Tuesday, January 31, 2017

Gorsuch

Today I heard Trump’s Press Secretary talking about how the Senate has a tradition of approving Presidential appointments to the Supreme Court.  I understand that the Trump administration knows little of history, but I’m thinking, does this guy not even remember last year, when the Republican Senate, including Pennsylvania’s Senator Toomey, refused to even hold hearings on President Obama’s nominee?

You know what.  Screw Gorsuch.  We got along ok for a whole year with eight Supreme Court justices.  There is no constitutional requirement to have nine, and in U.S. history we have had more than nine and fewer than nine.

Let’s stay with eight for the next four years, or at least until Trump’s impeachment.


Am I being petty and unreasonable.  You are goddam right I am.

Monday, January 30, 2017

Saturday Night Massacre

Archibald Cox had been appointed Special Prosecutor in the Justice Department to investigate the Watergate break-in and subsequent coverup during the Nixon administration.  When Cox learned of the existence of tapes from the Oval Office, he subpoenaed the tapes.  This enraged Nixon, and he ordered his Attorney General, Elliot Richardson, to fire Cox.  Richardson refused and resigned.  The Deputy Attorney General, William Ruckelshaus, then became acting AG.  He also decided he could not fire Cox, and he resigned.

This elevated the number three man in the Justice Department, Robert Bork.  Yes, the same Robert Bork in the later Supreme Court fight.  Bork was also prepared to resign, but Richardson and Ruckelshaus told Bork that Nixon would go through the entire Justice Department until he found someone and told Bork he should carry out the order.

Bork then fired Cox.  This all happened on a Saturday and has come down in history as the “Saturday Night Massacre.”  For the first time aftjer that event, a majority of Americans thought Nixon should be impeached.

When my friend Roger was inducted into the Army, he took an oath to defend the Constitution and the Commander-in-Chief.  The sergeant who administered the oath asked if anyone had any questions.  Roger raised his hand and asked, “Suppose they are in conflict?”  The Sergeant was really irritated, and said, “That’s not possible.”

It is possible.  And, as I have told thousands of students over the years, your first duty is to the Constitution.  Presidents come and go, but the Constitution is the guiding principle.


Luckily we still have people in government who get it.

Sunday, January 29, 2017

Syrians

Some years ago Linda and I were in Allentown looking for the Damascus Restaurant.  We asked a young man on the street if he knew where it was located.  He pointed down the street and said, “You can almost see the sign from here.  It’s about two blocks down on the left.”  Then he added, “If you want to walk, you’ll be safe.  There’s nothing but Syrians between here and the restaurant.”

Last night two Syrian families were turned back at the airport.  Their relatives in Allentown were waiting to welcome them; all the arrangements had been made.  Now, because of the bigot in the White House, they were forced to turn around and fly back.


I feel sick.  We are no longer the people I once thought we were.

Saturday, January 28, 2017

Irish, time to step up

The U.S. had been almost exclusively a Protestant nation before the Great Potato Famine bought hundreds of thousands of destitute and desperate Irish immigrants to our shores.  This immigration also brought the first widespread anti-immigrant movement.  You’ve probably seen the signs, “No Irish Need Apply,” and maybe you remember the “Know Nothing Party,” also called the “American Party.”  

The Know Nothing Party was convinced that large numbers of Catholics would change the U.S. for the worse.  These Irish immigrants would take orders from the Pope and ruin our country.

The same type of thinking is now directed to refugees from Muslim countries.  They won’t fit in, they don’t understand our culture, they will subvert our way of life.

We hear it again and again, but even at the height of the anti-Irish bigotry, the U.S. never imposed a religious test on immigrants.  Even our refusal to admit Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany, terrible as that chapter of our history was, did not specifically tie the refusal to religion.  

Now, for the first time, we are applying a religious test.  Evidently Christian refugees from Syria can get in; Syrian Muslim refugees are refused.  

Speak up.


Friday, January 27, 2017

Tamaqua high school students


The Lehighton Times News every week runs a column called “It’s the Reader’s Turn,” in which reporters ask six readers a question.  Today’s question was asked of six juniors and seniors of the Tamaqua Area High School.  The question was:  “Now that Donald Trump is in office, are you more optimistic or pessimistic about our country’s future, and why?”

All six students had positive answers.  They thought he would get us out of debt.  They thought as a businessman he would bring a new perspective.  They mentioned he would bring a lot of changes.  One actually said “He’s going to make America great again.”

