News, Entertainment, Enlightenment
William Lawrence Sr. Omnibit 1-23-15
You can blame William, Shakespeare for all those greedy starlings gobbling at your bird feeder.
The species did not live here until, in the 1890s, when Eugene Scheifflen a wealthy New Yorker (1827-1906) released 100 of the birds in New Yorks Central Park as part of a project to bring all the birds mentioned in Shakespeares’ works to the United States.
Bryant Gumbel in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine brought up the National Rifle Association in a response to a question regarding his story on the Eat What You Kill hunting movement:
There are a few things I hate more than the NRA. I mean truly. I think they’re pigs. I think they don’t care about human life. I think they are a curse upon the American landscape. So we got that on the record. That said, I’m willing to separate that this story had nothing to do with that. It’s not a gun story. So I would like to think that I would have done it, but I don’t know. Obviously, that was my first experience around killing and guns and hunting.
So, we would like to ask Mr. Gumbel, whose fame comes from his descriptions of men playing children’s games, how many NRA members — figure 100 percent armed — commit murder versus non-NRA members with guns? Hmmm? Do you, Mr. Gumbel, have the guts to take on those who really are the ones who “don’t care about human life”?
And how do you feel about abortion?
Honor Flight Philadelphia will host “Swinging with the Rat Pack” Sunday, April 26, at the Springfield Country Club, 400 W.Sproul Road, Springfield, Pa. 19064.
Relive the glory days of Vegas with Sammie, Frank and Dean. Doors open at 2 p.m. and the show starts at 3:30.
Tickets are $50 per person in advance and include a buffet lunch. There will be a cash bar.
Proceeds benefit Springfield-based Honor Flight Philadelphia which provides all-expense days of honor for veterans to Washington D.C.
Reservations are requested for Swinging With the Rat Pack and can be made by calling Deanne at 267-303-5977 or clicking here.
The Crystal Serenity is the home of 86-year-old Lee Wachtstetter.Call it seven years before the buffet.
Lee Wachtstetter, 86, has spent the last seven years living on the Crystal Cruise Line’s Crystal Serenity.
She began the lifestyle after the death of her husband of 50 years, Mason, a banker and real estate appraiser.
The Wachstetters loved cruises and did 89 before Mason’s death. She said that before his death from cancer in 1997 he told her “Don’t stop cruising.”
She described her life as a “stress-free, fairy-tale.”
The crew knows her well and calls her “Mama Lee”.
It cost her about $164,000 per year.
She says she rarely gets off the ship now but whenever it docks in Miami — about five times a year — she visits her sons and their families.
She says is in daily contact with them via a laptop.
Crystal Cruise Lines say three other women have made their homes on their vessels.
The big news at tonight’s (Jan. 21) meeting of the Springfield (Pa.) Republican Party was that the party was not going to take a position on rebuilding or renovating the high school, the price tag for which ranges between $110 million and $144 million.
Chairman Mike Puppio noted that school board matters have been decidedly non-partisan since 1991. He told committee persons to direct all complaints and inquiries on the matter to the appropriate school board member.
He said that while the school board has been having town halls on the subject, no plan has been submitted to either the township zoning hearing board or the commissioners, and the state Sunshine Law prohibits either body from commenting on the matter unless it is in the proper venue.
He said the issue is starting to bubble up and he expects it divide the community as those on both sides have much passion. He said that what the school board wants is not a “done deal” and that despite some speculation no “wink or nod” has been given on the matter by the township.
He said those who claim this are taking the lazy way out and merely looking for an excuse to avoid getting involved in the debate.
He stated specifically to the committee people in the audience and other community interested attendees that the party would not stand in the way of anybody seeking a school board seat as several are up for election this year.
Maybe there is a position there, after all.
In other matters, several people up for election or re-election spoke to the group including District Attorney Jack Whelan, who said that compassion was as important to his job as getting convictions; Common Pleas Court Judge Tony Scanlon, who was appointed to the bench last June by Gov. Corbett and is now seeking a term of his own; Michael Culp who is seeking election to County Council following his appointment to the seat that had been held by new 26th District State Sen. Tom McGarrigle; Andrea B. Puppio, who is seeking her third term as magisterial judge for court 32-1-32; and Jim Merkins, who is seeking election to a full-term for Magisterial Court 32-2-54 that had been presided over by Scanlan and to which he was appointed following Scanlan’s elevation to Common Pleas Court.
