Early this morning (Friday, Jan. 31, 2014) one of my cameras picked up this guy scoping out my garage at 4:49am
Unfortunately he didn't trigger the sensor light on my back porch. That won't happen again if he comes back. I've readjusted and tested it. I have 5 sets of them outside + 1 inside the garage itself. Apparently he wasn't deterred by the one that lit him up on my parking pad.
Overall I suppose it's no big deal since even if he did get in, both vans are locked and it's so crowded in there you can't get anything out around them. Plus I have some of the stuff chained and locked.
The point in posting this is to warn others to always lock their garages and install doors without glass in them. This includes the one that raises. Fortunately this guy was probably looking for a easy snatch and grab. I may not be able to prevent this from happening, but having 4 cameras and a bunch of sensor lights doesn't hurt. At least I'd have swell pictures of the guy for the police and posting online. I also have the option of adding more cameras to my present system or moving one of them to the inside of the garage.
This Sunday, February 2nd, 'Punxsutawney Phil' will make his annual appearance at 'Gobblers Knob' in Punxsutawney, Pa... The location is 241 miles West of Allentown, Pa.
Almost 10,000 people come every year to watch this little furry grundsow ("Prognosticator of Prognosticators") try and outdo meteorologists' predictions. Newcomers may ask why the heck would anyone stand out in the woods overnight doing basically nothing? Well that's not all there is to it. Every year, starting on Friday, Punxsutawney, Pa. gets all gussied up and has numerous events for tourists.
If all this still sounds silly it's probably no more silly then people freezing their butts off without a bathroom for 8 hours at Times Square in New York to watch a ball drop within a minute. Personally speaking I find doing either one rather unappealing. I prefer my warmth and sleep. Best part is I can still do both by pushing the fast forward button on my DVR and not miss a thing. I'm such a weenie, eh? :-)
There's something far uglier going on then just opposing an increase. Putting it delicately. There is a war going on by certain selfish bastards who wish to make the lives of people they consider beneath them as miserable as they possibly can. There's nothing wrong with kicking somebody in the butt if they're reluctant to work, but pulling the rug out entirely is another matter.
Let's take a look at the whole picture. The farm bill just passed which takes $8 billion from the food stamp program. The federal government cut off extended unemployment benefits as of January. Many states have already adopted requirements for those receiving unemployment and/or food stamps that they need to apply for three jobs a month.
While I go along with this in order to encourage people back to work we need to also be reasonable and fair about it. It's one thing to kick someone in the butt. Quite another to strangle them by not increasing the minimum wages they will need to live on without these safety nets.
I'll give you a few situations. A person comes into a business asking for a job because he/she is required to in order to maintain their benefits. The employer prior always started someone off at $10.00 an hour. But now this dupe walks in who's in no position to refuse a job or otherwise they'll lose their benefits. The employer fills out the paperwork provided by welfare or unemployment stating they will hire he or she for $7.25. That person has no choice but to accept the job, even if it's much less then they received in benefits.
Oh wait. It doesn't end there. The employer knowing they can't go back to their benefits if they quit, screws them over real good by overworking them with screwy hours. Perhaps even pushing this person enough allowing them to reduce the hours of the $10 an hour person. Yeah I know an employer would never do that, right?
Let's a look at the overall labor picture after millions are forced off of food stamps, welfare and unemployment. Many of them who had full time jobs will now find themselves in a position where they can't find a job that will hire them for more then 20 hours a week. They'd now have to work 80 hours a week to make up for the $14.50 an hour job they once had.
As if things weren't bad enough, I don't know of any part time employer who provides healthcare nor vacations days. So they lost that too. OK, so even though these people may no longer get vacation days, it is possible to get health insurance through the new healthcare exchanges (Obamacare). Wouldn't you know it, these certain 'selfish bastards' are even trying to take that away too!
AND IT DOESN'T STOP THERE! Now it comes time for these workers to retire and in steps the 'selfish bastards' once again.
They want to gut Medicare and some even want to end it altogether. Also reduce Social Security by raising the age of retirement and reducing yearly wage adjustments. So it looks like our 80 hour a week wage earner is going to be forced to keep working well beyond the age of present workers before they qualify.