I’m not sure what they were referring to.  Bringing back torture.  Trade wars.  False news.  An increase in global warming.  Religious tests for refugees.  Gag orders on international aid groups.  

Linda said I should cut them some slack.  She said they were only echoing beliefs spouted by their parents.

I cut them no slack.  When I was in high school I read the paper.  I had my own opinions.  And when I was in high school, I couldn’t even vote until I was 21.  Assuming most of these students are abut 17 years old, they will be eligible to vote next year.


If our future rests with the younger generation, Oh My God.

Thursday, January 26, 2017

Target Rich Environment

Recent items in the news:

The South Dakota Republican legislature is planning to set aside an ethics law passed by the state’s voters this past November.

Six journalists who were covering the anti-Trump demonstrations on Inauguration Day were arrested under felony charges.

Trump is still saying that there are millions of illegal votes, all for Clinton, and he wants an investigation.

Trump is still basking in the fact that he won Pennsylvania, bragging about it to Republican legislators.  He seems to have a need to relive his victory.

A leaked document supports opening “black site” locations where the CIA can torture prisoners.

The Trump administration will eliminate any aid to international health programs that provide information on abortion, including programs providing help to combat the Zika virus.

The administration will impose a religious test on refugees admitted to the U.S.


There’s much more, but if you believe in American values and American democracy, and you blog in part to defend those values and that democracy, it is hard to know where to even begin.  Recently I’ve felt like giving up.  There is just so much to overcome.

Wednesday, January 25, 2017

Congressional Republicans

When Donald Trump was elected, I had hopes that the members of Congress would reign in some of his worst impulses.  While the Republicans had a majority in both houses, I assumed that since they were elected in their own right, they would owe nothing to Trump and retain some integrity.

If I understand it correctly, Trump repeated to a group of congress members his claim that millions of votes were fraudulently cast in the last election.  At that point, at least one of them should have raised his or her hand and stated clearly, “No, Mr. President, that is not true, it is a fraudulent claim, and you should be ashamed to keep repeating it.”


That is what should have happened.  It didn’t.  What a craven bunch of Republican legislators.  Don’t depend on them to keep President Trump under control.

Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Pipeline news

Yesterday the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission announced a two-month’s delay in the approval of the PennEast Pipeline.  That is the one that bisects our farm, so, of course, I was happy.  

I am not celebrating, however.  Today Trump announced that he was taking steps to speed up construction of the Keystone XL pipeline and the North Dakota Access pipeline.  The Keystone XL will affect global climate change; the North Dakota Access pipeline is the one that crosses the Standing Rock Indian lands.

Trump did not have to do this.  Obviously, there was no study or thought involved in either of his decisions.  Obviously he did this to make a point.  He’s in charge.  Climate change is not important.  Indians, who overwhelmingly supported Hillary Clinton, should be punished.  

Last night I wrote that I was having fun with the Trump administration.  No more.  I’m just disgusted and angry.


And I wonder if the millions who voted for him even thought about the environment.  Even thought about the Supreme Court and our liberties.  I’m guessing not.

Monday, January 23, 2017

The Ultimate Driving Machine

One of the foreign car companies that President Trump has said he will target is BMW.  I wonder if he knows that BMW’s largest plant in the world is located in Spartansburg, South Carolina.

Is being a moron an impeachable offense?


I don’t know about you, but I’m having some fun here.

Sunday, January 22, 2017

Huge!

If you are like me, you are probably in a state of depression.  


Buck up.  My friend Anne, who lives in Brussels, sent me the link to the New York Times photos of anti-Trump demonstrations around the world.  They are amazing.  Here’s the link.  Check it out.  You will feel better.  We are not alone.  <https://nyti.ms/2kcyuO7>.

Saturday, January 21, 2017

Anarchists, Nihilists, and Libertarians

During the anti-Trump demonstrations on Friday, a number of people dressed in black and wielding hammers broke store windows and behaved violently.  For all I know, these were “agent provocateurs” paid for by Trump minions to shed a bad light on the protests, but that’s another issue.  

In some accounts the violent people were identified as “anarchists.” That term should be clarified.  Anarchism is an old and respected political tradition; in the early Thirties almost one/third of the Spanish parliament represented Anarchist parties.  Anarchism is a belief that communities can make their own rules and live their own lives with no outside direction or a central government.  Anarchism often springs up in isolated mining communities or lumber camps.  It emphasizes the need for tight relationships and mutual trust.  

