Sunday, July 31, 2016

A Few Politically Incorrect Jokes

Q: What do you call an Amish guy with his hand in a horse’s mouth?
A: A mechanic.

Q: What differentiates a zoo in Louisiana from other zoos?
A: The Louisiana zoo has a description of the animal on the front of the cage, along with a recipe

Q: How do you know when you’re staying in a Mississippi hotel?
A: When you call the front desk and say, “I’ve gotta leak in my sink,” and the person at the front desk says, “Go ahead.”

I was walking down the street and I punched a white guy, then I was arrested for assault. The next day after I got out, I punched a black guy and I was arrested for impersonating a police officer.

A gentleman who had become disgusted with his wifes radical mood swings decided to buy her a piece of "menopause jewelry". He purchased a mood ring for her. When the stone was green her mood was very good. When her mood was bad, it left a large red whelp on his forehead.

---
A blind man enters a Ladies Bar by mistake. He finds his way to a bar stool and orders a drink. After sitting there for awhile, he yells to the bartender "Hey, you wanna hear a blonde joke?"!

The bar immediately falls absolutely quiet. In a very deep, husky voice, the woman next to him says, "Before you tell that joke, sir, I think it is just fair -given that you are blind that you should know five things: First - The bartender is a blonde girl. Second - The bouncer is a blonde girl. Third - I'm a 6 feet tall, 120 kg blonde woman with a black belt in karate. Fourth - The woman sitting next to me is blonde and is a professional weightlifter, and Fifth - The lady to your right is a blonde and is a professional wrestler. Now think about it seriously, Mister. Do you still wanna tell a Blonde joke?"

The blind man thinks for a second, shakes his head and declares, "Nah...Not if I'm gonna have to explain it five times.
- - -

Three contractors are bidding to fix a broken fence at the White House. One is from Chicago, another is from Tennessee, and the third is from Minnesota. All three go with a White House official to examine the fence. The Minnesota contractor takes out a tape measure and does some measuring, then works some figures with a pencil. “Well,” he says, “I figure the job will run about $900. $400 for materials, $400 for my crew, and $100 profit for me.” The Tennessee contractor also does some measuring and figuring, then says, “I can do this job for $700. $300 for materials, $300 for my crew, and $100 profit for me.” The Chicago contractor doesn’t measure or figure, but leans over to the White House official and whispers, “$2,700.” The official, incredulous, says, “You didn’t even measure like the other guys! How did you come up with such a high figure?” The Chicago contractor whispers back, “$1000 for me, $1000 for you, and we hire the guy from Tennessee to fix the fence.”

When asked if they would have sex with Bill Clinton, 86% of women in D.C. said, “Not again.”

A guy is standing at the bar, drinking a beer. A little Asian guy comes in and starts drinking a beer beside him. The guy looks down and asks, "Do you know any of that Oriental Kung-fu, karate, or Ju-jitsu stuff?" The little Asian guy is ticked off being stereotyped, and says "No. Why you ask me that? You ask because I Chinese." The guy says "No, I'm asking because you're drinking my beer, you little Pr--k."

A guy rushes in to a bar and orders 20 shots of the cheapest whiskey. He proceeds to start downing them, when the bartender asks if he is upset about something. The guy says " No, I'm fine. As a matter of fact. I'm celebrating my first BJ." The bartender says "That's great. Here, let me buy you one more!" The guy says " No thanks, if 20 won't get the taste out of my mouth, nothing will!"



Friday, July 29, 2016

Star Trek Franchise: Stick A Fork In It


After reading this synopsis of "Star Trek Beyond" there's little else to be said then, "Stick a fork in it. It's done".

Gone are the cleverly written light hearted humorous situations and characters we grew close to. Both the aliens they encountered and those onboard the ship. In it's place writers have created complex dark verboten situations along with beings hopelessly detached from each another constantly engaged in combat.








This film is more centered on the action jackson type of SFX's instead of developing the bonds audiences once felt between either Captain James T. Kirk, Jean-Luc Picard or even "Data".

As a result they ripped the heart and soul out of the franchise IMO.

Thursday, July 28, 2016

WikiLeaks- Something Stinks

Check it out for yourself. Here's a list of what was published so far.

Anyone else notice something suspicious? Julian Assange seems to have no problem acquiring nearly all his document dumps against the United States and our allies. Yet can't seem to break into China's or Russia's systems. Give me a break.

