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Showing posts with label Pennsylvania. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pennsylvania. Show all posts
Friday, April 24, 2026
Sunday, March 1, 2026
Tuesday, November 25, 2025
Garrett Graff - Raven Rock: The Story of the U.S. Government's Secret Plan to Save Itself
Repost
March 14, 2018
Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Monday, November 10, 2025
Raven Rock Pennsylvania's 'Underground Pentagon'
Repost
Wonder if these folks got my reservations for this place since I never received my evacuation pass. Maybe it got lost in the mail. Never mind I'll call them. Say, what's the phone number for this place, anybody know?
Wonder if these folks got my reservations for this place since I never received my evacuation pass. Maybe it got lost in the mail. Never mind I'll call them. Say, what's the phone number for this place, anybody know?
Sunday, October 26, 2025
Allentown Flashbacks
Reposted From September 23, 2010
Excerpts from an article published in the Morning Call Sept. 15, 1999 by Jim Kelly
Do you remember these?
I'll add a few of my own.
Feel free to add your own to the list.
Excerpts from an article published in the Morning Call Sept. 15, 1999 by Jim Kelly
Do you remember these?
I'll add a few of my own.
Feel free to add your own to the list.
Wednesday, October 22, 2025
Sunday, September 14, 2025
Sunday, August 17, 2025
CNBC: The Story Behind Shankweiler's Drive-In Theatre
In 2022, Matt McClanahan and Lauren McChesney purchased Shankweiler's Drive-In Theatre with a one million dollar loan. Today, it brings in nearly $550,000 a year. Here's how much it costs to run...
Thursday, August 7, 2025
Thursday, July 10, 2025
Speaking Of "Urban Sprawl"...
Repost From 2013
Some theorists would have you believe this is a new phenomena. One that has just been around for the last few decades. Not true!
The Truth About "Urban Sprawl"
Let's begin right in our own backyard with Allentown. William Allen way back in the early 1700's was credited with the development of Allentown. You might even say he was the town's first outside developer.
William Allen was both the former mayor of Philadelphia and a one of the powerful & richest men from Philadelphia. To make a long story short, Allentown's very existence came about as a result of Philadelphia's urban sprawl.
Now let's take a look at the nation as a whole. From the very beginning of the United States people began leaving Eastern cities heading West. Cities started being born everywhere to the West. Small towns grew into ever expanding cities. As railroads began connecting Eastern cities together in the early 1800's. They too then began to expand ever Westward. By 1869 the first transcontinental links were made. Talk about urban sprawl!
Railroads were the modern means of transportation at the time. Railroads allowed people living in the outskirts to receive supplies and transportation to and from the bigger cities. You might even say they were forerunners to what this nation's modern high speed highways are to us today.
As some urban theorists get all bent out of shape complaining about today's ever expanding highway network and the cars on them, the railroads had their ownnimby's detractors. I'm sure the Wells Fargo Stagecoach aficionados were just as nimby with the encroaching railroads as today's mass transit enthusiasts are with the cars and highways of today. Therefore, those who opine for urban density and mass transit have been losing the battle for over 300 years.
Hess's isn't coming back. The railroads aren't coming back and neither are the urban economic centers the way they once were. I may be accused of being old fashioned and stubborn, but even I can see the nose in front of my face. No one can change historical facts.
Proponents who argue for urban density and mass transit should reevaluate their positions given the history of the United States. Americans love urban sprawl since the early 1700's. No amount of subsidies or grants are ever going to change the historically based behavior of Americans.
These philosophers tell us that we've been wrongly subsidizing the suburban areas. Could it just be the other way around?
If you took every one of the surrounding townships and small municipalities. Added up every dime of state and federal grants and subsidies. Combine them all together, they still wouldn't equal what just any one of the three major cities alone received in Lehigh County last year.
We've built taxpayer subsidized arts centers, offices, gambling casinos, sports complexes, transit systems, restaurants and dozens of other ventures in attempt to lure suburbanites back into town. When is it time to review the outcome of these many failed attempts over the last decade?
Like it or not, cities everywhere in the U.S. are withering on the vine. If it were not for the heavy burden of tax supported subsides, would cities even exist?
I used the term wither on the vine" as a metaphor for what I'm about to say. Had cities been left on their own, they would have withered. No matter how much fertilizer or water is applied, once a plant has come to the end of it's cycle they're usefulness has come to an end. Much the same with large cities no matter how disagreeable that may sound to some. Crumbling pipes, buildings and infrastructure should be heeded as a sure sign that they too have come to the end of their useful life.
