and dynamic content and a new kind of event – delivered to our customers on platforms that she’s glued to … and in ways that will push the boundaries of fashion in the global digital age.”

The move is not a surprising one, given the fact that last year’s show drew its lowest rating ever for the annual event. Controversy in some quarters was also stirred when a top executive suggested that the show should not include transgender models.

The lingerie company is also said to be shuttering another 53 disappointing retail locations this year.

Predictably, Wexner’s statement has sparked much discussion about the company’s overall direction. As Forbes speculated, “The 81-year-old billionaire, who founded what is now called L Brands in 1963, doesn’t have many good options for the fashion show, which last year generated the lowest TV ratings in its history. Perhaps the decision about the fashion show was made for L Brands, and the company is trying to spin the news in a positive direction. ABC, which broadcast the latest edition of the show, declined to comment. CBS couldn’t immediately be reached.”

Referring to the fashion show’s sagging ratings and overall brand, the magazine’s Jonathan Berr noted that he doesn’t “think any of the major cable channels would be interested in the broadcast, either. Wexner could stream the event or show it on a pay-per-view basis. Unfortunately, there is a ton of content on the internet that’s far raunchier than any “secret” Victoria may still be keeping. Victoria’s Secret would also likely reach a much smaller audience online than it would have on network television.”

The decision about the show, Reuters reported, “follows growing criticism of the television broadcast–which features models such as Gigi Hadid, Kendall Jenner, Alessandra Ambrosio and Lily Aldridge walking the runway in skimpy underwear–as sexist and out of touch. Victoria’s Secret, once the go-to retailer for all things lingerie, has been losing customers as more women shift to cheaper bralettes and sports bras from companies such as American Eagle Outfitter’s (AEO.N) Aerie. Pop singer Rihanna’s lingerie line, Savage X Fenty, has also taken market share away from the struggling retailer.”

Alan Faena, Argentine hotelier and real estate developer, is the founder and President of the Faena Group. His luxury hotel group has developed pioneering properties in his native Buenos Aires, and in Miami Beach, changing the face of hospitality in those cities. His Miami Beach hotel has earned the prestigious five-star award from Forbes Travel Guide for the third consecutive year. The 56-year-old multi-millionaire has put out a book, published by Rizzoli. It is his memoir entitled, Alan Faena: Alchemy & Creative Collaboration: Architecture, Design, Art.

In the lavishly illustrated new book, Faena, who opts to wear only white, offers a peek into his life behind all the glory. Therein, he reveals his history of deeply Jewish family roots. As per the Forward, Faena divulges that he comes from a long line of “deeply devout rabbis” on the side of his Moroccan-born mother. His maternal grandfather was a kosher butcher, and his great grandfather advised the king of Morocco.

Faena is known as a visionary, he began his career at the age of 19, founding the fashion label Via Vai. In his book, Faena writes that he too taps into his spiritual side, and applies it to his work: “We’ve always been priests, drawing into ourselves and looking for answers in the divine.” His latest prophetic inspiration has been Faena Bazaar, an unparalleled rooftop shopping venue in his multi-billion-dollar mid-Miami Beach waterfront “Faena District”. The four-story menagerie is a new shopping concept, situated across from his namesake hotel in Miami. It offers a whirlwind of galleries, pop-ups, and stand-alone shops by designers from around the world. “Retail is in a strange moment,” Faena explains. “With everything I do, I want to offer an experience. We give our guests art, we give them theater, we give them design. Here, we give them product—our way.”

The Forward questioned Faena about how religious his upbringing was. “Spiritual commitment was very strong in my bloodline, almost like a gene,” he responded in an email. When asked by Forward what he wants readers to take from his new memoir, Faena wrote: “Always follow your dreams and anything is possible when you have a strong vision and speak from the heart.” In the same email interview, he responded that he would like to be remembered: “A dreamer who created destination landmarks for personal expression and cultural interaction around the world. I like to think that in one hundred years people will be able to see my creations.”