It's no secret Julian Assange was pissed off with Obama's call to Turkey wanting to hang his ass out to dry in 2010. Another ally he eventually document dumped on.

Obviously he's no fan of the United States. Could there be more to it? Who's paying his expenses for his stay at the Ecuadorian embassy? If this guy's so hot on transparency when are we going to see the inner workings of Russia and China's military and inside their political goings on? Ok so you broke into the DNC's computers.. Am I supposed to believe the RNC's are impenetrable? What about Donald Trump's emails?

Face it this guy seems more like a modern day "Tokyo Rose" pitted against the United States then some guy who's sacrificing his life for some noble cause. Who's really behind this guy?

Yeah sure Hillary Clinton is no angel, but if he's going to spill the beans on her, why not all the others? For damn sure they're no angels either. Neither is Russia and China he seems to ignore almost entirely.




I wasn't born yesterday. This guy's got an agenda.

The question that needs to be asked is why and what's in it for him?

Tuesday, July 26, 2016

Monday, July 25, 2016

Allentown's Light Rail Service

Trolleys and more trolleys. They were everywhere you once turned.



Up until 1952 "Lehigh Valley Transit" provided what young urban planning hipsters of today refer to as 'light rail service'. Rather then go into a long post if anyone's further interested they can check out the link to Wikipedia.




There were a few things I thought about after viewing the following videos: (1) The amount of foot traffic. (2) I noticed drivers would pull over allowing the trolley to pass. In today's world some won't stay off train tracks even with gates down, red lights blinking and bells clanging. (3) I highly doubt drivers today would tolerate sharing the streets with light rail. Especially those on major highways connecting to suburban industrial parks. Without dedicated expensive right-of-ways along with electrical power for them (if we desire clean energy like those prior), it's no longer practical (4) All these trolleys had fixed routes. LANTA is constantly adjusting theirs to accommodate ever changing ridership yet still struggle economically.

Trolley Service in Bethlehem



Little used Allentown trackage on 12th St. and Gordon St.

Both Videos Posted By "1711and14"


Sunday, July 24, 2016

LVCI Plays DJ (Repost From 05/27/2013)

The songs are clipped down for audition purposes


I made the following audio files years ago when I first retired. They were supposed to be audition tapes to get a part time job back in radio like I did when I worked full time back in the early 70's in my retirement years.

Little did I realize THERE ARE NO JOBS IN LOCAL RADIO BROADCASTING!
That all went away years ago.

So instead I'm posting them here. I kind of figure at least somebody ought to hear them since I went to the trouble.


Rock Oldies
How many of these rock oldies from the 50's/60's have you heard before?
I'll bet very few.

60's SOUL

MOTOWN

Misc. 60's Stuff

60's Dance Hit Singles.

80's- Rock




Older Country
These audio files could be considered the country version of "Off The Chart Oldies". I'm not claiming to be all that and more. What I strived for was to create a bunch of tunes few people have ever heard of. Something that is unique, completely different and not currently being broadcast. So once again I ask.. How many of these have you ever heard before?

70's/80's
Part 1
 
Part 2

Part 3
This one is 46 minutes and contains 27 rare recordings. If you don't have time, you can always come back later. By moving the slider you can pick up where you left off.

Part 4
This one features 'Western Music'. It starts off with some tunes from the 30's but ends up with Western swing/dance music from around 2005. So if you don't like the old stuff, hang in there!

Part 5
This One Features The 80's

I hope you appreciate my efforts and enjoy these rare recordings.
Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.





Middle Of The Road- Light & Easy Listening
Part 1

Part 2

Part 3


Saturday, July 23, 2016

Fun Stuff- The Majestic

"Lindyland" uploaded this YouTube Video from June 18th, 2016


Friday, July 22, 2016

Some Really Brief Thoughts (07/22/2016)

NY Times: U.S. Says Florida Network Defrauded Medicare and Medicaid of Over $1 Billion. I doubt we'll recover the entire money. See this is why we can't have nice things. So many are looking to screw the pooch. What's with Florida anyway?


Let me get this straight.. Roger Ailes (the Sandusky of Fox News) is going to be rewarded $40 million dollars for harassing women.

Forget boating, aesthetics or history. Let's destroy all the dams. I had no idea so many cared this much about the fish.

We need more warehouses to hold and distribute Chinese goods. There simply aren't enough of them in the Lehigh Valley to keep up with the demand.



