Sunday, August 31, 2014

Pit Bulls

A few weeks ago, when I was canvassing in Lansford, I saw a sign on the gate saying “Beware of Dog.”  The dog in question came running out; it was about six inches tall and its bark sounded more like a squeak.  I decided to chance it.  The dog actually bit my blue jeans, but its teeth didn’t penetrate to the skin.  The owner was every nice and apologized for her dog’s bad behavior.

Today “The Watchdog,” [an interesting title] in the Morning Call featured an article about a pit bull owner who was angry that her insurance was cancelled because of her dog.  I am not sympathetic.  When is the last time you heard about a spaniel disfiguring a child?  When is the last time you heard about a corgi ripping another small dog apart?


I am fully aware that not all pit bulls are vicious.  I am also aware that different breeds of dogs can be lethal both to other animals and to humans.  If you are one of those people who need to own a pit bull, or a Rottweiler, or a Doberman, you should pay more insurance.  Your pet can kill other dogs and people.  If you don’t like it, buy a basset hound.

Saturday, August 30, 2014

Goodbye to the Redneck Festival

Linda and I participated in every Weissport Redneck Festival since the first one in 2008.  In that year we set up a booth entitled “Rednecks for Obama,” and we received lots of favorable publicity.  Many people wanted their pictures taken next to our sign.  Families were in evidence.  The Republicans did not participate.

In subsequent years the Festival changed.  Bikers were more and more in evidence; the Festival began to advertise at biker bars.  Families were scarce.  Confederate flags were ubiquitous.  (If you were flying one of those flags, “ubiquitous” means everywhere.)  

The Carbon 9/12ers have set up a booth for the second year in a row featuring a lottery for assault rifles.  The Republican Party has been given space near the beer tent and close to the entertainment, while the “Yellar Dog Democrats,” which is what we were calling our booth, is relegated to the far end of the park just in front of the toilets.  The only people who passed by seemed to be in a hurry.

Today I maintained our booth from 1 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.  I displayed a bulletin board with pictures on interesting T-Shirts from previous festivals, which got some attention, but I would have registered more voters sitting in front of Dollar General or Giant.  Basically, I wasted both the vendor fee and my time.


So tomorrow, although the Redneck Festival will go on until the evening, I’m going over after church and closing down our booth. 

Friday, August 29, 2014

Waterboarding

So ISIS is waterboarding American prisoners.


Didn’t see that one coming.

"Go to hell" money

Suppose your boss tells you to do something illegal or immoral.  Most jobs come with opportunities to do something wrong.  You can probably think of some examples from your own job.

This is why you should have at least six months of paychecks in the bank.  That will give you both power and independence.  Then, if your supervisor orders you to lie or cheat or steal or dodge a governmental regulation, you can refuse.  If he or she then threatens that you will be fired if you don’t obey, you look him or her in the eye and calmly say, “Go to hell.”

I am fully aware that for some lower paid workers, it is very difficult to save up a reasonable amount of “go to hell” money.  Nevertheless, once you have it, you’ll feel a real sense of power.


Or you could join a union.

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Vices high and low

Here’s a common complaint I get when canvassing.  “Why should we pay for welfare for these bums when they can afford tattoos and cigarettes and walk down the street gabbing on their cell phones?”  

It annoys me also.  I am well aware that much poverty in this country is cultural.  The idea of delayed gratification is foreign to many of our citizens, and middle class values of thrift and hard work are not shared by a large portion of the population.

How does a liberal Democrat answer the complaint?  By pointing out that people at the top are also getting all kinds of “welfare,” are cheating the government out of needed revenues, and are costing us far more than those “bums” we see on the street, many of whom really can’t work, or are children, or are developmentally disabled, or are simply unable to find a job.

The problem is that we see the bum with his tattoos and his cigarettes and his cell phone, but we don’t see the fat cat at the top donating to Corbett and getting his tax cuts.

Now I will do something totally pompous and quote a relevant passage from “King Lear.”
Through totter’d rags small vices do appear;
Robes and furr’d gowns hide all.  Plate sin with gold,
And the strong lance of justice hurtless breaks;

Arm it in rags, a pigmy’s straw does pierce it.”

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Doyle Heffley campaigning on our dime

Last week we received an official looking and taxpayer-funded newsletter from our state representative Doyle Heffley.  It contained many pictures of Rep. Heffley along with articles touting his legislative accomplishments.

Last night I received a phone call telling me that Rep. Heffley was holding a town meeting on the phone, and I could participate.  I would have, but I had already planned to clean out the chicken coop.  One load a night is enough.