Not All Is Doom & Gloom
We see examples all around us of vacated properties where manufacturing and empty homes now stand. Had the land been cleared, planted with grass, trees and left empty, we'd not only have a greener environment, but one less dense. The very thing that draws more affluent suburban dwellers throughout America's history. Instead we heavily subsidize these to re-urbanize them once again. This is the very thing that caused problems in the first place. Had we instead exercised patience through time to allow the natural order of things, these urban areas would eventually become suburbanized much like the sought after areas by the middle and wealthy.
We can continue to channel mass amounts of taxpayers' money into bus and train transportation. Funnel unspeakable amounts of taxpayers' money chasing after some social urban idealistic venture. Or we can acknowledge historically Americans always had preferences that run counter to this.
Allentown's citizens, who lived here all their lives, lament subsidized housing has led to this city's woes. How much more so the problem has now been compounded when we do the very same thing yet again. This time with millions taxpayer dollars used to subsidize wealthy commercial developers instead. Have we learned nothing from history?
Everyone needs to step back and take a deep breath. The time is long overdue to revaluate what works and what doesn't?
Some theorists would have you believe this is a new phenomena. One that has just been around for the last few decades. Not true!
The Truth About "Urban Sprawl"
Let's begin right in our own backyard with Allentown. William Allen way back in the early 1700's was credited with the development of Allentown. You might even say he was the town's first outside developer.
William Allen was both the former mayor of Philadelphia and a one of the powerful & richest men from Philadelphia. To make a long story short, Allentown's very existence came about as a result of Philadelphia's urban sprawl.
Now let's take a look at the nation as a whole. From the very beginning of the United States people began leaving Eastern cities heading West. Cities started being born everywhere to the West. Small towns grew into ever expanding cities. As railroads began connecting Eastern cities together in the early 1800's. They too then began to expand ever Westward. By 1869 the first transcontinental links were made. Talk about urban sprawl!
Railroads were the modern means of transportation at the time. Railroads allowed people living in the outskirts to receive supplies and transportation to and from the bigger cities. You might even say they were forerunners to what this nation's modern high speed highways are to us today.
As some urban theorists get all bent out of shape complaining about today's ever expanding highway network and the cars on them, the railroads had their own
Hess's isn't coming back. The railroads aren't coming back and neither are the urban economic centers the way they once were. I may be accused of being old fashioned and stubborn, but even I can see the nose in front of my face. No one can change historical facts.
Proponents who argue for urban density and mass transit should reevaluate their positions given the history of the United States. Americans love urban sprawl since the early 1700's. No amount of subsidies or grants are ever going to change the historically based behavior of Americans.
These philosophers tell us that we've been wrongly subsidizing the suburban areas. Could it just be the other way around?
If you took every one of the surrounding townships and small municipalities. Added up every dime of state and federal grants and subsidies. Combine them all together, they still wouldn't equal what just any one of the three major cities alone received in Lehigh County last year.
We've built taxpayer subsidized arts centers, offices, gambling casinos, sports complexes, transit systems, restaurants and dozens of other ventures in attempt to lure suburbanites back into town. When is it time to review the outcome of these many failed attempts over the last decade?
Like it or not, cities everywhere in the U.S. are withering on the vine. If it were not for the heavy burden of tax supported subsides, would cities even exist?
I used the term wither on the vine" as a metaphor for what I'm about to say. Had cities been left on their own, they would have withered. No matter how much fertilizer or water is applied, once a plant has come to the end of it's cycle they're usefulness has come to an end. Much the same with large cities no matter how disagreeable that may sound to some. Crumbling pipes, buildings and infrastructure should be heeded as a sure sign that they too have come to the end of their useful life.
Not All Is Doom & Gloom
We see examples all around us of vacated properties where manufacturing and empty homes now stand. Had the land been cleared, planted with grass, trees and left empty, we'd not only have a greener environment, but one less dense. The very thing that draws more affluent suburban dwellers throughout America's history. Instead we heavily subsidize these to re-urbanize them once again. This is the very thing that caused problems in the first place. Had we instead exercised patience through time to allow the natural order of things, these urban areas would eventually become suburbanized much like the sought after areas by the middle and wealthy.