There still aren't enough guns out there to keep us safe. Maybe police should have gun handouts instead of buy backs.

Pennsylvania just legalized driving through a stuck red traffic signal starting in September. There's no specific amount of time defined as to what a stuck red light is. Yeah this ought to go well without defining a time limit as to what constitutes a "stuck' signal. More money for insurance companies, hospitals and lawyers may improve their incomes. Drivers safety and their bottom lines, maybe not so much.

Will Space Travel Ever Become Practical ?

Short answer.. NO WAY!


The universe is much larger then humans can conceive. I'll attempt to explain.

Fans of science fiction series "Star Trek are familiar with it's journey exploring space supposedly made possible by it's faster then light "warp" drive engine. The series creators explained the warp drive was able to overcome known scientific law by warping space behind them rather then trying to push against kinetic energy's resistance in front of them.


Creators of the show explain warp 2 doesn't mean twice the speed of light. It's all a rather complicated formula. According to one fan's site in various episodes warp 9.975 translates into either 132 light years a month or 240 depending on the movie. It was said this is the maximum speed that could be achieved. The reason given was anything faster then warp 10 would send them backwards in time. Something they wished to avoid Averaging out those two speeds I'll use a figure of travel as 186 light years a month. So let's look at what trips could be possible if we had such a ship.

The Milky Way spans 100,000 light years across. At maximum speed it would take almost 45 years to transverse.

According to NASA The closest known galaxy to us is the Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy, at 25,000 light years from the Sun. The Sagittarius Dwarf Elliptical Galaxy is the next closest at 70,000 light years from the Sun. One of the most distant, still considered a local galaxy, is the Andromeda Galaxy some 2.5 million light years away. Meaning it would be some 1,120 years of traveling at Warp 9.75 to reach it. Given these numbers it's highly unlikely starship "Enterprise" would be able to go beyond this galaxy in all it's many travels.

There's even a greater problem facing long distance space travelers. Other then the Andromeda Galaxy which is moving towards us at 250,000 mph (don't worry we're safe for another 4 billion years) distant galaxies in an ever expanding universe are speeding away faster then it were likely a ship could keep up with. Some of the most distant whose light will never reach us. Hence it should always stated the age of "the KNOWN universe" is about 13.82 billion years. It's not an absolute.

So unless we can move freely back and forth in time like "Doctor Who" in the BBC television series it ain'ta nev'r gonna happen. Warp drives aren't to cut it. Which brings me to the discussion of time itself. Think I'll save that for another day.

Thursday, July 21, 2016

Dark Energy & Matter- Wrap Your Head Around This



There's no doubt about it, I think too much. Hey but I'm not alone. I just read on one of my many news feeds the latest multimillion dollar experiment failed to detect any. Aw shucks :-)

This led me to the following two videos. The first a short clip attempting to explain dark energy and matter. The second a 45 minute presentation from the BBC.







I suppose when it comes to learning something about nothing (but yet still is) it will always prove far more perplexing for those of brilliant minds then I ever could hope mine to be. To think we assumed we had it all figured out by observing an atom until the 60s. This is when it was discovered the atom itself gave way to even smaller particles. It's been a trip down the Hobbit hole ever since.

Check out this 5 minute video which leads me to question whether dark matter actually exist or is it nothing more then a product of our conscious influence over attempts to observe it?



Crazy stuff, eh !,

I'll take this one final step further. Some theorists in the field of quantum physics suggest by merely observing we participate in the process for that in which we seek answers. If this is true it would become the melding between religion and science. Religion says we were created in the image of God (the creator). If so it would mean we are part of the process in a never ending creation. Thus there never will be a final solution found to our unending search because the goal posts will always remain beyond reach.

Wednesday, July 20, 2016

This And That On My Mind


National Penn Conversion to BB&T
It didn't go well for us. The wife and I had to login to the new website. In my case I will admit it's my own fault. As part of the conversion process we had to give the last "5" digits of each of our social security numbers. Most of these conversions in the past required only last "4" digits.. OOPS!.. After three screw ups I got locked out which necessitated calling in to get it unlocked. The agent was extremely helpful The wife (I have no idea where she took a wrong turn) ended up calling in twice. These calls required a bunch of information. Heaven help if someone didn't save all the information in the letters they sent. All's well that ends well I suppose, but it was still a pain in the butt.