ANOTHER PRESPECTIVE You Get What You Pay For So far I've spoken from an employees point of view. Now let's take a look at it from an employer's. The worst fear of any employer is turnover and training costs. Someone working part time for $7.25 doesn't give a shit. Any employer who is willing to put up with absenteeism, lousy quality/performance, teamwork and excessive training costs won't be around very long. Not unless the government through legislation makes it worth their time by forcing a steady supply of cheap crappy workers to them. That in essence is the direction we are headed.
There's a huge difference between workers being incentivized as opposed to being backed into a corner. I'm certain we shall see the results of choosing one over the other in the not too distant future. Which path do we want to take? The one that encourages people to work and provide a fair living or one that creates two classes of people? The haves and those who will never have.
Allentown announced it is looking into building a 20,000 seat football stadium. An official said, "Because the arena has become a smashing success before it's even finished, I feel a football stadium would be a perfect addition to add to our already existing sports complexes."
There are two possible locations being considered. One would be inside 'Trexler Memorial Park' because of it's easy access to Routes 222 and 22. The other possible location site might be downtown. According to a spokesperson who is not authorized to speak and wished to remain anonymous, the study is looking into what businesses still remain in the ten hundred block on Hamilton Street as a possible location.
Although the proposed stadium has no football team, it is hoped with the addition of a five level parking deck, a museum and five more restaurants it could potentially be a money maker. Three restaurants already expressed an interest. "The Rusty Grill", "Sam & Ella's" and "Lolita's All Night BYOB (Bring Your Own Broad) Bar & Grill".
As for the museum, it would feature displays of historical and current firearms once used throughout the city.
The upper two top floors of the parking deck would be reserved exclusively to accommodate overnight lodging for out of town guests whether they attend a game or not. Officials also hope this will help relieve the strain on current facilities for the homeless. Heat will be provided by the food exhaust fans from the restaurants below. Another unnamed official said, "There's nothing that could make a person feel more at home then the satisfying aroma of food on the stove. I hope this would serve as a reminder to these people that we haven't forgotten them."
One attraction rejected involved a interactive primate building for visiting tourists. It was suggested that the monkeys would be taught to pick the pockets from visitors while they roamed freely. An objection was raised by the parking authority on the grounds it would be a duplication of services they already provide the city.
Other Local Headlines In The News
* Lehigh County Water Authority announced it's looking into leasing out it's water agreement with Allentown.
* Allentown's looking into logging the Lehigh Parkway
* 80,000 are expected to vote in Allentown's next election Republicans are expecting an upset victory
* Council is considering a measure to require all of Allentown's automobile drivers to be licensed
* Neuweiler Brewery could become a haunted house attraction this October
* Allentown seeks to add 300 more rental conversions in 2014
* Bon Ton announced Hess's may be coming back to downtown Allentown Pending NIZ approvals
* New noise ordinance approved after residents complain Currently this affects only one building located 435 Hamilton Street
* 4 out of 5 city homeowners content living in Allentown Latest census indicates only 5 people own the residence they live in
* Mayor announces measure to eliminate city council City council expected to approve the mayor's proposal with one member dissenting
* Developer announces purchase of the entire city of Allentown and city hall State financing expected to approve proposal
* Allentown School District has huge surplus budget In related news, Pa. announces drug testing to begin in Allentown School District
* Allentown expected to resume train service Trains will depart from LVIA for Newark International
* Long time residents no longer wanted or needed by city officials Spokesmen say, old and grey? Go away!
Unfortunately I've been very busy filing online my 2013 taxes. Trying to get the Lenovo tablet straightened out that refused to embrace my router to go online. The monthly backups for all of my computers. The noisy fan in my main computer's power supply that decided to act up. This alongside the repeated snow shoveling in the back alley and helping watch the daughter's newly born twins now that she's gone back to work at the hospital for her 12 hours shifts. I'll put all this off until I can find the time to post something else when I have more time.
Instead I'll leave everyone with this (not so burning) question.
Does anyone really give a hoot about tonight's 'state of the union' address, if so why?.
Let's not kid ourselves, the only real God we worship is the God of money. Governments don't exist without money. Churches can't exist without money. People spend their whole lives in pursuit of this imaginary God. Most of our lives and decisions all revolve around this false illusion that somehow, if we follow the pursuit of money we will succeed to a higher level of happiness in this life alongside the disciples of the this imaginary God. I have news for you. The club isn't accepting new members.