We can continue to channel mass amounts of taxpayers' money into bus and train transportation. Funnel unspeakable amounts of taxpayers' money chasing after some social urban idealistic venture. Or we can acknowledge historically Americans always had preferences that run counter to this.
Allentown's citizens, who lived here all their lives, lament subsidized housing has led to this city's woes. How much more so the problem has now been compounded when we do the very same thing yet again. This time with millions taxpayer dollars used to subsidize wealthy commercial developers instead. Have we learned nothing from history?
Everyone needs to step back and take a deep breath. The time is long overdue to revaluate what works and what doesn't?
Sunday, July 6, 2025
Delaware & Lehigh Canal Videos
Repost
These are the best historical videos and pictures I've ever come across. Excellent job!
Introduction
A film produced by the Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor
The American Industrial Revolution in the Lehigh Valley, Pa.
Meet the Author
Discover the Delaware & Lehigh Canal, a National Heritage Corridor.
Visit: "Tales Of The Towpath" for more great footage.
These are the best historical videos and pictures I've ever come across. Excellent job!
A film produced by the Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor
The American Industrial Revolution in the Lehigh Valley, Pa.
Meet the Author
Discover the Delaware & Lehigh Canal, a National Heritage Corridor.
Visit: "Tales Of The Towpath" for more great footage.
Thursday, June 26, 2025
Milton Hershey's Town In Cuba
Repost
My Comments About The Article Above 
Kudos to Michael Matza & the Philadelphia Inquirer on their great article including a video. I wasn't aware of this.
These days the United States could sure use more responsible corporate leaders the likes of Milton S. Hershey.
It's amazing what this graduate of 4th grade accomplished in his 88 years of life.
Traces of Hershey's model town live on in Cuba
Michael Matza, Inquirer Staff Writer
Michael Matza, Inquirer Staff Writer
Kudos to Michael Matza & the Philadelphia Inquirer on their great article including a video. I wasn't aware of this.
These days the United States could sure use more responsible corporate leaders the likes of Milton S. Hershey.
It's amazing what this graduate of 4th grade accomplished in his 88 years of life.
Friday, June 20, 2025
Inside The Famous Iron Mountain In Western Pennsylvania
Repost
Inside The Universal Music Group Iron Mountain Tape Vault
No one would have enough hours in a lifetime to listen to all of these recordings.
Inside The Universal Music Group Iron Mountain Tape Vault
No one would have enough hours in a lifetime to listen to all of these recordings.
Saturday, May 31, 2025
Ever Have This Pennsyltucky Delicacy?
Repost
As a kid I had this many times for dinner and sometimes breakfast with syrup. Course that was before I knew what was in it. Gee I wonder why my parents never told me?
This also reminds me of the time my step sister's husband gave us a wabbit to eat for dinner. He blasted it with a shotgun. Yeah I guess ya kinda know how that meal went down. It was like doing surgery before every bite.:-)
Yeah and eating 'pike' ain't no treat either! 
This meat cake is made from pork head, liver, snout, and heart pic.twitter.com/d9R6W2gNJn
— NowThis (@nowthisnews) May 17, 2019
As a kid I had this many times for dinner and sometimes breakfast with syrup. Course that was before I knew what was in it. Gee I wonder why my parents never told me?
This also reminds me of the time my step sister's husband gave us a wabbit to eat for dinner. He blasted it with a shotgun. Yeah I guess ya kinda know how that meal went down. It was like doing surgery before every bite.:-)
Yeah and eating 'pike' ain't no treat either!
Wednesday, April 30, 2025
Sunday, April 27, 2025
Pennsylvania Pulled The Old Switcheroo
Repost From January 2014
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.
Why not?
Here's a clue... Governor Corbett's 2011-2012 budget cut over $1.1 billion from education funds earmarked for local districts. Last January it was reported in 2012 Pa. made $1.3 billion in revenue from slots. What a coincidence, eh?
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.
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.
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.
Why not?
Here's a clue... Governor Corbett's 2011-2012 budget cut over $1.1 billion from education funds earmarked for local districts. Last January it was reported in 2012 Pa. made $1.3 billion in revenue from slots. What a coincidence, eh?
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.
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.
Thursday, February 13, 2025
Pennsylvania PSSA Scores Are Down- Are You Smarter Then An 8th Grader?