Politics
I've become oversaturated. Everywhere you turn these days almost everything is about a person's political beliefs whether it be newspapers TV or in social media. Be it Facebook, Twitter, TV programs or the news, you can't escape. Most of which has become more ugly and divisive then it was in my life span. The RNC convention is spending more time focusing on Hillary, the terrorists and refugees then promoting their candidate. What's with that?

Local Development
There isn't any that doesn't involve taxpayers dollars in some way. We are told one after the other there's some benefit to be derived for taxpayers in some way. All I'm seeing is developers, businesses, the city and school district making out while taxpayers and property owners promised a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow never seem to make out.

"Legends & Lies"
I've been watching this Sunday night series on "Fox News". Never a history buff I'm finding this an eye opening experience. Back in my high school days we we're taught little truth of that which actually transpired. Apparently this nation never was united as we high schoolers were led to believe.

YouTube Over The Years
Everyday I root through postings on Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton, Lehigh County & Lehigh Valley. At one time I could find a bunch of users posting stuff. At this point 99% is BS monetized business garbage. My how things changed!

Government & The Mob
Several years back reporters interviewed a crime family boss. In the interview he said he converted his operations into legitimate businesses. The reason he gave, it was a lot more profitable, less risky and easier to get in bed with government officials who create laws legitimizing his former activities. Something to think about when it comes to gambling, marijuana laws and perhaps the future legalization of prostitution.

Medical Care Facilities
Every two or three weeks another multimillion dollar medical facility opens in one area or another. There must be a hellva' lot of loot to be made and tons of sick people!

So Glad I'm Retired
Except for getting screwed on Social Security increases at least I don't have to put up with the kind of employers' nonsense they impose on today's workers. All too many are hired through temp agencies, called to work "on demand" and forced to join team oriented committees else facing layoffs and/or terminations.

TV & Movies-- The Messages Have Changed
At one time the industry promoted higher ideals. Take for example "It' A Wonderful Life". Rod Serling did a bunch of "Twilight Zone" programs which gave us reasons to pause and ponder the outcomes of our misguided directions. Robin Williams did several films which moved humanity to higher ground. The original "Star-Trek" series also caused us to reflect. Which moves me to question whether today's entertainment products contribute to razing our values or the further diminishing of them.

Lucifer
One final thought (for now). We always picture this evil character looking like a red horned monster as portrayed in horror films. If evil is to win over the hearts and minds of people the last thing it would do is instill fear.

Rather it would descend seductively as possible. All embracing with promises of everlasting riches, peace and pleasure to each individual to the exclusion of others not aligned.

Think about the implications this plays as part of today's world.




And maybe it should go with me as well


Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Allentown's NIZ. You Couldn't Make This Stuff Up

State budget could give NIZ developer $1.5 million tax break
By Matt Assad Contact Reporter Of The Morning Call
"Changes made to Allentown's Neighborhood Improvement Zone law by Sen. Pat Browne will limit how much real estate taxes downtown developers pay and could save the city's biggest developer, J.B. Reilly, more than $1.5 million a year.... tax appeal case... was scheduled to be heard in civil court in November, but it's possible the new state tax code could end it before it starts."


Monday, July 18, 2016

Allentown's NIZ Could Increase County Taxes

"The Morning Call" is reporting the state budget includes NIZ hotel tax grab-- "Under the new rules, the tax paid by guests staying in rooms at the Renaissance and Holiday Inn hotels downtown will be set aside in a fund. The amount of hotel tax revenue generated before the zone was created in 2011 would be subtracted and sent to its usual recipients, and the rest would be made available to developers of new hotels and hoteliers undertaking capital upgrades."

Rules.. What Rules?
They keep changing. Apparently State Sen. Pat Browne, R-Lehigh sneaked this into an already cash strapped state budget w/o notifying or consulting with any of those affected. Three problems I have with this..(1) $79,491 per year went to Lehigh County which was used to pay down debt on Coca-Cola Park home of the LV IronPigs. If the county no longer receives that money property owners in Lehigh County could be required to make up the difference. Senator's Browne's response was basically... tough baloney.. "he argued, the county should not have anticipated using any of the hotel taxes the NIZ created to help pay off those bonds." Yeah well thanks for changing the rules after the budgets were set and the NIZ funding game began.

(2) How come developers (those in the NIZ already receiving huge tax breaks affording them to undercut competitors) shouldn't be using their own windfall profits for those things Browne says this new revenue stream can be used for?