You want to know the truly odd thing about money? It doesn't exist!
It's a game made up to measure one's worth against another person. Those who perpetrate this illusion laugh at the fools who think they can somehow beat the deceivers at their game. Ain't never going to happen!
Whenever something doesn't seem to make sense (politically or otherwise) I redirect my thoughts to follow the money trail. Take for example the phrase, "God loves the poor". Well if that's the case he sure has a funny way of showing it. Gee I wonder who came up with that one? Could it be the those who don't want any trouble from the smucks who aren't buying into their game? Of course it is!
Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with someone becoming a billionaire if they think that will make them happy. I wouldn't know what to do with that kind money myself anyway. What I do have a problem with is when they screw over other people to get that way. To many of them it's no longer a game of not how much they can accumulate (which they could never spend in a lifetime), but rather taking every bit of the pie and leaving little for anyone else. Sometimes it's not how rich you are, but how poor you can make everyone else.
I Repeat.. "Money Doesn't Exist" The game's rigged 2010
My Comments About The Article Above What a swell way to pick motorists pockets not only for the private contractor, but the City of Baltimore and insurance companies who customers' rates were jacked up after drivers were ticketed.
New York City is coming at this from a different angle. They are presently experimenting with 'E-ZPass' scanners on certain city streets. Although NYC hasn't disclosed exactly why they are there, many New Yorkers spotted them.
I know cities are hard up for money because revenues are down. Do they not understand why? It's because peoples' are too. They're not helping the situation with these kind of shenanigans. If I didn't know any better I'd suspect there might even be a bit of dishonesty afoot, eh?
Why am I bringing this up? Monkey see. Monkey do. Will our city take a crack at this too?
One of the main passions I enjoy is music and what it says about how one feels emotionally. When words fail I resort to music to express the kind of mood I'm in. What follows are videos expressing the kind of mood I'm in this weekend.
(1) The Williams Brothers- "I'm Just A Nobody"
(2) Roger Waters - "Is There Anybody Out There?"
(3) Pink Floyd- "Another Brick In The Wall"
(4) Styx - "Too Much Time On My Hands" (1981)
There's a couple of other thoughts I'd like to express... I follow the dozen or so of other bloggers here in the Lehigh Valley. It disappoints me when readers don't appreciate their hard work (other then on only 3 other blogs). People should leave comments of encouragement to them.
I did continuously for the first 2 years or so when I first started blogging. The links, comments and respect I gave them weren't returned in-kind (except for 2 or 3 of them who supported me). Maybe some deserve no more attention then they themselves are willing to give to others or myself. Hence why I've gotten away from supporting them via links and words of encouragement.
That doesn't mean readers shouldn't if they enjoy their writings. Even if people think little of this blog, I strongly encourage people to support the local bloggers. That in of itself would be encouragement enough for me.
Syria's turned into such a free-for-all that even the Al-Qaeda-leader is confused as to who is who. The only way I see this ending is when enough people doing the fighting are killed or become exhausted by this war. Unfortunately this is such a mess no one outside the Syrians themselves can bring an end to the bloodshed. Not the USA, Russia, the various disjoined factions of Muslims fighting nor Al Qaeda. It's the Syrian peoples' war. Only they can bring an end to the fighting.
This Syrian war is just the same kind of stupid shit mankind has been doing for tens of thousands of years. Especially when it comes to the 'my God can kick your God's ass' reasons for doing them. You'd think by now we'd learn. Obviously not!
Before we begin this discussion it's important to define what 'CATV' stands for. Many believe it's a abbreviation for 'CAbleTV. Actually it's a acronym for 'Community Access Television' or 'Community Antenna Television'. It's important to know this before we can discuss why CATV is near certain to go away in the future.
What Today's TV Will Become In The Future
I will go into greater detail explaining how this will come about later. In the not too distant future all of today's televisions (except for smart TV's) will be rendered useless. Today's current cable TV providers will transition themselves away from providing the traditional RF TV channels. Instead nearly all will become internet providers offering VOD (Video On Demand) services only.