With three prerequisites it could actually work.  You need a simple economy, shared values, and a fairly small population.  Although they would never call themselves anarchists, the Amish or the Hutterites in North Dakota could qualify.  The central government or state government could disappear, and it might be weeks before the Amish would even notice.

Are anarchists libertarians?  No.  Libertarians, while rejecting central government, also reject the idea of tight communities.  A typical libertarian thinks he or she can live independently of all others.  Home schoolers are often libertarians, and most libertarians keep to themselves.  Libertarians usually have more money than anarchists.

People who run around smashing store windows are probably best described as nihilists.  Nihilists believe all moral standards are arbitrarily imposed and meaningless.  Life itself has no meaning, and you can break any rules.  Existentialists also think life has no purpose, but they also believe you can impose a purpose  You do the right thing not for an ultimate reward, but because it is the right thing.


I hope this has been helpful.

Friday, January 20, 2017

Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address

I thought maybe you’d like to read what an Inaugural Address should sound like.  Here are portions of Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address.  Lincoln addresses the cause and results of the Civil War, still the bloodiest war in American history. 

Neither party expected for the war the magnitude or the duration which it has already attained. Neither anticipated that the cause of the conflict might cease with or even before the conflict itself should cease. Each looked for an easier triumph, and a result less fundamental and astounding. Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces, but let us judge not, that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered. That of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has His own purposes. 
.....

Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said "the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.”

Thursday, January 19, 2017

Lessons from the Lesbian Avengers

The most recent issue of Harper’s Magazine ran articles by various authors on how to deal with the next four years.  An article by Sarah Schulman noted that in when Ronald Reagan was president, he never used the term AIDS.  

As a result of organizing, demonstrations, and agitation, we all learned about AIDS, saw improved medical treatment, and witnessed government move from ignoring the disease to playing an active role in its alleviation.

Ms. Schulman received her training as an activist in ACT UP (the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) and the Lesbian Avengers, both organizations that emphasized action.

She said that one of ACT UP’s most important principles was “simultaneity of action.”  That is, ACT UP never worked by consensus, never asked for full agreement by its members.  If you wanted to get arrested in an action, go ahead.  If you only wanted to write letters to Congress members, go ahead.

The Lesbian Avengers also had rules.  One was “If you have an idea, you have to carry it out.”  There was no one saying “Someone should....”  Secondly, if you disagreed with someone’s idea, you had to come up with a better one.  Criticism alone is not helpful and paralyzes the group.

The last advice Ms. Schulman had was “be creative.”  Remember those students who sat in at the lunch counter.  That was creative.  Remember that no single strategy works every time.


To Ms. Schulman’s advice, I would add what President Obama said in his Farewell Address:  “Show up.  Dive in.  Stay at it.”  

Wednesday, January 18, 2017

In this together?

After I posted last night, Linda pointed out that one time Americans unite as a nation is when we watch the Superbowl.  Later I thought that we also unite in the the aftermath of tragedies.  In Carbon County an organization of conservatives actually calls itself the “9/12 Project” to reflect the unity Americans felt the day after the World Trade Center was bombed.

Then I realized that even events like that don’t draw us together anymore.  A fairly large group of Americans actually thinks that the 9/11 attack was staged by the Bush Administration.  A fairly large group of NRA types has claimed that the Newtown massacre was “faked.”  Imagine if you were a parent whose child was killed and how that would make you feel.

We seem unable to agree on the most basic facts.  Obama born in Kenya?  Hillary Clinton part of a child sex ring?  Global warming a hoax?


Not only don’t we watch the same shows or listen to the same music or read the same news, we don’t even agree on basic facts.  We are coming apart.

Tuesday, January 17, 2017

A nation of tribes

Before radio and television, few people shared the same entertainment.  There simply wasn't the opportunity for thousands, let alone millions, of people to listen to or watch the same entertainers.  Along came radio, and movies, and television, and suddenly everyone knew Glenn Miller tunes or “The Wizard of Oz” or the Milton Berle’s “Show of Shows.”

That didn’t last very long, in historical terms.  In the Sixties, there were basically three networks–NBC, CBS, ABC.  Each of those presented reasonably objective news.  Radio had top ten hits; everyone knew “Love Me Tender” or “Yesterday.”  One-third of the population tuned into “All in the Family” on television.