(3) Senator Browne further argued he feels county taxpayers already benefited enough from the increased property revenues. Apparently he feels developers haven't?

There were a lot of burgs in Lehigh County around Allentown who didn't want their local and state tax dollars diverted. Yeah well looks like some of them will end up in the NIZ developers pockets after all.

Here's State Senator Pat Browne's entire 16th District.
He wasn't elected just to represent Allentown's interests, but all the county's

Who's the NIZ benefiting the most... county taxpayers?
I doubt it because I don't see taxes going down for anyone.


Sunday, July 17, 2016

Bethlehem's CRIZ Moving Ahead

'Lehigh Valley Live' is reporting on how the state budget boosts Bethlehem economic development -- " Provisions of the CRIZ law made banks nervous to loan money... The update makes it clear that CRIZ developers will not be on the hook to cover the losses of another failed project in the CRIZ."

Gee I wonder if not the developers, who?
It wouldn't be the taxpayers, would it?



Things are getting really blurry for me. Under socialist nations revenue is collected then used in the hopes of creating new wealth. Government retains ownership.

Under our seemingly new form of capitalism government diverts a portion of it's peoples tax revenue also in the hopes of creating new wealth, but in this case ownership is given into the hands of private developers.





I'm so old and yesterday that I can still remember a time when investors took all the risk. The idea was a simple. If there was little or no supply for the kinds of things people were willing to pay for investors and developers used their own personal money and assets to back up the loans if it became necessary to advance the project they were working on. If they were uncertain they wouldn't take the chance. All that's changed, now that government taxpayers are forced to step in assuming the financial risks, why should they gamble their own money or assets?

Hoping to make a profit investors once risked money for streetcars, buses and trains. All of which taxpayers foot the bill for today. We're told how much demand and the necessity for them is now more so then ever. If this is so how could investors back in those days make money on them and not now? The answer is.. knowing government money can be a bottomless pit suppliers overcharge, salaries/benefits are higher then necessary and routes need not be sufficiently profitable.

The problems we face today is because movers and shakers assume little to no financial harm. They've managed to brainwash nearly every smuck away from how capitalism is supposed to work into almost complete acceptance of the new norm. Let me explain.

When Max Hess wanted to build his department store he dug into his own wallet. Here's how that would work today. Max seeks a government incentive to minimize his risk. He borrows most of the money backed up by whatever government program so he's not investing a whole lot of cash. So with say perhaps only 10% of his own money at stake in a few years he takes it public by offering shares of stock under the guise of modernization and expansion. His department store investment has now become worth five times more almost overnight. Max then allows another store or investment firm to buy out his shares. Thus in three or four years he could become a very rich man indeed without worrying whether the whole thing pans out in the long run or not.

Whether it be a internet startup company, retail store, office building or whatever, the idea is to get others to assume the ri$k before the music stops. I could accept it's fair game for some slickster to talk suckers into handing over their money voluntarily. It's entirely another for government forcibly diverting it from taxpayers.

We all need the justice system, police, fire, highways, bridges, schools and other essential services that only government can provide. However offices, apartment buildings, shopping centers, sports facilities and restaurants are entirely a separate matter. Profit generators are best left up to those willing to put their money where their mouth is. Each and every time when it comes to government seeing returns on these kind of investments it always results in a loss for taxpayers. If this weren't so we'd see taxes going down, not up.

Once upon a time famous business founders such as Wanamaker, Sears, Strawbridge, Trexler, Hess, Zollinger, Walgreen, Howard Johnson, Boeing and hundreds of others all started out only accountable to and run by those whose names appeared on the shingle w/o government help. It was their talents alone which made them great from their humble beginnings. There's not one new business that's become great since without some sort of taxpayer supported handout. We need to ask ourselves why.

It appears in today's world investors gamble on the supply side of economics in the hopes there will be a future demand for them. Some succeed. Many more do not. A lot of these government programs are similarly highly speculative in nature. This should be left up to high risk market takers not taxpayers being forced to participate in them.

Another Way Composers Can Earn A Decent Buck

Up and coming music writers may think they can only earn a living by scoring hit tunes recorded by famous artists or creating musicals. Among the dozens I've followed Nick Hutson of Chiswick in the U.K. found his niche in neither of those.