Then I read in the Times News that Heffley is opening a satellite office in Weatherly to help his constituents.  This will also be at our expense.


It may be just coincidence, but on November 4 we will be holding an election for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.  Mr. Heffley is running.  He seems to be campaigning on our dime.

Monday, August 25, 2014

The "crisis of confidence" speech

Near the end of his term Jimmy Carter addressed the American people from the Oval Office on inflation, energy, and what he called a “crisis of confidence.”

In a book review in the New Yorker, George Packer writes, “the level of honesty is shocking and deflating.  No President has ever spoken that way since.  The lesson he [Carter] taught all his successors was not to tell the American people hard truths.”

Actually, I think President Obama has tried to tell us some hard truths.  America can’t be the policeman of the world.  We can’t bomb every country we don’t like.  We have problems with race relations.  Our schools aren’t doing well.  Global climate change is a problem.


Nevertheless, the Carter lesson is still valid.  If you don’t believe that, look at Obama’s approval ratings.  Obama should have learned lessons from Reagan.  Be optimistic.  Smile.  Lie.  Talk about “morning in America.”

Sunday, August 24, 2014

Is summer different now?

That was the title of an article in a feature of the Sunday Times named “The Upshot.”  The article included looks at consumption of ice cream, summer travel, and camps.  It also talked about how kids are spending less and less time out of doors.  It quoted a Kaiser Family Foundation study that found that kids were watching videos, playing computer games, and listening to music up to eight hours a day,

About a month ago I was visiting a friend who has two young boys.  My friend lives in the country, the day was lovely, and both boys were in the house playing computer games.


I know I sound like an old fart, but I don’t think this is a good thing.  A few years ago a book entitled The Last Child in the Woods noted that almost all environmentalists spent a good deal of time out-of-doors when they were kids.  If kids today don’t spend time outside, they will not be worried about saving snakes and frogs and all the rest of the flora and fauna.

Saturday, August 23, 2014

Ski masks

A front page photo in today’s Times shows Hamas members about to execute some alleged spies.  The executioners are all wearing ski masks.  


Here’s what I’ve noticed.  You can always tell when a group knows it is behaving in an evil way because its members cover their faces.  In the Ukraine, in Northern Ireland, in Syria, in Gaza—the people with the ski masks are terrorists.  They know they are doing wrong, and just like bank robbers or Ku Klux Klan members, they hide their faces.

Friday, August 22, 2014

As seen on TV

Tonight in a canvass in East Jim Thorpe a guy told me he wasn’t going to vote for Tom Wolf because “Wolf wants to raise taxes.”  Corbett has been running ads that show Wolf testifying before a legislative committee when he was Revenue Secretary under Gov. Rendell.

I didn’t argue with the guy, but I told him I just wanted to say one thing:  “Don’t believe everything you see on TV.”  


He said something to the effect of, “You have a point,” but I have a feeling he still will vote for Corbett. 

Thursday, August 21, 2014

Republican hypocrisy

It does get to you after a time.

Saying that doctors who are willing to terminate pregnancies must have hospital admitting privileges in order to protect women’s health when we all know it is to satisfy anti-abortion groups.

Implementing restrictive election laws to suppress Democratic votes and saying it is to prevent voter fraud.

Claiming that the legislators should determine what is an endangered species when we all know it is to aid fracking companies.

Saying that kids who cross the border are bringing disease when we know the real agenda is bigotry and hatred.

Claiming that gay marriage will undermine the family structure when we know it is simply homophobia.


I’m really tired of this crap.

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Al Sharpton

8/20/14

Al Sharpton

Here’s a good rule for bloggers to follow.  Never comment on issues about which you don’t know all the facts.  However, I will say these three things.

1.  Small town police need more training in when to use deadly force.

2.  Looting and burning stores has nothing to do with achieving justice.


3.  Al Sharpton will not help matters one little bit.

Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Congressman Charles Dent

Republican Congressman Dent spoke out about the refugee children housed at KidsPeace.  He noted that they all had been vaccinated and were no danger to anyone else.  He thought the Lehighton soccer club adults who pulled out of the tournament simply weren’t informed.  

While I think the Lehighton soccer people had a political agenda, I very much appreciate Rep. Dent speaking out.  I wish more of our representatives had the courage.


(This is the second night in a row that I have praised a Republican member of Congress.  What is happening to me?)

Monday, August 18, 2014

Apology to Sen. Rand Paul

One of the lessons of politics that I have to relearn over and over is that your opponent one day might be your ally the next.