According to Farhood Manjoo’s essay “What’s on Netflix?” (Times, Jan 12, 2017, p. B1, 5), only about 12 percent of TVs were turned to “NCIS” or “The Big Bang Theory.”  Those were the most popular shows in 2015-16.  Given those numbers, in 2000 those shows would not have been in the top ten.

Nobody listens to the same tunes any more.  Quick, name the top hit that everyone is singing.  As for movies, very few are “must see” with audiences standing in line in the cold, like I did in the 60s in State College when the new James Bond movie came out.  As for news, we have conservative news outlets and liberal news outlets.

The nation is fragmented.  We have little in common.  We are descending into tribalism.  Meryl Streep makes fun of TV wrestling fans, and wrestling fans wonder who the heck is Meryl Streep.  Some areas of the country are big fans of “Duck Dynasty” while other sections watch “Modern Family.”  Personally, I have never seen “Game of Thrones” or “Empire” because I can’t even get them on my TV.


We no longer share very much.  This is not a good thing.  It is reflected in our politics, where in a few days a large group of my fellow citizens will be celebrating Trump’s inaugural, and I will be drinking myself into a stupor.

Monday, January 16, 2017

Obama reads

A front page article in today’s Times discussed some of the books President Obama has read while in the White House.  Among the books mentioned were The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert.  He reads Jhumpa Lahiri and Junot Diaz.  He has had lunches with Mr. Diaz, Dave Eggers, Colson Whitehead, Zadie Smith, and Barbara Kingsolver.

And I’m thinking,OMG, I like all of those people.  (Well, maybe not Colson Whitehead.)  I am so going to miss President Obama.

Incidentally, I remember reading that an author who spent a long period of time with Donald Trump in preparation for a book about him said that he had never seen Mr.Trump reading a book.


I am so going to miss President Obama.

Sunday, January 15, 2017

Private prisons

Mr. Trump has indicated he favors the privatization of prisons.  This comes at a time when the U.S. Justice Department is winding down its use of such prisons.

Private prisons didn’t save much money.  They didn’t provide rehabilitation programs.  They were far more violent.  They had many more assaults on inmates and prison workers than those run by the Bureau of Prisons.  And, according to an article by Eduardo Porter on Jan. 11 (Times, p. B-1), they went into lockdown to respond to disturbances ten times more often than prisons run by the Bureau of Prisons.

Think about it.  Private prisons exist to make money.  If they can cut costs on medical care, on food, on basic necessities, they will do that.  That is the nature of private enterprise.  Private prisons also have an interest in maximizing the number of prisoners and the length of sentences.  The more prisoners, the more income.


I don’t understand why anyone with a lick of sense and an ounce of humanity would have thought such prisons were a good idea in the first place.  

Saturday, January 14, 2017

Meaningful gun laws

The public has ideas on what would lower deaths from guns.  Experts who study gun deaths also have ideas on what would lower the carnage.  Interestingly, the public and the experts often disagree, but on certain policies they line up pretty well.

On some policies there are vast differences.  Around 70% of the public thinks national “stand your ground” laws would lower gun deaths, but less than 10% of the experts agree with that.
On the other hand, here are five policies on which the experts and the public agree would lower deaths from guns.  
  • bar sales to violent criminals
  • universal checks for gun buyers (almost 90% in both groups)
  • bar sales to convicted stalkers
  • bar sales to the mentally ill
  • report lost or stolen guns
All of these make sense to me.  I guess I fit into the category of “the public,” since I am certainly no expert.  


The N.R.A. would oppose all five.

Friday, January 13, 2017

Anger management

Regular readers of this blog may have noticed that I don’t write much about Mr. Trump.  Page after page of the Times is devoted to his latest tweets, hearings on his appointees, and his business issues, and I’ve been writing about farmland preservation or movies or phone usage.

Tonight let me tell you just how tired I am of hearing about angry Trump voters.  My candidate did not have any help from Russian hackers skewing the election her way.  My candidate released her tax returns.  My candidate saw an FBI director telling Congress eleven days before the election that the FBI was investigating her emails on Anthony Weiner’s laptop, then announcing it had found nothing after people had already started voting.  My candidate’s party did not resort to voter suppression in a number of key states.  My candidate received 2.8 million more votes than her opponent.