Although he started out about 10 years ago writing a musical he's met his success by writing music for theme parks scattered throughout the world. Which goes to show if a musical writer can think outside the box there's still money to be made even if your name doesn't become world famous to the public.


Nick On Twitter
Nick's HomePage



Here's another guy I followed for a long time. He never gave us his name. He doesn't have a website either, but game makers know very well who he is. He not only scores music but does character voices for video game makers.










So yes kids there's more then one way to break an omelet if you're looking to score in the music biz

Saturday, July 16, 2016

Lehigh Parkway Allentown The 80's (Repost From 01/17/2013)

Whether folks approved or disagreed with it, the Lehigh Parkway on weekends was loaded bumper to bumper with teens hanging out.

The following two videos were uploaded by 'U Walk Entertainment' in Allentown. The videos cataloged the days when 'Arts In The Park' had an entirely different meaning. :-)

I'm sure today's environmental park activists' would freak out!

(These FREE concerts took place by the 'Iron Bridge')

According to the video description provided by 'U Walk Entertainment', 'Washed' performed on July 30, 1989 as part of Rock Relief for the Homeless in Allentown, Pa' Lehigh Parkway.

The other performers included 'Tangier'- "Big Fish Little Pond".
Mike Dugan & the Survival Band- "Nasty Nasty"

We filled almost 3 LANTA buses up with non Perishable Food Items, Blankets and Winter Coats and the event was attended by over 2,000 people.





"The Blissters" performing in the Lehigh Parkway Allentown, Pa in August 1985


Dem' were the days, eh?


Friday, July 15, 2016

Some Easton's Heritage Day Visitors Ripped-Off



"As they listened to Colonial re-enactors read the Declaration of Independence and watched fireworks fill the sky, tow trucks removed 40 vehicles parked at various private properties throughout the downtown, Easton officials said. "

My Comments About The Article Above
Yeah that ought get lots of downtown visitors. Some complained their cars were towed while doing business inside as a customer. Others said they were told by some of the businesses they knew nothing about nor authorized towing. This is not to excuse those who wrongly parked. They were fair game.

As for the innocent victims, in my opinion local prosecutors & police bear responsibility to follow up on this. Rogue tow operators should be charged with multiple counts of auto theft if they can't prove they were authorized by property owners to remove these vehicles. If this isn't auto theft, what would be?

More about this @ Lehigh Valley Live- What to do if you were towed



Thoughts On Truck Attack In Nice, France


In response Newt Gingrich wants to give every Muslim living in the U.S. a purity test to avoid deportation. Donald Trump is calling for locking the doors and windows, building walls and if needed moats along our borders. Hillary Clinton phoned in to O'Reilly at FOX News for the first time in 8 years stating "One of my priorities is to launch an intelligence surge" None of these sit well with me. These kind of knee jerk paranoia reactions post risks to the freedoms we enjoy.

Evil Is What This All About
No matter how we slice or dice it each is making an attempt to eradicate evil. I've read a rather extensive piece at Wikipedia entitled The Problem Of Evil which discusses this issue in detail. Here's what I've concluded. (1) Evil can never be defeated. This is a struggle ever present since the beginning of mankind. If it could be defeated, after 100,000's of years of man's existence, it would be eradicated by now. In the present time we label evil as ISIS, terrorists, extremists or whatever. A rose by any other name whether it be Nazism, Mussolini fascism or any other whatever-have-you appropriate in it's time throughout history, evil will ever remain present

(2) Any attempt to defeat evil must be met on it's own terms eye to eye. In other words becoming it's likeness in order to defeat it on the battlefield would make us become that which we seek to eliminate.

It's all about how we react and deal with it's ever presence The first is to accept there will always be screwballs who walk among us wishing to do harm no matter whether from the outside or within. The second is to come to realization no amount of snooping or intelligence" can be a precursor to whether some big mouth will act out on their words or not. Thirdly, all the security in the world cannot protect the thousands of ways in which evil can manifest itself

Advice
Nut jobs will always walk among us. Avoid adding fuel to the fire. Fear and hate against one another only begets more of the same. Refuse those who encourage divisiveness and suspicion. Retaliation only encourages more of the same. The way to reduce evil is by not becoming part of it. Each has a responsibility (whether not to the creator whom they may or may not believe will hold them accountable) unto themselves.

Although we may someday fall victim let it be said we weren't a contributor in any way whatsoever towards the evil that exist.

Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Alton Sterling's 15 Year Old Son



It looks like Cameron was raised right. I'm sure His father would be proud.