Viewers will rent or be given converter boxes that can be used for today's current TV's that are not internet capable (smart-TVs). Instead of switching channels to watch a program, users will select entirely from VOD offerings. Some will be free. Others varying in price. At the end of each billing cycle customers will be charged for each program they watched that month. In some cases customers may order up a VOD package deal, like let's say for an entire season of their favorite program. Some viewers already buy DVD's of a program's entire season. Instead cable operators can make the same offer by streaming them via VOD instead.
In other words future TV will be a 'pay-as-you-go' proposition. The days of free over the air broadcasts will be phased out. That's the short explanation.
HERE ARE THE DETAILS Some of network giants already positioned themselves by buying up cable companies. Recent court decisions (some favorable, others not) are pushing TV execs towards delivering their products via VOD. These same entertainment giants also own movie & TV production studios. Therefore they not only have an interest in marketing their networks and the TV stations they own, but also using VOD as way to deliver their other entertainment products all in one place. In other words they can control the entire industry from point of manufacture to delivery in each of the individual homes.
Court Actions Aereo TV offers over-the-air broadcast to customers. Unlike CATV companies who are forced to pay broadcasters Aereo exploited a loop hole. I've already told you it was important to understand what CATV stands for 'Community Antenna Television'. All the laws are set up for cable companies who rely on one antenna. Aereo on the other hand sets up individual antennas for each one of their customers in select cities. They stream only a over-the-air TV station through the internet to one individual customer at a time. Since they are not legally defined as a CATV company, they so far have prevailed in the courts from having to pay broadcasters. Broadcasters are screaming holy hell. This issue is now headed before the Supreme Court
In response these huge companies threaten to pull the plug on the over-the-air TV stations they own where Aereo is operating. Keep in mind this wouldn't cripple their locally owned TV stations because the broadcasters have been maneuvering themselves by buying up cable systems. This still allows them to deliver their content.
While this has been playing out in court behind the scenes there's been another courtroom drama taking place. It concerns 'Internet Neutrality'. This time the big boys came out ahead in court. Last Tuesday (01/14/2014) a DC Circuit Court ruled the FCC has no authority to enforce 'network neutrality' rules.
I'm not going into great depth explaining what this means. Simply put under this ruling internet providers can control the speeds of internet content provided to their customers. Website partners or customers could be assigned tiers of service by how much they are willing to pay. Take for example Comcast Cable (NBC) offered a VOD for a TV series or movie they owned or were partners with. Then let us suppose 'Amazon' offered the same. Under this ruling it would allow Comcast to throttle up delivery speeds for their VOD and throttle down Amazon's.
What this could mean for an individual customer is even if they are paying for one speed they may not be able to watch YouTube at the same speed as a customer who pays more for that particular tier of service. In essence.. different sites... different levels of service depending on both what the operator of the website is willing to pay and the internet customer.
SYNOPSIS As you can see the industry through court maneuverings and buyouts have been moving in this direction for sometime.Networks have already taken many of their new shows off of their locally owned over-the-air broadcast TV stations. Choosing instead to air them on CATV channels they also own. Which in many cases are carried on the very cable company they now own as well.
Hence CATV, as we now know it, may very well go the way of steam locomotives and horses in the not too distant future.
Harkin back to 2002 when Gov. Ed Rendell ran for office. He promised homeowners tax relief in exchange for approving slots and casinos?
After the passage of Act 1 in 2006 homeowners apparently starting counting their chickens before they hatched because look what has happened since.
Next time Pennsylvania politicians say they want to save taxpayers money, we should all ask ourselves how much is it going to cost us this time!
The premise seemed like a good idea. Allowing a limited 51,000 slots and revenue from them to go towards homeowners was a soft sell. Perhaps some homeowners might have even thought they'd get a check. Nope. The money went to the school districts and we never saw it. Nor saw the promised reductions either.
We came a long way baby Then in January 2010 Pennsylvania allowed table games to be added. This initially brought in another $250 million for the state. As of October 2012 it's now has grown to $2.5 billion. Then in November 2013 Pennsylvania passed a law allowing gambling to take place in bars. This is expected to bring in another $150 million to the state and about $13 million spread out amongst municipalities where they reside.