66 million people voted for Clinton.  Those 66 million are righteously angry.  I am just tired of Trump supporters telling me to get over it, to unite behind the “birther” guy who pretty much invented fake news.  I am tired of Trump supporters telling me to put partisanship behind and unite the country when Mr. Trump himself continues to attack and belittle his critics.


I’m tired and I’m angry.  Before the election I thought this man would be bad for my country, and now that he is soon to be in office, I am more sure of it than ever.  You are so right if you call me a sore loser.  Don’t forget angry.

Thursday, January 12, 2017

White privilege

Let’s say you are a 55-year-old unemployed coal miner in West Virginia, you’ve been laid off for over a year, your wife has stomach problems, your 30-year-old son is a meth addict and your 27-year-old daughter with three kids recently divorced her husband.  You hear some black college student at the University of West Virginia talk about “white privilege,” and you become enraged.

Let me make an effort to explain what that term means.

Let’s say this 55-year-old goes to the pharmacy in Wal-Mart, or walks into the town library to use the computer in a job search, or steps into the local bar for a beer, or just walks down the sidewalk in town.  Does he think to himself “I’m a white guy” on any of those occasions.  Is he ever self-conscious about his race in his day-to-day activities?

In her book Negroland by Margo Jefferson (Vintage Books, 2015), Ms. Jefferson quotes her mother’s statement, “Sometimes I almost forget I’m a Negro.”  But, of course, in America she couldn’t.

I am not a black person, but I am reasonably sure that in this country, most black people are self-consciously black in a way white people hardly ever are self-consciously white.


That is what I think is meant by “white privilege.”

Wednesday, January 11, 2017

Better than sex?

Today I read that in a nationwide poll, 1/3 of the respondents said they would rather give up sex than their smart phones.  

I am so glad I don’t own a smart phone.

Tuesday, January 10, 2017

Yes we can

I just finished watching President Obama deliver his farewell address.  I think it will rank up there with Washington’s and Eisenhower’s final speeches.  

In case you missed it, I’ll use President’s Obama’s own words to his fellow Americans.  “Show up.  Dive in.  Stay at it.”  


Put those words on a card and attach them to your refrigerator.  Those are the watchwords for the next four years.

Monday, January 9, 2017

Millennials don't vote

Young people have never voted in great numbers, so I am not surprised that in the 2016 election, people 18-34 had a much lower turnout that older voters.  Nonetheless, the rate of turnout for Millennials is truly abysmal.  

The January issue of Governing, a magazine devoted to state and local government, ran a chart of the voting turnout of Millennials (18-34) in the thirty largest cities in local elections between 2011 and 2015.  This is registered voter turnout.

I won’t list all thirty, but here are the percentages in a few selected cities.  I’lll give you the percentage for 65+ in those same cities.  M stands for Millennials; OP stands for old people.

Fort Worth M:  1.1% OP:  25.7%
New York    M;  7.6 OP:  30.7
Philly         M:  11.6 OP:  45.5
Boston         M:  28.0 OP:  66.1
Portland         M:  56.7 OP:  88.4


If you are wondering about Portland, Oregon, I should point out that Oregon registers all of its citizens to vote automatically and voting is done by mail.  Oregon is the one true democracy of the 50 states.

Sunday, January 8, 2017

With Putin's help?

Ruthann Schlecht of Lehighton wrote a letter to the Times News printed on Jan. 7.  I don’t know Ms. Schlecht, nor do I wish her any ill will, but I think she made a major mistake.  Her letter said “Mr. Trump as he tries his best, with God’s help....”  


I think she should have said, ”With Putin’s help....”  Let’s leave God out of this.

Saturday, January 7, 2017

Hidden Figures

“Hidden Figures,” the story of three black women who worked for NASA, is now playing in local theaters.  The film takes place in the early years of the U.S. space program, when Kennedy was the President and the state of Virginia still had segregated schools, libraries, and buses.  

Kevin Costner stars as the boss of NASA who understands that we are all in this together and pushes his team to think like a real team.  When I saw the film this evening at the Mahoning Theater, almost everyone in the audience was over 50.  This is a movie that kids ought to see–at times amusing, at times tense (I had forgotten how close John Glenn came to disaster), and a history lesson (don’t tell anyone that, however) that we need.


The film is rated PG, and I give it four out of four stars.  Run, don’t walk, to your local theater.