Another Day Another Bank- Sick Of It All

KeyCorp is swallowing up First Niagara bank. National Penn is changing over to BB&T. And so it goes on and on. I'm on my fourth bank never having changing a one on my own.

Not being one to have all my eggs in one basket my finances are spread between four different banking institutions As a result I'm forced to go through this crap nearly every year.

Two years ago I tried to make my usual yearly partial withdrawal from my 401K. No dice. Since it's dollar value fell below a certain threshold they forced me to go through hoops moving it to one of their other funds. This meant I had to jump through even more hoops enabling me to be able to transfer it electronically into my savings account. A delay of almost a month. As if that weren't bad enough they spam me nearly every week telling me how much more money I could make if I moved it yet again to somewhere else within their maze.

Currently the bank where I have three CD's has been sold. I've received about a half dozen confusing letters with reassigned account numbers for each. This same bank also holds my wife's checking account. Since the checking account and routing numbers have now changed this screws up her direct deposit from Social Security. She also set up electronic transfers to my checking account at another bank. So that too has to be changed as well as where she & I will now have to logon in a week or so. Heaven help if they didn't get everything right. I can only imagine!

My online savings account changed hands just two years ago as well.

The branches we deal with have opened and closed and ATM fees we once dealt with have undergone changes. The printed check routing numbers will no longer apply either so we have to choke up a few more bucks for new ones. Thank God we don't use auto pay or it too would still be yet another obstacle to overcome.

Not to mention my credit card bank holders and all those changes I've had to deal with these past few years.



'Pokemon Go' More Proof People Are Goofy

Although the download is free the company made an estimated $14 million by those purchasing extra add-ins to date.

So What's The Prize?
NOTHING.

Players can only earn some free add-ins which will allow them to capture more imaginary characters or create super ones.. Although most players are underage and cannot buy lottery tickets it doesn't explain all those other brain dead individuals who could.

Most add-ins for Pokemon cost around a buck. The same price as a lottery ticket. Ok so your chance of winning big is about the same as getting hit by lightening, but at least there's a chance someone could actually win real world money.

The game eats up lots of data. Therefore players need to buy expensive unlimited data plans from carriers. I wonder how many of these same doofuses whining about the rich on wall street are lining these very same peoples pockets while receiving absolutely zilch in return.


Yeah Al, it looks like you called it

We've transitioned from the days it cost people nothing to wander about trying to spot birds, rare plants or the like. Now all too many people walk around like zombies glued to what's become the devil's tool spending their money and lives in a world of non-reality. I fail to see where this is healthy for the future mentality of human beings.






Yeah, we're becoming like that!


Tuesday, July 12, 2016

There's No Real Fix For Allentown

The Way It Once Was
A partial list of significant jobs within the city limits which no longer exist
     A&B & Swift meats
     Western Electric
     Mack Trucks
     Bell Telephone
     Allen Laundry
     Dozens of textile mills
     Several large department stores
     General Electric
     Numerous repair shops (we don't repair things anymore)
     Gas station attendants & repair bays
     Dairy, beer & soda makers
     Home delivery & huckster jobs
     Metal and large machinery repair shops

I'm sure old timers can think of many more. What each had in common was a kid could get out of high school and land one of these jobs without additional education. Most employers provided their own onsite training.

Here's The Pickle We're In
There are tons of people who graduate each year who will have none these same opportunities Few will become rocket scientists, world famous physicians or entertainment superstars. There are all kinds of reasons why these jobs no longer exist. Still the fact remains these kind of job opportunities remain a relic of the past for the average schmuck. The vast majority will be relegated to finding a warehouse, service or burger flipping job being unable to support families. Far more feeling left out in the cold and frustrated from even landing these kind of jobs.

How Do We Fix This?
One thing I can tell ya jobs scraping the ice, bartending and flipping burgers at the arena on event nights a couple of nights a month isn't going to cut it. Neither is being on call to clean hotel rooms and offices. Frankly I wouldn't wait for a political hack to come up with solutions at either the federal, state or local levels. Everything's changed.