In a posting this week I called Rand Paul an idiot for his libertarian attitudes.  I noted that the toxic algae bloom in Lake Erie could not be solved by a hands-off government, but required laws and regulations to prevent phosphates from entering the lake.  Libertarians need to take a lesson in real world politics.

But now I learn that Rand Paul has been critical of the militarization of local police forces.  Some local police have been given helicopters, grenade launchers, and armored personnel carriers.  Material left over from the Iraq war is being distributed to small towns like Ferguson, Missouri.

Sen. Paul has decried this policy.  He is right on this issue.  The Senator is not idiot, and I’m sorry I called him that.


I still differ with the Senator with regard to Lake Erie, though.

Sunday, August 17, 2014

If Jesus were a soccer coach, what would he do?

Last week a Lehighton soccer club refused to participate in a tournament in Orefield, 14 miles from where some of the kids who crossed the border from Central America were housed.  The soccer club coach was afraid of “disease.”

Educators often talk about a “teachable moment.”  This happens when some event occurs which can be used to illustrate lessons the students are learning in the classroom.  

The actions of the soccer club of Lehighton pulling out of a tournament in Orefield provides us with an excellent “teachable moment.”  Teachers who discuss various forms of prejudice and discrimination note how out-groups, or in modern phraseology “the other,” are made to appear as a threat.  They may be viewed as having low moral character, or being lazy, or greedy, or disease-ridden, but in any case, they are not “one of us.”

Kids from Central America who are crossing the border can’t really be seen as of low moral character or lazy, but they can be labeled carriers of disease.  To define them that way permits people to say, “I’m not really prejudiced, I’m just worried about getting sick.” 


Incidentally, if you are an English teacher, you can also use this action as an example of irony.  The soccer club that was unwilling to participate in the tournament is called the Carbon United Outcasts.

Saturday, August 16, 2014

Gun Crazy in Lansford

I like to canvass Lansford.  The houses are close together, and the people are invariably friendly and pleasant.  Today, however, I ran into a guy registered as a Democrat who said, “I always vote Republican and have for years.”  I asked him why, and he said, “I don’t trust Democrats; they want to take away our guns.”  

Of course I tried to set him straight, but nothing doing.  This man is being manipulated by the N.R.A. and Republican propaganda, but he has bought into it completely.  It is so discouraging.

On the other hand, he was reasonably friendly and pleasant.  Just not real bright.


Friday, August 15, 2014

Where voting is easier

Governor Corbett and most Republican legislators, including my own state representative Doyle Heffley, have been trying to make voting more difficult in Pennsylvania.  They do this under the guise of “preventing fraud,” but it is clearly an attempt to depress turnout.  

Other states, like North Carolina, Texas, and Kansas, have been doing their best to make voting more restrictive to benefit Republicans.  What is interesting is that ten states, some dominated by Republicans, have made voting easier.  

Earlier this month an editorial in the Times listed them.  Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nebraska, Virginia, and West Virginia created on-line registration systems.  Colorado and Louisiana allowed 16- and 17-year-olds to preregister when they apply for a driver’s license.

Maryland will allow same day registration, and it extended its early voting period.  Finally, Delaware will allow most felons to vote after they have completed their sentences.


Notice that some of these states are rather conservative.  What they have, evidently, are legislators who believe in the right to vote

Thursday, August 14, 2014

Libertarians and Pond Scum

Last week the New York Times magazine ran an article about how young people might be attracted to the libertarian ideas advocated by Rand Paul.  If they are, it is more evidence that the young people of America couldn’t find their butts if they had a mirror on a stick.

First, Rand Paul is a phony.  Any true libertarian would say that a woman’s decision to have or not have an abortion was not the concern of the government.  Rand Paul thinks abortion should be illegal.
Secondly, the recent ban on drinking water in Toledo illustrates just how lame the libertarian philosophy is.  The reason Toledo residents couldn’t drink their water, which is taken from Lake Erie, is because of a toxic algae.  

I lived in Erie, Pennsylvania, for a year and was an organizer of a group called “Save the Lake.”  One of our goals was to eliminate phosphates in detergents because they were ruining the lake.  Government did that.  Not the free market, not volunteer efforts, government.  

Unfortunately, government did not regulate phosphates on farm fields.  The phosphates in fertilizer washed into Lake Erie, toxic algae grew, and the residents of Toledo could no longer drink their water.


Rand Paul is an idiot.

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

The frackers are coming!