This may seem like good news for homeowners. It's not. Since table games have been added, slot revenue has gone flat. Property tax payers will not see one thin dime from the table revenues nor bar gambling because it wasn't written into the law. Only the revenue from the slots.
What we have here friends is ye ole' 'bait & switch'. Anyone other than being a Harrisburg politician would likely end up in jail if they tried to pull this off.
A QUICK ANALYSIS
Casinos are being used as a tool to mask billion$ of dollars in increased taxes. Nearly every dollar credited to Pa. homeowners' property tax bill, is matched dollar for dollar by cuts to funds going to local school districts.
After getting their foot in the door (by promising property tax relief and only allowing slots), the state went on to include revenue from table games and the soon to be gambling in bars for itself. Neither of which will go towards property tax relief.
All together this will generate over $2.5 billion in revenue for the state in 2014. Additional tax revenue Pa. would have never have had if we never approved gambling in the first place.. ($1.5b from table games + $150M bar gambling + $1.1b cuts to education funding).
Slice it. Dice it any way you want, as a result of homeowners being suckered in by promises of property tax relief (we never got) the state is making out like a bandit. Next time Pennsylvania promises tax relief, I'd lube up for the inevitable of what is sure to follow. Then again, I'm the kind of guy who's confused as to why anyone still believes they're actually saving money by paying for something at a 20% off sale.
National public radio brought up an interesting point back in May 2013-- "...concern from some New York City residents is that the shale gas they receive from Pennsylvania contains higher levels of radon — an odorless, colorless, radioactive gas.... Michael Arthur, co-director of Penn State University’s Marcellus Center for Outreach and Research says it’s a complex issue worth studying more. “The problem is that radon can be produced with natural gas,"
What this means for many of us who've used the radon test kits in out homes is we have no idea just how much radon may or may not be naturally occurring in our homes. When I tested mine I wasn't aware of this. So I have no way of remembering whether we used the gas stove's burners or oven when I ran this test.
This leads me to wonder how may people might have paid for unneeded basement radon eradication equipment for their home. These same people could still be exposed irregardless by using their gas stoves unaware that it may be the source.
This scientific publication by Marvin Resnikoff says radon gas has a half life of just under 4 days. This is not a concern for gas coming from 1000's of miles away. However someone who's home is 400 miles from the source, with gas moving into their homes at 10 mph would receive a dose of 76% of whatever the original amount was.
Natural gas consumers have no way of knowing how much radon was present at the drill head or where their gas comes from. That could be a real concern for us here in Pennsylvania where over 6,000 fracking sites received drilling permits. Many of which are less then a few 100 miles from our homes here in the Lehigh Valley. I'm not certain even our local supplier may know since the gases from these drilling sites get all mixed together.
Proponents of fracking say Resnikoff's FOS
10/2011- Resnikoff Said..
If there's One Thing That Is Certain... It Is, That Nothing Is For Certain.. Somebody's FOS
This is yet one more reason why I support the elimination of all forms fossil fuel energies. Wind, solar and bioenergy should be the only way we go moving forward. They carry none of the risks associated with fossil fuels.
On a bitterly cold winters morning a husband and wife were listening to the radio during breakfast. They heard the announcer say, "We are going to have 8 to 10 inches of snow today. You must park your car on the even-numbered side of the street, so the snow plows can get through."
So the good wife went out and moved her car.
A week later while they are eating breakfast again, the radio announcer said, "We are expecting 10 to 12 inches of snow today. You must park your car on the odd numbered side of the street, so the snow plows can get through."
The good wife went out and moved her car again.
The next week they are again having breakfast, when the radio announcer says, "We are expecting 12 to 14 inches of snow today.
You must park...." Then the electricity went out.
The good wife was very upset, and with a worried look on her face she said, "I don't know what to do. Which side of the street do I need to park on so the snow plows can get through?"
Then with the love, patience and understanding in his voice that all men should exhibit, the husband replied, "This time why don't you just leave the car in the garage."
The lines of patients waiting to get in the ER's has been steadily increasing for decades. Long before healthcare reform came along. More about that in minute.
First off it's preposterous that anyone be taken seriously for claiming 'Obamacare' is to blame for mainly two reasons.
(1) Critics have repeatedly pointed out how few have signed up. Then flip around and blame long lines at the ER as if there were suddenly a huge influx of those who just became insured under 'Obamacare'. It's either one or the other. It can't be both at the same time.