Kudos to Michael Gross who has joined the professional team at Jenkintown-base The Lapin Group, LLC.
“Mike has 15 years of experience working with nonprofits, including serving as executive director of a community organization,” said Avrum Lapin, the organization’s founder. “His areas of expertise include government relations, fund raising, community outreach, leadership training and development, marketing, and strategic planning. He has worked with people from many sectors including business, government, labor, faith, and community. He has an MA in Environmental Studies from the University of Pennsylvania and a BA in Public Policy Studies from Duke University.”
The Lapin Group provides targeted and comprehensive fundraising consulting and management services for US-based and international nonprofits.
William Lawrence Sr. Omnibit 1-21-15
We didn’t watch Obama’s State of the Union Speech last night feeling the entertainment offered on Netflix was a more industrious use of our time.
But he sent us this email about it so we will pass it on — mostly to show how smart we are regarding the use of time:
Friend —
Last night, I spoke directly with the American people about what I believe we can get done together this year.
My priorities are strengthening the middle class and ensuring our economy is rebounding for the whole country, not just the powerful few. I laid out a vision of middle-class economics, to help build on the progress of the past six years and make sure American families can get ahead in the 21st century. That means fighting to expand paid sick leave, helping any student willing to work hard get an affordable education, and cutting taxes for middle-class families by eliminating wasteful tax loopholes.
The new Congress has been on the job for two weeks, and they’ve given us a good look at where they want to take the country, too — they’ve moved quickly to try to roll back our progress on everything from immigration to health care.
I believe Americans are tired of the political back and forth. People want to see an agenda that moves us all forward.
If that’s something you agree with, OFA is asking you to do your part today. It’s never been more important to take a stand.
This morning, I begin the fourth quarter of my presidency. As long as there’s time on the clock, I’ll be doing everything I can.
I hope you will, too:
http://my.barackobama.com/Do-Your-Part-Today
That’s right, rather than trying to work with an opposition overwhelmingly chosen by the American public in response to his actions, he calls them names and impugns them with false motives.
The President is not just a disgrace but a waste of time. Obama purposely tries to divide us for reasons of ego, power and selfishness.
The Independence Hall Foundation has also issued a statement regarding Obama’s speech.
The Independence Hall Foundation rejects, out of hand, President Obama’s call for an increase in Federal taxes as a sure way to hurt America’s fragile economy.
“The idea of raising the Capitol Gains tax from 23 percent to 28 percent, and taxing, even further, those who already pay the preponderance of taxes, is counterproductive,” said Foundation spokeswoman, Teri Adams. “No matter how the additional revenue is spent.
“President Obama should drop his Robin Hood pretense. In a free enterprise system, POTUS does not pick winners and losers–which is exactly what the President is attempting to do.
“We need to stimulate the economy with pro-growth policies,” said Ms. Adams. Such policies require tax reductions–not increases–and an elimination of burdensome business regulations.
“A ‘Flat Tax’ is probably the best solution for true tax reform, although proponents of the ‘Fair Tax’ have compelling arguments, as well.”
That’s a statement of substance, not name calling.
Again, Obama Continues National Divide
“The internet is forever” is a trope and a warning to the young (and others) regarding to take care about what one posts to the world.
While the wisdom is obvious about what one chooses to post to the world, internet posts may not be forever, after all.
The New Yorker’s Jill Lepore has an article this week pointing out the difficulties the experts have in archiving the World Wide Web.
It notes that pages die, are moved and, most significantly, overwritten hence making it hard, maybe even impossible, to find documents once posted.
This has become a problem in academia, technology and especially law.
A study conducted last year at Harvard Law School showed that more than 70 percent of of the URLs cited in the footnotes of the Harvard Law Review and other journals, and 50 percent of the URLs within United States Supreme Court opinions do no link to the original cited information, as per Ms. Lepore.
This makes the footnotes useless and the opinions unsupported.
Maybe it is best to not let dead tree record keeping die, after-all, while “paperless” is a trope that should.
Luzerne County correspondent Dorothy Hayer has let us know about Betty Roccograndi, an excellent columnist for the Wilkes Barre Times Leader.
Here she very nicely slices and dices Pennsylvania’s dishonest Attorney General Kathleen Kane.