Friday, January 6, 2017

A look back at Nixon

We now have proof of something that had been rumored for years.  Nixon directed his campaign staff in 1968 to scuttle the peace talks the U.S. was holding with the Vietnamese.  He was afraid that if the talks succeeded, Humphrey would win the election.

At the time he told Lyndon Johnson, “My God, I would never do anything to encourage South Vietnam not to come to the table.”

Now we learn through newly discovered notes from H.B. “Bob” Haldeman that Nixon was persuading South Vietnamese leaders not to sign any peace agreement before the election.


The war would go on for years, with thousands of young Americans losing their lives.  I suppose Nixon thought his victory was worth that.

Thursday, January 5, 2017

Mattis for Secretary of Defense

Two days ago a front page headline in the New York Times read:  “As Commander in Iraq, Defense Pick Made a Case to Halt Torture.”

First of all, I’m grateful that James Mattis, President-Elect Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Defense, said the death of a prisoner who had been tortured was “the worst thing that happened” under his watch.  General Mattis sounds like a man who has the right principles.

On the other hand, think about this.  Let’s go back to World War II.  Would a military officer’s opposition to torture have made headlines?  Of course not.  We weren’t Nazi Germany.  We didn’t torture prisoners.  

Our President-Elect has said he would bring back the practice of water-boarding, a favorite torture of our Japanese enemies during World War II.  Mr. Trump said during the campaign, “only a stupid person would say it doesn’t work.”


I personally hope Gen. Mattis is confirmed.  It would be great to have someone as Secretary of Defense who has some moral standards.

Wednesday, January 4, 2017

Reassurance

One of my best students ever was David S., a very conservative guy who, if I’m not mistaken, was volunteering for the Santa Clara County Republican Party when he was about ten years old.  Last year I sent him one of his term papers I had kept all this time, and we reestablished contact.  He is currently a political science professor active in local politics.  Of course.  

After the election, I wrote to him to tell him I was worried and wanted some reassurance.  He was not a Trump supporter.  He recently sent me an excellent article from The American Interest.  I will share the link.  Check it out.  


Tuesday, January 3, 2017

This could be fun

On Monday the House Republicans voted to curtail the power of an independent ethics office set up in 2008 after corruption scandals that sent three members of Congress to the Big House.

This move was not made public beforehand, and there was no debate.

Now, after a huge public outcry and a tweet expressing displeasure from none other than President-elect Trump, the House reversed itself and reinstated the ethics office.  


These people are now in control.  I personally am enjoying this.  

Monday, January 2, 2017

When is farmland really preserved?

A group of investors is planning a $120 million complex near the small village of Oregon in Lancaster County.  The plan includes a four-story 120 room hotel, 349 apartments, 58 townhouses, and 158 other housing units, plus a supermarket, convenience store, 250-seat restaurant, and a 450-seat banquet hall.

The developers will need the Manheim Township Supervisors to condemn a parcel of preserved farmland.  

The village of Oregon contains about 50 homes and a few hundred residents.  The proposed development would change the area from ag to suburb.  Opponents point out that the development would “undo the preservation protections that farmers have given and taxpayers paid for.”  

I personally thought that once we put our farm into the preservation program, it could never be developed.  I wasn’t anticipating that a private pipeline company could trench the fields.  Now I see that a developer can also ask for preserved farmland to be condemned.  I hope the Mannheim Township officials hold firm, but $120 million is a lot of money compared to a few Amish farmers.


Information on the proposal is found in Tom Knapp, “Effort arises to Save Preserved Acreage From Development,” Lancaster Farming, (Dec. 24, 2016), p. A15.

Sunday, January 1, 2017

Men with guns

I thought I’d start the New Year with a bang and print two items about men with guns.  

Item #1:  The Times News reported on Dec. 31 that a woman shot by a hunter on State Game Lands has filed a civil suit in Carbon County.  Sharon Krause of Lehighton was shot by Michael J. Harvan, also of Lehighton.  Mr. Harvan, according to the complaint, “suggested that he had mistaken the plaintiff for a coyote and that he would have shot again had the plaintiff not screamed.”


Item #2:  Last year Dane Gallion, a resident of a Seattle suburb, was worried about reports of mass shootings.  He decided to take along a handgun tucked into his waistband when he went to see the movie “13 Hours:  The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi.”  Unfortunately, Mr. Gallion accidentally shot the woman sitting in front of him.