I’m not a big fan of fracking.  I don’t like that the natural gas drillers are pumping an unknown chemical stew into the ground; I don’t like the way they are releasing methane, one of the worst of the greenhouse gases, at their drilling sites; I don’t like the way they buy off our governor and our local legislators; I don’t like the gag order they imposed on doctors who treat people with medical problems that result from fracking; and I don’t like that they pay no severance tax in Pennsylvania.

Imagine my dismay when we received a registered letter from a gas company telling us a pipeline to transport natural gas to New Jersey might be built through our farm.  It came today, and, given the fact that this is Pennsylvania, I’m reasonably sure there is nothing we can do about it.


I suppose I could fling myself in front of the bulldozer, but I’m fairly sure they would be allowed to run over me with no penalty.

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Wood Storks and Heffley

 My latest issue of “Outdoor Alabama” arrived late last week with an illustrated article about the wood stork, which is one strange-looking bird, although the baby birds, like most baby animals, are rather cute.

The article explained how the wood stork is another success story for the Endangered Species Act.  The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service down-listed the wood stork from endangered to “threatened.”

When it was first listed, its breeding ground was primarily in central and south Florida.  Today its breeding ground has expanded considerably, and now includes Georgia, North and South Carolina, and Alabama.  

If the stork continues to gain, it could be taken off the list entirely. Extinction has been prevented in 99 percent of the species listed as threatened or endangered since 1973, and 27 species have been delisted completely, including the bald eagle, American alligator, and peregrine falcon.  Thirty species have been down-listed from endangered to threatened.

These laws work.  Why would the Republicans in the Pennsylvania legislature want to take away the power to decide the listing of species from scientists and give it to the legislature?  I heard Rep. Heffley defend this as a way to give more input from our state legislators into the listing process.  


Why would they want to do that?  Think Marcellus Shale.  Think campaign contributions.  Think like a Republican legislator.  You can figure it out.

Monday, August 11, 2014

Packing at the Carbon County Fair

First, my apologies for not posting last night.  Our daughter Rachael and grandson Gavin were visiting from California, and they wore me out.  We had a great time with them; the canoe ride on Sunday on Beltzville Lake was especially nice—we drifted within 15 feet of a blue heron.

I often wonder what kind of world Gavin will inherit.  On Saturday we all went to the Carbon County Fair to see the animals and ride the rides.  We stopped in at the Democratic booth, which is just across the midway from the Republican booth.  

The Republican booth is amazing.  There’s an elephant that moves, they distribute bags of peanuts, and they have Heffley and Corbett yard signs to give out, and there’s a larger than life poster of Ronald Reagan.

What struck me, however, was that one of their volunteers was packing a handgun in a holster on his back.  Since this was in violation of fair rules (no guns), I thought of turning him in, but the security at the fair is not too impressive, and I didn’t want to start a ruckus and give the guy publicity.

I still wonder what he was protecting himself from.  The 4-H members who were displaying their animals?  The kids who were at the fair for the rides?  The people who came to watch the demolition derby?  The teenagers who were there to flirt?  Funnel cake aficionados?  


Why the Republicans permit this kind of behavior is beyond me.  I know the guy is trying to make some kind of 2nd Amendment statement, but what comes across is the statement, “Look at me, I’m a real dipstick.”

Saturday, August 9, 2014

Annual Bat Count

Ebola in Africa, Gaza, the Ukraine, ISIS in Iraq, children at the border—the list of issues is long and depressing.  Tonight , however, I have a tiny bit of good news.

Every year for the past 20 years I’ve been counting bats for the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s annual statewide bat census.  In past years we’ve counted hundreds, but for the last two years we were down to two and then four.  White nose syndrome had wiped out almost our entire population.

This evening we counted 20 bats emerging from our bat house on the side of the shed.  This is promising; it means that some of the bats must be developing an immunity to the syndrome.  


I know this isn’t earthshaking news in the global context, but it made me feel good nonetheless.

Friday, August 8, 2014

Daylin Leach

State Senator Daylin Leach (D, Montgomery County) is intelligent and liberal.  I’ve personally heard him speak, he’s a rare combination of inspiring and funny.

Recently Sen. Leach took a trip to Colorado to see how the marijuana laws were working.  He has been pushing for legalization in Pennsylvania, and he said he wanted to get some first-hand information.  Unfortunately, he took two aides along, the trip cost taxpayers about $5000, and he admitted to sampling some Colorado marijuana.


I cringed.  While $5000 is a pittance in the overall budget, Leach seems to be tone-deaf about the P.R. ramifications of such a trip.  It was a bonehead move, and he should have had more sense.  It’s always annoying when someone on your side does a stupid thing.  