Pennsylvania PSSA scores have been declining in English and have not recovered to pre-pandemic levels since the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2024, English scores declined for the second year in a row. In Lehigh Valley, 70% of school districts saw a wider gap in proficiency levels from 2019 to 2024 than would be typical.
Which brings us to, are you smarter then an 8th grader?
If not you may be too quick to judge their abilities.
Try these Pennsylvania PSSA 8th Grade Practice Tests for yourself.
Which brings us to, are you smarter then an 8th grader?
If not you may be too quick to judge their abilities.
Friday, January 17, 2025
Saturday, January 4, 2025
Wednesday, November 27, 2024
Bethlehem Steel: A Look Back
Repost
Anyone ever experience the blast furnace at the Bethlehem Steel?
The tapping of blast furnace 'C' at Bethlehem Steel taken in the 1990s
Notice in the video, what little protection men wore?
While I never worked the blast furnace, my brother used to for a short while. He took part in the tapping of it. He hated it. However during the best month he ever had, he received a $1,000 bonus one month. Even though he wore an asbestos-like suit he still had burn marks from time to time. HOT AS HELL ITSELF!
Later my brother considered it to be both a blessing and relief when he was able to transfer down to the coke fields in Hellertown. It paid less, but the job conditions better suited him.
A PBNE switcher takes slag cars to the slag dump where they are dumped by a crane
Interesting story is if the guys took a cup of water and dumped it into a ingot before steel was pouring into it.. that water would explode! So they had to make sure ingot cars were completely dry after a rain.
Taken in 1992, it shows the filling of hot metal cars with iron at the blast furnace at Bethlehem Steel
As for my days at shop #413 (alloy roller mills & soaking pit) at the steel.. I only lasted 30 days and I quit. I'm such a PUSSY !!
All videos courtesy "Steel Man Jules"
* Bethlehem Steel, with its fleet of 26 ships, was the Panama Canal's second-best customer in 1940, having paid more than $1 million in tolls.
* The company was employing more than 100,000 and earning profits of more than $100 million annually
* The company had a police force larger than the city of Bethlehem's.
* Up until the 1940s wages and working conditions in the plant had been oppressive. When workers walked out, the company would call in billy-club-swinging mounted state police troopers to quash picketers. There were brutal working hours, bribery and favoritism in the 1930s. Work was six days a week, double shifts and they had no vacations
* During WWII as much as 70% of all airplane cylinder forgings, one-quarter of the armor plate for warships, and one-third of the big cannon forgings for the U.S armed forces were turned out by Bethlehem Steel. The company built nearly one-fifth of the U.S. Navy's two-ocean fleet.
Source For The Information Above: Bethlehem Pa Online
Anyone ever experience the blast furnace at the Bethlehem Steel?
Notice in the video, what little protection men wore?
While I never worked the blast furnace, my brother used to for a short while. He took part in the tapping of it. He hated it. However during the best month he ever had, he received a $1,000 bonus one month. Even though he wore an asbestos-like suit he still had burn marks from time to time. HOT AS HELL ITSELF!
Later my brother considered it to be both a blessing and relief when he was able to transfer down to the coke fields in Hellertown. It paid less, but the job conditions better suited him.
A PBNE switcher takes slag cars to the slag dump where they are dumped by a crane
Interesting story is if the guys took a cup of water and dumped it into a ingot before steel was pouring into it.. that water would explode! So they had to make sure ingot cars were completely dry after a rain.
As for my days at shop #413 (alloy roller mills & soaking pit) at the steel.. I only lasted 30 days and I quit. I'm such a PUSSY !!
* Bethlehem Steel, with its fleet of 26 ships, was the Panama Canal's second-best customer in 1940, having paid more than $1 million in tolls.
* The company was employing more than 100,000 and earning profits of more than $100 million annually
* The company had a police force larger than the city of Bethlehem's.
* Up until the 1940s wages and working conditions in the plant had been oppressive. When workers walked out, the company would call in billy-club-swinging mounted state police troopers to quash picketers. There were brutal working hours, bribery and favoritism in the 1930s. Work was six days a week, double shifts and they had no vacations
* During WWII as much as 70% of all airplane cylinder forgings, one-quarter of the armor plate for warships, and one-third of the big cannon forgings for the U.S armed forces were turned out by Bethlehem Steel. The company built nearly one-fifth of the U.S. Navy's two-ocean fleet.
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