(2) Obamacare just kicked in on January 1st (less then 3 weeks ago). Those critical of 'Obamacare' obviously never had the pleasure of visiting a ER in the past 10 or 20 years.
Let's take a quick look back in time.I was going to go through these every year from 2001 till now, but as you can see long waits and overcrowding has been a problem for over a decade. Certainly years long before Barack Obama even thought about campaigning to be President. This is another one of those nonsensical statements claiming "It's Obama's Fault".
The real reasons why patients are forced to wait in the ER It is possible the newly insured under the new healthcare insurance might minimally impact wait times. However I greatly doubt most will go to the ER for wellness checks. Especially knowing how long they have to wait. I tend to believe hardly anyone is going to go the ER unless they are sick. Mostly the same number as before, whether they were insured under 'Obamacare' or not. Maybe a increase of 7% tops like in Massachusetts when medical coverage was first expanded there in 2006.
While critics of the new healthcare law may have some legitimate gripes, long lines at the ER isn't one of them.
It's not just about the email. Keep in mind these appliances currently don't have virus/malware protection.
No one could be thrilled to come home discovering some hacker turned on all the burners and the oven in their kitchen stove. Starting someone's car in the garage below their bedroom while they are sleeping. Set the heating thermostat to 90 degrees. Turn on the next door neighbor's electronics to full volume or any other neat little surprises this kind of technology offers.
I'm also fairly certain the secret service or FBI isn't going arrest the refrigerator. Someone would probably stand a better chance of them cuffing the voice going off in their head before that would happen :-)
If you check out Amtrak's latest budget report released on January 3, 2014 financially things aren't looking a whole lot different for 2013. According to the latest yearend projections (as of September 2013) Amtrak's looking at a net operations loss of around $1.125 billion.
Amtrak's 85,000 passengers a day represent only a teeny tiny fraction of America's daily travelers. The Schuylkill Expressway in Philadelphia alone handles 163,000 vehicles a day which contain multiple passengers. Common sense dictates here we have a highway that handles well over twice the number people and in no way conceivable cost us $1.3 billion a year to operate.
There certainly are good reasons to support trains carrying freight. This is an area where rails excel in costs and are a plus when it comes to relieving big rig traffic on the highways.
However, as far as passenger rail, I remain steadfast in my opposition. One time they made sense before the interstates were built or the majority of people didn't have access to their own transportation. Technology moves on. Alas passenger trains now belong in our nostalgic thoughts and museums alongside horse buggies, canal barges and kerosene lanterns. The practicality for them no longer exists.
My Comments About The Article Above Does anyone think it will stop there? What's to keep the administrators from 'outsourcing' full time teachers next year?
Here, I have an idea. Why not 'outsource' the entire administration by hiring a outside management firm while we're at it?
These hot-shots in the school administration, who seem to think they are irreplaceable, should think twice before putting it to those under themselves...
Pennsylvania state highway motorists can call 1-800-FIX-ROAD (1-800-349-7623). In Allentown, Pa. the hotline number to report a pothole is 610-437-8775. In Bethlehem (to report debris in streets or other problems) (610) 865-7065.
I've snooped around and haven't found others.
If someone wants to add to the list, feel free to do so.
Allentown details its homeless strategy City looks to end issue with 10-year plan that includes more housing June 05, 2007 By Kathleen Parrish Of The Morning Call
"Some of the goals of the plan include: Making 15 permanent housing units available each year for a total of 150."
The Allentown Commission to End Chronic Homelessness says its second year efforts have reflected a greater integration of successful practices and a more unified community approach to the issue of homelessness in the City of Allentown....
Steering Committee Co-chairs First Lady Lisa Pawlowski and Allentown Deputy Director of Community & Economic Development Lauren Giguere and commission members released a summary of second year activities during a morning news conference in city hall....
The commission was formed in June 2006 to create and implement a plan to end homelessness within 10 years in the city. At its inception, the commission was comprised of 53 members representing civic and government offices, private business, social service and religious professionals. Participants recognized a need to address the needs of chronic homeless and to tighten up the safety net.
