In 1959, the Kingston Trio recorded the album, Live at the Hungry I, which was a nightclub in
San Francisco. One song on that album, written in the late ’40s by future Pulitzer Prize and
Tony award winning lyricist, Sheldon Harnick, The Merry Minuet, is a piece in which the
tempo of the music does not match the anxiety of the words. The satirical lyrics in short
order cite issues plaguing the post-World War II consciousness: drought, famine,
hurricanes, nationalism, the threat of nuclear war, anti-this or that group. The song
concludes with this none too cheerful observation: What nature doesn’t do to us, will be
done by our fellow man!
Newsday had a headline on 12/11/25, that blared, SEX TRAFFICKING AT LI HOTELS, WITH
AN UNDERLYING CAPTION THAT READ Newsday Found 59 places cited in charges, with
victims as young as 11. Additional articles appeared: an instructor at a community college
grooming/soliciting a supposedly teenage girl was snared in an FBI sting, an actor arrested
on charges of child abuse. The National Crime Information Center in 2023 recorded over
375,000 missing children entries. New York State reported 12, 623 missing children. In
2024, the Department of Homeland Security, focusing on cyber exploitation, recorded
more than 2,600 cases involving child victims. The National Center for Missing and
Exploited Children saw a staggering increase of 1,325% in its cyber tipline reports (1-800-
THE-LOST) that involved generative AI. The NCMEC fielded nearly 100 calls a day
concerning sexploitation, noting the number of male suicides related to it. Fellow man,
indeed.
February 1, 2026. Life goes on. But, the poet Jerry Akporhor wrote, the memories we leave
behind will not be forgotten. For the past 22 years, Matt and Maryann have ensured our
organization has not forgotten.