If I were graduating high school today here's a few things I might consider* Two years will get someone a ticket in the fields of radiology or nursing
* 6-24 months earns one a ticket to become an EMT or Paramedic
* Cops get paid well requiring minimal education for some departments
* Join the Navy or Air Force (where you're not likely to get your butt shot)
* Plumbing or electrical work
* Apply everywhere for city or park work
* Run unopposed for state office (not silly as it sounds)
I'm sure there's plenty more I haven't thought of. What each has in common they require the least investment in both time and money. One thing's for sure it beats waiting around for some politician's promises. None of them are ever going to bring back manufacturing or the job opportunities of the 60's.


Political Gamesmanship In Harrisburg

Pennsylvania state budget goes into effect
Jim Vasil , Reporter WFMZ-TV
"Democratic Governor Tom Wolf will not be vetoing the budget bill before midnight on Monday, despite questions about how the state will fund all $31 billion of it... Senate Republican leaders... have pledged to put together a $1.3 billion revenue package. Governor Wolf is taking their word for it."


My Comments About The Article Above
The Democratic governor seems to like the budget alright, but doesn't want to put his name to it. Instead he's leaving it up Republicans to figure out how to pay for it. So when inevitably taxes go up he'll say hey it wasn't me. Sounds like a future campaign strategy he might plan on using for himself in the next election.

One thing voters can always count on from either party after the elections is more of the same tomfoolery as was the last.

Monday, July 11, 2016

Yin Yang And Everything In-Between

The opposites of Yin/Yang could be defined in several ways. In science as electrons/protons. In politics conservatives/liberals. In biblical terms good/evil. The colors of black/white. However in this world nothing is simple. One force that does remain constant between the two is balance. Newton's 3rd law states "For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction." This is the premise I will build on.

Since the beginning evil or goodness has tried to overcome the other. For every steadfast believer in liberalism there is another who will match them on the conservative side. All mankind's problems begin when one becomes radicalized into disbelieving components can coexist in-between I'll give you a few examples.* None of our programs like Social Security, unemployment and labor laws could have never come about without the conservatives cooperation. Radical liberals constantly try to play conservatives as the boogiemen. When things go wrong or the programs have flaws radical conservatives paint a target on liberals.

* Radical Christians want to make war with Muslims. Radical Muslims the same against Christians & Jews.

* Some radical cops blame the public for the uptick in what we're seeing. Others believe cops are instigating it.
What each have in common is intolerance of the other as if this world only consisted two dimensionally. All problems arise when one extreme force meets the other. Scientifically speaking if we took the electrical energy on one side of a generator and crossed it with the other the resultant force would create a damaging short circuit. However when passing the current through an intelligently designed device it then produces something useful. In other words by eliminating the extremes to either side a good outcome can be produced.

Unfortunately there will always extremists in this world. It's just the way this world is and always has been at it's core. The question we each need ask ourselves are we the Yin, the Yang or somewhere in-between composed of both? Do we want to live our lives as extremists or doing something useful in-between the two?

Nothing Is Just A or B
Not all cops or those interrogated are innocent.
Not all religious beliefs are righteous.
Neither political party can completely represent their members views..
There are women/men and those in between.



Ancient religion describes life's travel through karma as a circle (much like the Yin/Yang symbol you see here) . You leave at the top. Travel through the circle ending up on the opposite side from which you started. That religion is trying to tell people not to pick up too much karma (Yin or Yang) on the way back to the beginning of our journey. At the same time warning us if we cut our life short (because of extremism) along the way we've not completed life's journey. Whether someone wishes to believe or not, it's still good advice.

Maybe they were on to something. Ever notice how all the galaxies, planets and suns are all circular?

Sunday, July 10, 2016

Should LC Water Users Be On The Hook?

Cost for fixing sewer overflows in
western Lehigh County to exceed $200 million

By Andrew Wagaman Contact Reporter Of The Morning Call
"The Environmental Protection Agency named the non-profit authority and its municipal signatories in a 2009 administrative order, forcing them to eliminate sewer overflows by the end of 2014 or face daily, five-figure fines."

My Comments About The Article Above
First off "them" is us. Secondly is it we the toilet flushers or the highly profitable corporate users of millions of gallons more water out at the industrial park who should be held accountable ?

Although we've been aware of this problem for years the powers that be still went ahead and approved 10's of thousands of gallons more water usage for various companies at the industrial park. It is for this reason residential water users shouldn't be on the hook for one thin dime. Of course that's not how things workout, is it?


Instead we'll blame downspouts and developments.

Since the low hanging fruit has neither the money or resources to oppose large increases I suspect us residential users will be left holding the short end of the stick.

What else is new !