Allentown on track to end chronic homelessness in city October 09, 2009 By Arlene Martinez OF THE MORNING CALL
"The mayor also discussed the $1.2 million the city received in federal stimulus funds to help combat homelessness... It doled out the rest of the money to Catholic Charities, the Lehigh Valley Conference of Churches, the Lehigh Valley Center for Independent Living, the Salvation Army and Turning Point of the Lehigh Valley.... The agencies will use the money for homelessness prevention, education and outreach, job training and and help move others into permanent housing."
Allentown residents urge city hall to open its doors to the homeless January 15, 2014 Colin McEvoy | The Express-Times
"Councilman Joe Davis said a council committee will host a public meeting on Feb. 12 to discuss the ongoing implementation of a long-term housing plan, which would include homelessness issues."
As you can see Allentown has been pondering this problem for almost eight years now (since 2006). They set a goal not too steep for themselves. The hopes are by 2017 this committee will have this problem licked. So hence everybody needs to chill out. The freezing homeless still have 3 years to wait and see how this all turns out.
BTW Anyone else notice which months these stories were released in 2007 and 2009?
Like I said, one sure fire way to get out of doing something is to form a committee
My Comments About The Article Above Enough said. I think this kind of speaks for itself.
However there are a couple of things I want to add. How many of each and everyone of you readers have ever stayed overnight for a entertainment or sporting event?
The other is the difference between socialism and the NIZ. With socialism, peoples' tax money is deferred and the government retains ownership. With the NIZ, peoples' tax money is deferred and certain private individuals retain ownership
What both have in common is us idiots who are forced to pay extra for the lost tax revenues from these projects. I fail to see why I, as a taxpayer, need to help fund commercial business ventures and their owners who's own investors aren't willing to accept these kinds of risks.
So Here I Go... Over Thinking Things Again Yeah I know... but that's just how my mind works.
Stephen Hawking and others have toyed with the idea. They setup experiments to test if time travelers may walk among us from the future. He and the others reached negative conclusions.
Stephen Hawking - Time Traveler's Party
If indeed someone from the future knew how Adolph's release from prison would play out, wouldn't they have done something about it? If not why not? What would the world be like today if there never was a Hitler? Would there have even been a WWII?
One thing is certain, without Germany's rise to power and the resultant WWII everything would be far more complex then the moving of a few chess pieces on a game board. For one, the USA ascended to world power by establishing it's military might through the victories it gained in WWII alongside Russia, China and 19 other allies.
Who knows if Hitler was removed from the equation that we still wouldn't have ended up in a WW anyway. Say against some other nation like Russia instead?
What about our space program? Would we even have one?
After the war the United States granted forgiveness to 88 scientists from Germany if they agreed to come work for us ('Operation Paperclip'). German scientists had already invented jet propulsion that would have wiped our prop fighter planes from the skies had not the war ended when it did. What about the atomic bomb? Einstein warned Roosevelt Germany was working on one since April 1938.
If time travelers from the future prevented Hitler's release and his subsequent rise to power things could have turned out far differently for the United States? Without Adolph's rise to power in all likelihood Germany would have never posed a threat to Russia. Possibly this might have led Josef Stalin to become cozy with Germany. Had the two become allies Russia would have had access to Germany's advanced weaponry. Certainly not a good thing for the United States. Especially given Josef's ambitions of his own. So things might have turned out for the best regarding the United States in the long run.
So that leaves us with some questions if time travel is possible. (a) Were these time travelers of the future wise enough to leave their hands off. (b) They muckied with the situation. After all how would we know or not if time travelers arranged for Hitler's release in order to prevent Russia's rise to power?
HAVING FUN PLAYING WITH TIME While there are minds out there far more genius then mine, who's to say time travel is not possible? Being a fan of science fiction I still have my reservations. Here's my little rewrite on the Hawking scenario above.
Suppose Stephen Hawking had his party and a bunch of people actually showed up from the future. Suppose after they got all boozed up, enjoyed the merriment and had a great time partying into the wee small hours, they then decided to erase their tracks. They all agreed the best possible way to accomplish this was by revisiting Stephen Hawking. This time while he was asleep on the eve before the party. They then take him with them still asleep (induced or otherwise) and put him back in the room any number of days before the scheduled party. This time none of them showed up at the appointed time. How would he know?