Thursday, August 7, 2014

Democratic Picnic in Jim Thorpe

The Democrats held their annual summer picnic at Memorial Park in Jim Thorpe.  I wore my “Send Corbett Packing” tee shirt, a gift from my friend Edie.  It was typical Democratic event—hot dogs, barbecue, baked beans, haluski, cupcakes, and beer.  

Little money was made.  Everyone had a good time.  No one was angry.  No one prattled on about guns, or illegal immigrant children, or impeaching Obama.  I heard a lot of loud laughter.  


I love being a Democrat.

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Atheist TV

A group called American Atheists recently launched a new channel entitled Atheist TV. 

David Silverman, president of American Atheists, was quoted in the Times as saying, “The Discovery Channel treats ghosts like they’re real.  Bigfoot, psychics, aliens, ghosts, spirits, gods, devils—all bunk, all pushed by the so-called truthful and scientific stations….” 

As the article discussing the new channel pointed out, both dogs and Sarah Palin had their own channels before atheists did.

Not that Blue Ridge Communications will be carrying this in their lineup anytime soon.


Throw the bums out

The Pennsylvania legislature is even more dysfunctional than the U.S. legislature.  After all, the U.S. Congress is divided between the Republicans and Democrats, while both houses of the Pennsylvania state legislature are under Republican control and Governor Corbett is a Republican as well.  They do nothing. Well, not nothing.  They get their photos in the local paper and pass a resolution to display “In God We Trust” in classrooms.

Allentown Morning Call columnist Bill White recently wrote about the strange phenomenon of voters complaining about government but then voting for their own representative.  Think about that.  If voters blame the other legislators for the stalemate and inability to reform, and they all vote for their own incumbents, we will end up with the very same legislature.


That won’t work.  Throw the bums out.

Tuesday, August 5, 2014

Naming names

I’ve decided to name people who write nonsense. If people are willing to sign their names to letters to the local newspaper, why not publicize them?

On Sunday Robert Bruce Matthews of Lynn Township said that the fact that it was 50 degrees on July 30 when he woke up showed that global warming arguments were absurd.  He also noted that we had a very cold winter.


I don’t know Mr. Matthews. but if you do, would you please explain to him the difference between weather and climate?  Would you tell him that while we may have been setting record lows, parts of the U.S. were experiencing temperature highs?  And would you tell him that he is embarrassing himself?

Monday, August 4, 2014

Putin, Obama, and anti-aircraft missiles

The hawks in the U.S. were angry at President Obama because he refused to give anti-aircraft missiles to the Syrian rebels.  The president said the problem was that if the U.S. provided such missiles to the rebels, it no longer controlled how they would be used.

Putin had no such scruples, providing the Ukrainian rebels with missiles capable of bringing down an airplane.  And what airplane did they bring down?  A Malaysian passenger jet.


It is time we appreciate our President.

Saturday, August 2, 2014

CIA torture

My position on torture has been that it is wrong, period.  The C.I.A. defended waterboarding, sleep deprivation, and stress positions as necessary to obtain information.  This “enhanced interrogation,” a.k.a. torture, was supposed to help protect us.  That it echoed Soviet, Nazi, and North Vietnamese brutality was glossed over.

Now it turns out that a Senate committee report will conclude that torture yielded no information that would have been available though normal interrogations.


Let me sum up here.  Not only was the torture immoral and against every American tradition, it didn’t even do any good.  The C.I.A. is a corrupt and evil agency.  I might add, it’s also ineffective.

Friday, August 1, 2014

What has Obama done to this country?

That was the title of a letter published in the Allentown Morning Call today.  First I will quote the entire letter, and then I will make four comments.  Here’s the letter:

     Why are we spending millions every day to house, feed, provide legal help and give free medical coverage to the thousands of illegals President Obama has invited to this country while millions of Americans are struggling because they can’t afford health insurance due to Obamacare?  

     If you don’t think this was all planned by Obama, then you are a fool.  He has done nothing as president that is beneficial to the American people.  Just the opposite is true.  He can send millions to terrorists, the Muslim Brotherhood, and Hamas, but he doesn’t support our troops.  I hope you know that supporting terrorists is treason, yet nothing happens.  What has he done to this country?

First, the Morning Call has discretion over which letters it prints.  It should not print letters that are this ridiculous.

Second, the number of goofy statements in a short two-paragraph letter is mind-boggling.  I’m not sure, but the writer may be trying for satire.  Unfortunately, I don’t think that is the case.

Third, do you realize how clever the letter writer thinks Obama is?


Finally, with people like this running around, and presumably voting, this country is doomed.